Search - Kinks :: Give The People What They Want

Some great rockers on this typically solid Kinks offering

Dave | United States | 03/11/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Originally released in August of 1981, "Give The People What They Want" is simply a solid Kinks album, with all of the songs written and produced by the at-the-time trusty Ray Davies.



A bunch of these songs really rock out. "Around The Dial" is a great, catchy tribute to a DJ that seems to no longer be on the air. The highly sarcastic title track, with lyrics about how people crave witnessing sex and violence, starts off with power chords and rapid-fire drumming that really get the blood flowing, and the chorus riff is simply infectious. "Destroyer", left over from the "Low Budget" era, deliberately reuses the "All Day And All Of The Night" riff as the basis for a really fun, amusingly paranoid rocker, and it's got great punchy choruses. The stampeding "Back To Front" is another ultra-exciting blast, with amusing lyrics and great riffs--Dave Davies really shines on this one.



The rocked-up pop-rocker "Add It Up" is catchy too, if a bit rote--it's another one of those Ray songs about how people become blindsided by wealth. The ballad-rocker "A Little Bit Of Abuse" is also strong--its lyrics, about staying with a boyfriend despite his physically abusive behavior, are really on the money and peppered with some dark humor.



Of the more ballad-ish tracks, the best is the gentle "Art Lover", a touching song about a man who yearns for the daughter he is unable to see. The weakest is "Better Things" which is yet another in a string of optimistic album-closers--the song is just too slight and sloppily performed to make much of an impact. But the rest of the tracks are all quite strong--there's the moody "Killer's Eyes"; the pensive 'power ballad' "Yo-Yo"; and the musically upbeat, yet lyrically dour "Predictable" which is one of Ray's trademark examinations of a man stuck in a dreadful day-to-day rut.



So, overall, this is a high quality Kinks record--if you're a fan of the band, I can't see not liking it unless you have a problem with the hard rocking side of the band."