''Preservation Act 1'' is a concept album and the 12th studio album by the English rock group

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

, released 16 November 1973 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. ''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." 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. 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." Focusing on the musical theater aspects of the LP, Barbara Charone ranked the album as one of the "most impressive" of the Kinks' career. Some more recent reviews of ''Preservation Act 1'' have been sympathetic to its theatrical ambitions, such as

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who declared "Sweet Lady Genevieve" to be the "real candidate for Davies' forgotten masterpiece". 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 An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

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.

Cultural references

The chorus from side 2's "Money and Corruption" was used by the hackers group Anonymous when attacking governmental websites during the 2014 World Cup.

Track listing

Personnel

The Kinks *

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voc ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, harmonica *

Dave Davies David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was in ...

– guitar, vocals * John Dalton – bass *

Mick Avory Michael Charles Avory (born 15 February 1944) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English rock band the Kinks. He joined them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remained with them until 1984, ...

– drums * John Gosling – keyboards Additional personnel *

Alan Holmes Alan Holmes is a musician, artist and record producer, based in north Wales. Although he began his musical career in the late 1960s in childhood beat group The Insects, he first came to prominence in The Zuggs (in 1979), followed by A Silly Tree ...

–

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

*Laurie Brown – brass *John Beecham – brass *Krysia Kocjan, Lee Pavey, Lewis Rich, Pamela Travis, Sue Brown – additional singers Technical *Dave Davies – engineer *Roger Beale – engineer *Pat Doyle – art direction *Chris Hopper – photography

References

* {{Authority control The Kinks albums 1973 albums 1974 albums Rock operas Concept albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Ray Davies