THE KINKS
Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) 50th Anniversary Edition BMG
8/10
THERE is a puzzle at the heart of The Kinks’ apparently nostalgic 1969 album, and it hinges on the ambiguity of that cumbersome title. There’s a lot of work going on inside those brackets, and if you accept Ray Davies’ wry invitation, you have to wonder about the relevance of Britain’s colonial past to the fortunes of his disappointed everyman, Arthur.
As legends go, Arthur’s is a modest one. The
