ALBUM REVIEW: The Kinks - Word of Mouth

    The Kinks have opened the 80s with a relatively good streak, kicking off the decade with the somewhat generic but energetic Give the People What They Want, a solid enough release for a group going on their 20th year at the time. After that, they kept up and expanded on that momentum with State of Confusion, an exciting and fun pop rock album every bit as good as its predecessor - maybe even more so. With that in mind, you can see why my expectations were now a little bit off the ground yet again, with the bad taste of the low-interest Low Budget mostly washed out. Well, Word of Mouth is unfortunately not really hitting the same exciting highs as either of their previous albums - in fact, there's not a whole lot that makes Word of Mouth unique in their catalog, sounding more like a mesh of both previous albums with worse end results.

    With the previous two albums, both of my recommendations came with the caveat that, if you're not particularly partial to that 80s sound, you're not gonna like those albums - well, this is the same case here. One thing I will say in favor of this release, though, is that this album is not that much different from say State of Confusion on a production level - clearly, Ray Davies is a competent producer, and he hasn't gone neck-deep into that sound. This was just one year after Pipes of Peace by McCartney, mind you, so you could be a whole lot more tasteless than this. That's not to say it's all free of that - the "rocking" energy of "Word of Mouth" or even the tacky enjoyableness of "Good Day" are pretty smothered by that 80s production, with the latter sounding only slightly like a Sega Genesis production. Still, moments like "Living on a Thin Line" or the opening track "Do It Again" give at least some reason to spin the first half of the album.

    Keep that all in the back of your head - there is some fun to be had with Word of Mouth, but let me shift gears to tell you that this is essentially the same thing as combining both of their previous albums into a centrifuge. There isn't any real improvement on the ideas like there was with State of Confusion, nor is it really as raw as Give the People What They Want, both albums that also are more consistent in quality. Word of Mouth is not only less interesting in execution, but it's less enjoyable. If you manage to get to the album's second half, you'll be unfortunately greeted by a dismal running that starts good at "Mass Reduction", and only gets worse from there - "Too Hot" and the closing track "Goin' Solo" have got to rank as some of the absolute worst dribble I've ever heard from The Kinks. These are truly awful songs with almost no redeeming qualities - avoid at all costs. Even other moments like "Missing Persons" or "Sold Me Out" aren't really memorable enough to justify themselves. There was at least a few times listening when the thought that "I could be listening to 'Come Dancing' instead" came to mind.

    While it isn't nearly as embarrassing as some other 80s albums I've had the displeasure of familiarizing myself with, Word of Mouth leaves very little to speak about. A couple great tracks with some additional fine ones are scatted unevenly throughout this generally tepid album that barely manages to get anywhere by the end. If you really need your 80s Kinks fix, the previous two albums have those in spades, and by the end you won't feel like your time has been spent.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Word of Mouth.