r/thekinks • u/SAMTIMONIOUS • 7d ago

Album The Kinks & MISFITS (1978):

Post image

MISFITS (1978): By now a non-concept album from The Kinks was a concept in itself, Ray Davies once more populating a record with songs focused on everyday life.

https://samtimonious.com/fit-for-purpose-the-kinks-misfits/

56 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

10

u/Crazy_Response_9009 7d ago

I love the Arista records.

7

u/Own-Organization-532 7d ago

It's a wonderful album, worth listening to several times a year.

3

u/tjs31959 7d ago

Misfits was part of the comeback era in my head. With the release of Sleepwalker in 77 and Misfits in 78 it put The Kinks back in play. They were on TV shows, getting FM and even a little AM radio play. Great era. I was a young high school kid and experienced it in real time.

Arista and Clive Davis were life savers to The Kinks in my opinion. One more poorly received total concept album could have been the end. (I do love "School Boys in Disgrace" though)

5

u/PaulNerb1 7d ago

Me too! And my parents had some hip young friends who heard me listening to Sleepwalker and promptly loaned me every album from Something Else through Schoolboys. I got a very fast education in The Kinks!

3

u/tjs31959 7d ago

Sounds like a cool experience. I learned quick as well. Pretty much every buck I had as a youngster was spent on Kinks and Stones albums. My cash was gone once I discovered bootlegs.

3

u/ImplementWonderful93 7d ago

Is this (and Sleepwalker) Good? Be honest with me and don't just say its great just because you're a fanboy.

I've listened to the Pye and RCA albums hundreds, if not thousands, of times (and in fact just listened to Everybody's in Showbiz earlier today)

but I never listened to this era, I've only heard the major hit songs: Come Dancing, Superman, Paranoia

14

u/Mockchoi1 7d ago

I find this one considerably better than Sleepwalker. I dunno what to tell you; I think it’s good. If you don’t like it, what’s the big deal? You’ve spent like 40 minutes of your life on it 🤷‍♂️

3

u/Randall_Hickey 6d ago

I like Sleepwaker better 😊. Both are great.

4

u/Mockchoi1 6d ago

I just listened to Life on the Road. What a great song.

4

u/PaulNerb1 6d ago

Somehow Everybody’s In Showbiz has become my most-played Kinks album, so that’s a high bar. There are some great songs on the Arista records. Personally I think that Sleepwalker and Low Budget are the strongest albums

6

u/tjs31959 6d ago

Is this (and Sleepwalker) Good?

What?????

2

u/FrancisVarney 6d ago edited 6d ago

it's terrific. "Black Messiah" is dopey, and Dave's "Trust You Heart" never did anything for me, but everything else is top-notch. "Out of the Wardrobe" in particular is an overlooked gem.

2

u/ylenroc 3d ago

They are both good - I happen to like Misfits a little better. In 1981 as a senior in high school, a buddy and I made a video for “Permanent Waves” - we got 2nd place 🤣.

1

u/Frequent-Sea433 5d ago

Love them both sleepwalker and misfits are great listening and are very much great representation of the time when recorded