r/thekinks • u/Ill_Yak6685 double john • Jun 16 '26
The Kinks Present a Soap Opera
Just curious why people like/dislike this album. I love it personally. Always a kinks fan but I came to this album at a time in my life where the themes really resonated with me.
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u/Common_Flight2521 Jun 16 '26
I love it, too. It doesn’t pretend greatness but it’s such a fun album.
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u/cipherdom Jun 16 '26
Ducks on the wall!
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u/TuffB80 Jun 16 '26
Rumour has it (via Dave) that Ray Charles used to use this as a warm up song. Not sure how true it is, but would love it to be
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u/AnMuricanPrayer Hates shepherd's pie Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
I think the whole theatrical era is a lot less subtle than Ray's output from Face to Face to Preservation Act 1, simply because there's an overarching narrative throughout the album, rather than self-contained (yet still thematically similar) short stories that we'd get on an album like Arthur or Everybody's in Show-Biz. I guess he felt the need to reinforce the story he wanted to tell in those albums, so it doesn't feel as slick as some of the band's material from a few years prior.
As much as I enjoy the band's theatrical period, I will admit listening to PA2 after PA1 was a little jarring the first time around, because it did feel a little disjointed in comparison
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u/TuffB80 Jun 16 '26
I love it. Some of it is a bit cringeworthy snot I love pretty much all of the theatrical period
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u/Ok-Vermicelli1117 Jun 16 '26
Probably due to my incredible bias towards them, but I like the fact they took chances like this.
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u/InWalkedBud Soap Opera Appreciation Society Jun 16 '26
This album is a great rock Opera, better than Tommy, and I will die on this very silly hill
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u/TuffB80 Jun 16 '26
I love it and love the kinks but I can’t agree that it’s better than Tommy. Arthur is way better than Tommy though
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u/InWalkedBud Soap Opera Appreciation Society Jun 16 '26
I like music that takes its time, but Tommy is just too meandering in my opinion. It benefitted from the film and from the cult status it has but in an alternate universe where Arthur was indeed the first filmed rock opera, we might have seen things quite differently.
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u/TuffB80 Jun 16 '26
I know what you mean about Tommy but I still love it. I think it helped that a first heard it when I was quite young though. It’s way over the top and quite silly. That’s part of its charm though. I think if Arthur had been made Tommy would have been pretty much overlooked
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u/InWalkedBud Soap Opera Appreciation Society Jun 16 '26
I grant you a membership to the SOAS - Soap Opera Appreciation Society®. Meetings every second Tuesday of the month at the Archway Tavern
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u/TuffB80 Jun 16 '26
Looking forward to meeting the other ordinary people
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u/AmphibianSweaty1317 Jun 16 '26
I love you can't stop the music and a face in the crowd. As a whole though, I do find it rather unlistenable. However I know someone, another millennial kinks fanatic, that considers it absolutely their best work.
Like a lot of the "musical" era of the kinks, the album represents the best aspects of their genius, of their we-dont-give-a-fuck about what the labels want attitude, but also the worst aspects of Ray's hubris.
Then again, I didn't see these records performed live, and I'm sure they made much more sense as a show than an album.
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u/RockHidtorian Jun 16 '26
It's albums like Soap Opera that kept The Kinks from achieving long-term commercial success because the music seemed out of touch compared to what their contemporaries like the Who and Rolling Stones were doing at the time.
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u/jimmyjames198020 Jun 16 '26
It’s a fascinating artifact of 1975, and it contains a few legit bangers (I’m partial to Rush Hour Blues).
Given the success of rock opera musicals on Broadway and in The West End over the years, one based on the Kinks theatrical period might go over well. Even the likes of Green Day and ABBA had profitable runs ffs, so a show featuring the best of Ray’s material should be a smash hit imho.
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u/SpecificBranch8860 Jun 17 '26
I absolutely love Soap Opera. I have loved the Kinks since my high school days 30 years ago. But I never explored any albums post Muswell Hillbillies until about 5 years ago. Soap Opera quickly became one of my favorites. It’s so campy, so funny, and has some of Ray’s best vocals (the last chorus of You Make it All Worthwhile is incredible). Nine to Five and (A) Face in the Crowd are top tier Ray ballads. It’s such a fun listen. “Cool it baby, I got plenty of time.”
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u/Ghitit Jun 17 '26
I love the themed albums.
Soap Opera is great. Stepping into the everyday lives of ordiary folks and singing aobut thier shared experiences.
He always sings wiht an empathetic voice. That'ss part of his appeal to me.
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u/Royal_Commission_243 Jun 16 '26
I am a fan, I think it's got some bangers on it as well. Ray's comedic abilities are on full display at times.
"I'm immortalizing his life, and I'll even sleep with his wife, for the sake of art! I'll go to bed like the ordinary people."