The Kinks - Low Budget (1979/2015) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Low Budget doesn't have a narrative like Preservation or Soap Opera, but Ray Davies cleverly designed the album as a sly satire of the recession and oil crisis that gripped America in the late '70s thereby satisfying his need to be a wry social commentator while giving American audiences a hook to identify with. It was a clever move that worked; not only did Low Budget become their highest-charting American album (not counting the 1966 Greatest Hits compilation), but it was also a fine set of arena rock, one of the better mainstream hard rock albums of its time. And it certainly was of its time so much so that many of the concerns and production techniques have dated quite a bit in the decades since its initial release. Nevertheless, that gives the album a certain charm, since it now plays like a time capsule, a snapshot of what hard rock sounded like at the close of the '70s. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Davies' songwriting fluctuates throughout the album, since it's dictated as much by commercial as artistic concerns, but the moments when he manages to balance the two impulses as on the disco-fueled "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman," the vaudevillian "Low Budget," "A Gallon of Gas," the roaring "Attitude" (possibly their best hard rocker of the era, by the way), and "Catch Me Now I'm Falling," where Davies takes on the persona of America itself are irresistible. Low Budget may not have the depth of, say, Arthur or Village Green, but it's a terrifically entertaining testament to their skills as a professional rock band and Davies' savvy as a commercial songwriter.

Tracklist:

01. Attitude
02. Catch Me Now I'm Falling
03. Pressure
04. National Health
05. (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman
06. Low Budget
07. In a Space
08. Little Bit of Emotion
09. A Gallon of Gas
10. Misery
11. Moving Pictures



All thanks go to the original releaser