ALBUM REVIEW: The Kinks - Misfits

    Last we left off on The Kinks story, their 1977 album Sleepwalker was a proper comeback for the group after the string of disappointments from their disastrous concept album streak. That album focused back on playing pure rock, albeit with bona fide tinges of power pop, and the result was their most straightforward and consistently enjoyable project in years. Unfortunately, after this accomplish, there was a major exodus of Kinks members - first bassist John Dalton called it quits, and he had been around since Arthur in 1969, so it was a major loss. Even more of a major loss was drummer Mick Avory, who was one of the original four Kinks members, and by the end of this album's sessions, new bassist Andy Pyle and keyboardist John Gosling will have left the group, the latter having been a member since Lola. While the aspirations of Misfits to be Sleepwalker II are palpable, at points it almost works, and I'd wager the best moments on here outshine the best material on Sleepwalker, but those moments are undercut by some seriously lackluster songs. After the energy of Sleepwalker, it's hard to see Misfits as more than a little bit of a letdown.

    It's strange, because on paper there's a lot of similarities between Misfits and their previous album, mainly the more conventional production and focus on a power-pop "arena rock" sound which made the sound of their comeback sound so confident and clean. Second time around, though, there isn't a whole lot that's done to expand on or refine with this sound, aside from slight hints of glam rock if you squint hard enough. If anything, the real change is that Misfits sounds even more contemporary than its predecessor, and while I don't necessarily think going more pop is a bad thing, something about the execution is not quite as suited for the style of The Kinks as it was on the previous album. That doesn't mean it never works, as anthemic songs like "Hay Fever" and the album's biggest hit in "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" have just as much appeal as the best of Sleepwalker, even if the former has a certain corny aspect to it. With that being said, I can really only see myself regularly returning to the title track, the Dave Davies-penned "Trust Your Heart", and the truly excellent "In a Foreign Land", which is certainly better than just about anything on Sleepwalker.

    Unfortunately, Misfits is marred by horribly weak cuts plain filler, and some truly baffling pieces of "social commentary." The worst of the filler tracks is definitely on the second half, with tracks like "Live Life" and closer "Get Up" feeling like they're there just to get a full second side. This essentially leaves no reason to flip over the record outside of hearing Dave's track and the pretty decent side opener of "Permanent Waves" - although, If I were going to listen to anything named "Permanent Waves", I'd go to Rush. As for the social commentary pieces, buckle up. Ray was great at social commentary, especially when it came to the ills of society, so this should be smooth sailing right? While I think Ray is coming from a place of good intention, it's hard not to look at songs like "Black Messiah" or "Out of the Wardrobe" and think that he really dropped the ball hard. "Black Messiah" has some themes about equality and whatnot, but then we get the line "You hear everybody talking about equal rights / but white's white, black's black, and that's that," and either this is some Randy Newman character piece or Ray has severely misunderstood his own message. Maybe I misunderstood? "Out of the Wardrobe" tries to work humor into itself, and coming from a band that previously made the progressive "Lola" years prior, it still feels misplaced, albeit not as severely as "Black Messiah". Two cuts that I can't begin to understand.

    Misfits isn't so much an expansion on what made Sleepwalker work, but more-so a repetition, and the results are middling compared to the predecessor. While the best of this album's material does hit hard and match up to some of the better songs on the work that preceded it, taken as a whole, Misfits is a more tired and less enthusiastic successor that regularly stumbles more than the confidence of Sleepwalker. Perhaps it's reflective of the group's turmoil with only the Davies brothers being the remaining original members, but it doesn't make up for the disappointment I felt after listening to this album. There just isn't a whole lot to Misfits at the end of the day, and to think otherwise is to live in a rock 'n' roll fantasy.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Misfits.