Preservation Act 2

The Kinks Preservation Act 2 US CD album

Where Preservation, Act 1 created a dramatic framework and set this two-part drama in motion, Act 2 captures the full breadth of Ray Davies's morality play. Act 2 is so ambitiously plotted that it seems as if the narrative was built before the music was considered. The ensemble grows throughout, again detracting from the Kinks' music. (It's worth noting that none of the tracks from either part of Preservation stayed in the band's live sets for long after the LPs were released.) But for all the pretensions entailed in a narrative on community and class, both acts are refreshingly low-key. In each you can hear the roots of so much indie pop that came a couple of decades later. The shifty melodies call for all sorts of harmonic gamesmanship, and the action turns out to be fun, albeit less so on this sequel than on Act 1 or on the brittle Village Green Preservation Society. --Andrew Bartlett