Search - Various Artists :: This Is Where I Belong: The Songs of Ray Davies & The Kinks

Ray Davies for now people

Howlinw | California, USA | 01/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It seems to be a requirement for music snobs to have their favorite neglected genius, the one who wrote better songs than Lennon and/or McCartney and/or both but never got the credit he or she deserved. Typically most of said snobs tend to pick Lou Reed. Well, I say good choice, no harm in that one, but I am going to have to go with Ray Davies. Sorry Lou. Ray's songs seem a bit more universal, a bit more touching, a bit easier to connect to. As much as I love "Heroin" and "Sweet Jane," I more often find myself with "Big Sky" or "This is Where I Belong" on the player. I guess it's just a matter of taste.



When I discovered this compilation, the name tipped me off that it would be good. If Ryko had called it "All Day and All of the Night," for example, or "You Really Got Me," it would have conjured up images of Van Halen or some other inane, dated hard-rock group grinding out yet another cover of the earliest stuff. "This is Where I Belong" is not only a great song from the classic mid-period years but it is also an obscurity. Somebody knew what they were doing over at Ryko, so I had to invest the $14 it cost at the time to find out whether it was any good.



And it was. These artists show exactly why Ray's music is so special...it is completely timeless. The glory of "Big Sky," my favorite Kinks song, is captured magnificently here by Matthew Sweet. Jonathan Richman shows us exactly why "Stop Your Sobbing" hasn't lost any of its charm- its simplicity allows the message- one of coping with sorrow of any kind- to come through clearly. Fountains of Wayne take another obscurity, "Better Things," and maintain its feel as a powerpop gem while making sound like it was written yesterday. None of the wit or wisdom is lost in any of these translations. Yeah Cracker doesn't sound like Cracker here but so what, you want to hear Cracker in their purest form then put on "Kerosene Hat." Nothing on here disappoints.



A worthy complilation for one of the best songwriters ever. It may even be desert island stuff for me."

A Kurious Kollection of Kinks' Klassics

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 04/14/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As Ray Davies notes in his self-penned liner notes, "tribute albums are usually conceived after the composer has 'passed.'" Of course the long-time Kinks frontman has not passed, but his legacy has certainly passed the test of time. As of this writing, these songs date back forty years--and even the most recent (""Better Things" and "Art Lover" from 1981's GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT) are 25 years old. With the release of Ray's first new album in years (2006's OTHER PEOPLES' LIVES), I finally picked this album up last week (though it was initially released in 2002).



It's a somewhat eclectic collection of songs. There are a couple of U.S. hits ("A Well Respected Man" and "Who'll Be the Next in Line") and U.K hits ("Waterloo Sunset" and "Victoria"), but there are no covers of their early hits like "You Really Got Me" or "All Day and All of the Night." Instead, most of the artists tend to lean more toward the introspective side of Ray's songbook.



Most of the artists tend to remain fairly faithful to the original Kinks' arrangements. So when you listen to Steve Forbert do "Starstruck" or Matthew Sweet perform "Big Sky," they are certainly lovingly done, but they don't really bring anything new to the songs.



There are, however, a handful of artists who approach the songs from a new angle. For example, Josh Rouse (a native Nebraskan, by the way) gives his reading of "A Well Respected Man" a haunting quality with his delicate vocal delivery. Bluegrass veteran Tim O'Brien gives "Muswell Hillbilly" a honky-tonk treatment complete with steel guitar and fiddle.



And then there is the duet with Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Ray Davies himself on perhaps his most beautiful song, "Waterloo Sunset." This version was recorded live in 1995 for a British TV show.



Taken altogether, this is a wonderful collection of songs. It certainly offers much to enjoy for any Kinks fan, and it's encouraging to see these songs being embraced by another generation of musicians. RECOMMENDED [Running time - 50:33]"

Great Songs in New Versions!

Morten Vindberg | Denmark | 11/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD of new recordings of Ray Davies songs is really a pleasure to listen to. Great variety in sounds and style but great songs all the way through - though it loses a little steam towards the end.



Some tracks are very true to the original whereas others are treated in new and different ways - in some cases in very exciting ways.



The opening track "Better Days" from "Give the People What They Want" is a great song, but it always sounded a little rough and demo-like to my ears. Very interesting to learn from Davies own well-written liner-notes that it really was only demo that was included on the album. A great opener here given a power-pop treatment by Fountains of Wayne.



Steve Forbert's version of "Starstruck" from Village Green P.S. is just as great. Musically more polished than the opener, but Forbert's raw vocals give this fine song a new edge.



"Stop Your Sobbing" is given an acoustic treatment by Jonathan Richman. Very nice, which is also Bebel Gilberto's version of "No Return", which is probably the only bossa-nova song Davies ever wrote. Ray reveals that the song was written with Bebel's mother Astrud ( the girl from Ipanema ) in mind.



"A Well Respected Man" originally was a raw half-acoustic recording. This new version by Josh Rouse has been given a completely different more polished feel - the satire may not be quite as obvious as on the original but great to hear the song interpreted so differently.



"Victoria" is probably too true to the original "Arthur" version to make it really interesting.



"Who'll Be the Next in Line" is good but no more.



Another stand-out is the overlooked gem "Big Sky" from Village G.P.S. Though this new recording has been given an almost identical arrangement, the vocals are more up front than on the original which is great. Though the original is great too, I always felt it deserved a better recording.



Lambchop's version of another "Give the People What They Want" song is very different from the original. Darker and slower. Maybe this version does quite capture the ambiguity of the the Kinks'version.



"Picture Book" is another gem from the Village G.P.S. - one the greatest albums of all time - check out the the deluxe version and enjoy the original along a lot equally great out-takes. This new version is charming and fine!



If you didn't know better you would have thought "Muswell Hillbilly" was an old Hank Williams song; at least that's what Tim O'Brian makes the song sound like.



From "Lola Versus Powerman" comes another overlooked song - I do remember the Kinks played the song in their 1974 Denmark tour alongside their Preservation songs. This new version comes close to the original; the singer even sounds like Davies at times - a fine track.



"Till the End of the Day" is a great rocker but Fastball really don't add anything to it; except maybe make you want to hear the original again.



The title track was originally only released as the B-side to an obscure 1967 European single. Ron Sexsmith new version almost sounds like a 1967 recording too. Solid, but no more.



From "Face to Face" comes the oriental inspired "Fancy" - one on Davies most personal early songs, but also one of the least catchy.



Ray Davies himself along with Damon Albarn closes the album with a live version of "Waterloo Sunset" - a song that has been called the greatest single of the late 1960's.



A worthy tribute to one of the finest songwriters of rock during 4 decades."