Davies could have done better
THE CD: “Other People’s Lives”(V2 Records)
PERFORMER: Ray Davies
WEBSITE: Click here.
SUGGESTED TRACKS: “Creatures of Little Faith”, “The Tourist”, “The Gateway (Lonesome Train)”
The first solo album by ex-Kinks frontman Ray Davies sounds pretty much like the solo effort of an aging rock star. Most of the songs on “Other People’s Lives” involve vague tales of pensive song-people struggling with change or age or insecurity. Very little of the clever social commentary — or plain old good songs — Davies penned for the Kinks appear here.
The Davies of yore glows dully in the background on such songs as “The Tourist,” an indictment of rich, clueless vacationers inspired by Davies’ pre-Katrina move to New Orleans: “Just another tourist checking out the slums/With my plastic Visa, drinking with my chums.”
“Creatures of Little Faith,” a simple song of waning love, shows Davies can still write a good little tune when he wants to: “You caught me with my pants down but I was only taking a shower/Still, you looked for the evidence like the smell of perfume or lipstick on my collar.”
In fairness, no one should expect Davies to sound just like the Kinks — it’s time to move on. But 30-plus years of heading up one of hard rock’s seminal bands should have resulted in more than throwaway Herman’s Hermits tracks and bizarre railings against stand-up comedians. Let us hope this otherwise outstanding musician realizes his potential in the next 40 years.
Available at all local record stores.
– by Morgan Kelly
