Preservation Act 1

Preservation Act 1
Studio album by
the Kinks
Released16 November 1973
RecordedMarch–July 1973
StudioKonk, London
GenreRock
Length39:16
LabelRCA
ProducerRay Davies
the Kinks chronology
The Great Lost Kinks Album
(1973) 		Preservation Act 1
(1973) 		Preservation Act 2
(1974)
Singles from Preservation Act 1
  1. "One of the Survivors"
    Released: 20 April 1973 (US)
  2. "Sitting in the Midday Sun"
    Released: June 1973
  3. "Sweet Lady Genevieve"
    Released: 21 September 1973 (UK)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
The Great Rock Discography5/10[4]
Pitchfork9.8/10[5]

Preservation Act 1 is a concept album and the 12th studio album by the English rock group the Kinks, released 16 November 1973 by RCA Records.

Preservation Act 1 did not sell well (peaking on the Billboard 200 at No. 177). However, it was well received by many critics at the time. A review in Rolling Stone by Ken Barnes was critical of Ray Davies' "tendency toward vaudevillian excess," but overall he rated Preservation as a "highly listenable, enjoyable album."[6] Barnes singled out "Sitting in the Midday Sun" as a "wistfully irresistible" number and labeled "One of the Survivors" the Kinks' "best outright rocker" in years.[6] Gary Lucas, reviewing Preservation Act 1 for Zoo World, also had high praise for the work, stating: "Dare I say it is one of the nicest albums to be released this year (if not the best)? Of course I will."[7] Focusing on the musical theater aspects of the LP, Barbara Charone ranked the album as one of the "most impressive" of the Kinks' career.[8]

Some more recent reviews of Preservation Act 1 have been sympathetic to its theatrical ambitions, such as AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who declared "Sweet Lady Genevieve" to be the "real candidate for Davies' forgotten masterpiece".[1]

The 1991 CD reissue on Rhino was a 2-CD set combining Preservation Act 1 with its 1974 follow-up Preservation Act 2. It contained one bonus track ("Preservation") and an extended mix of "Money & Corruption/I Am Your Man", featuring an extra instrumental break.

The 1998 CD reissue of Preservation Act 1 on Velvel includes the single versions of "Preservation" and "One of the Survivors", neither of which is available on the original vinyl release.

  1. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Kinks: Preservation Act 1 > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: K". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. robertchristgau.com. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London, UK: Omnibus Press. p. 2005.
  4. ^ Strong, Martin C. "The KINKS biography". The Great Rock Bible. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  5. ^ Josephes, Jason. "Kinks: Preservation Act 1". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 23 December 2001.
  6. ^ a b Barnes, Ken, The Kinks: Preservation Act 1, Rolling Stone, 14 February 1974.
  7. ^ Gary Lucas, Preservation Act 1, Zoo World, 28 February 1974, p. 36.
  8. ^ Barbara Charone, The Kinks, Preservation Act 1, Rock, 1973, p. 34.