No good albums ever come out in the summertime. They all seem to be reserved for the spring, in anticipation of a summer touring season, or in the fall, in anticipation of the Christmas shopping rush. But that is okay, because it gives us time to dig out the old classics. Among my typical summer listening routines is taking trips through the catalogs of some of my favorite artists. So far this summer, I have used my daily commute to traipse through the complete studio works (in order) by U2, The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead, and Yes. Currently, I am going through the Kinks’ works, of which there is much, both good and not-so-good. Today’s commute featured the albums Muswell Hillbillies (1971) and Everybody’s In Showbiz (1973), two back-to-back albums that featured The Kinks, and Ray Davies in particular, at their absolute best.

Now, The Kinks have always been a bit of an anomaly in the rock world, originally at the forefront of the British Invasion, with hits such as “Tired Of Waiting”, “All Day And All Of The Night”, and the song that singlehandedly invented both punk and heavy metal, “You Really Got Me” (later covered and made into the first hit by Van Halen). For reasons still unclear, they were forced to retreat from the US during a musician's union ban that lasted for the latter half of the sixties. Principal writer Ray Davies used that to his advantage, creating lush concept masterpieces dripping with Old Britannia, most notably The Village Green Preservation Society and Arthur Or The Decline Of The British Empire, records that stood apart from their psychedelic and blues-based contemporaries by mixing rock & roll with jazz, folk, and Victorian music hall pieces, often to outstanding effect.

The ban was lifted in 1970, just in time for the hit album Lola vs. Powerman And The Money-go-round, a scathing attack on the music industry, featuring some of Davies’ finest writing, and the heaviest playing by the Kinks since those early singles. The resulting US tour had a profound musical effect on the entire band, and thus Muswell Hillbillies – the Kinks’ absolute finest hour - was born. The title refers to Muswell Hill, the area where the Davies brothers, Ray and Kinks guitarist Dave, were raised. Musically, these songs form a perfect blend of the English music hall textures the band had been exploring along with a very rootsy, American folk and country flavor (hence the "hillbillies" in the title). Always a bitter cynic, Ray Davies is at the top of his songwriting game here, tackling such themes as schizophrenia, alcoholism, anorexia, poverty, life on the road, and (of course) his utter disdain for the modern age. Most of the songs take on a rustic, acoustic feel. Some songs feature a brass band, others feature string band instruments such as banjos & fiddles. Far removed from the fury that punctuated their early hits, or the whimsy that informed their English period, this was an album that showed The Kinks to be a mature band, dripping with creativity and musical spirit.

Hot on the heels on Muswell Hillbillies, The Kinks hit the road, making up for lost time in every town they hit. The 1973 follow-up album, Everybody’s In Showbiz, saw the first seeds of what eventually became The Kinks' most excessive period, one of elaborate concept albums and theatrical productions. However, unlike the albums to follow, the first of those concept albums was an absolute winner, hitting the nail right on the head.

A double album, half studio - half live, Everybody's In Showbiz tackles.....you guessed it....life in the entertainment industry, centered around the life of a touring musician. The studio half deals with life on the road, including topics such as lack of sleep, bad food, shifty promoters, and a revolving roster of identical hotel rooms. While some of the songs border on "hokey", this disc nonetheless contains some of Ray Davies' strongest writing, especially on the melancholy "Sitting In My Hotel" and the classic "Celluloid Heroes", an epic that deals with nostalgia and a longing for the Hollywood of yesteryear. Musically, there are some parts that rock, but this album mostly falls into the Vaudeville and Victorian music hall styles that Ray Davies had been exploring during that period, rarely falling flat.

The live portion of this album finds The Kinks firing on all cylinders, while on tour to support Muswell Hillbillies. Primarily focusing on music from that album (and its immediate predecessors), The Kinks, augmented by a brass section, offer living proof of a band that can transcend all of the issues tackled in the lyrics of the studio tracks, and deliver a raging performance on stage. There are a few goofy bits here and there, including impromptu covers of "Day-O" and "Baby Face", as well as an audience-sung version of the band's biggest hit, "Lola", and some clever bits of stage banter thrown in, for good measure, but the real meat and potatoes are in the serious live cuts, especially "Brainwashed", "Top Of The Pops", and the epic "Alcohol". This reissue features two additional live tracks - the rockin' "Til The End Of The Day" and the quirky "She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina", both of which further cement the concept laid out in the live portion of this album.

As mentioned before, following this album's release, The Kinks went into an incredibly self-indulgent period with a string of dense, elaborate concept albums and musical stage theatrics that scared away even their biggest fans, before emerging at the end of the 70s as a bona fide arena rock act. This album caps off their quirky vaudevillian period and does so with all the style and gusto that one can expect from this unique band.

In fact, next up on the docket for me is the two-part Preservation album, a very long winded re-telling of the band’s 1968 masterpiece, The Village Green Preservation Society, complete with narration, guest vocalists, and a great deal of hubris. I have listened to it before and I know it will be tough listening, especially for a commute, but that’s how this game is played.

Whose catalog do I tackle next?