''Preservation Act 2'' is a 1974 concept album by the English rock band

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 ...

, and their thirteenth studio album. It sold poorly (peaking on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart at No. 114), and received a mixed response among critics. Ken Emerson, in ''Rolling Stone'', held out the album as an "underrated" one in the Kinks' repertoire. Other critics were less charitable: ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' described it as "sprawling... with its radio announcements and melodramatic, sub-Andrew Lloyd Webber musical numbers, is a wash, the sound of a once-great band losing the plot." AllMusic referred to it as "a mess, an impenetrable jumble of story, theater, instrumentals, 'announcements,' unfinished ideas, guest singers, and, on occasion, a song or two." The live performances of the material were much better received, with one critic going so far as to say that the Preservation shows were the first successful fusion of rock and roll with theater: "Ray Davies has finally pulled it off— the Kinks-based theatrical production of Preservation is a great rock concert and a perfectly coordinated musical." Half Notes, ''Crawdaddy'', February 1975, p. 22. The 1991 CD reissue on

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

was a two-CD set combining ''Preservation Act 2'' with its 1973 predecessor ''

Preservation Act 1 ''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 ...

'', but with no bonus tracks. The 1998 CD reissue of ''Act 2'' on Velvel featured the

outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...

"Slum Kids", a popular live piece for the Kinks.

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 ...

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 Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Additional personnel *Maryann Price, Angi Girton, Pamela Travis, Sue Brown – vocals *

Christopher Timothy Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

– "announcer" voice (chosen to mimic his adverts for '' The Sun'') *Chris Musk – "reporter at meeting" voice *Alan Holmes – baritone saxophone, clarinet *Laurie Brown –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, flute,

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

*John Beecham –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

, flute Technical *Roger Beale – engineer *Pat Doyle – art direction *Bob Searles – design *Jerry Preston – illustration

References

External links

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