While it doesn't contain any typically poppy, hooky Kinks-ian compositions, this concept album from 1969 is one of the group's more intriguing outings. But the lack of singles isn't surprising, considering the record was originally commissioned for a teleplay that was never produced. After the commercial failure of VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY, the Kinks could have gone one of two ways. They could have forgotten about making cohesive, "veddy British" albums and gone back to simply putting together album-length collections of unrelated songs. Or they could have moved from concept albums to full-fledged rock operas, full of third-person tunes that would enable Ray Davies to further distance himself from his audience.|
Rovi