Weekly Review: The Kinks – Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
hey yall! our album this week is Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, the eighth album by English rock band The Kink, released in 1970!
reading about the album ahead of time, i heard that it was a concept album – i was uncertain how that would work, considering i knew a few of the songs off the record and none of them immediately jumped off the page as fitting into a theme, but yknow, it def works! this album tells the loose story of a band rising to fame and the ways the music industry works around them. the bulk of the record stays on topic, addressing elements of the music industry or the rise of the band, and cleverly Lola, which doesnt immediately deal with a band, is used as the single from the fictional band that catapults them to success.
musically, i always forget how much i dig classic bluesier rock and roll – the opener Contenders, for example, is a fantastic time. other than Lola, Strangers and Apeman were the other two songs i knew from this album, probably expectedly. Strangers is excellent, and Apeman isnt an all the time song for me but i do enjoy it a lot, haha. i also really liked Powerman as the closer/thesis statement of the record – works really well!
i figure i should probably note my opinion on Lola – i dont think public opinion is against this song, and i definitely am not, but i dunno! the song does use some odd language at the end and there’s a reading that denies Lola her womanhood, but given the glowing adoration for her in the rest of the track it doesnt seem that way to me. its a really good track, and i can understand if it puts some folks off, but to me it reads more like an unfortunate phrasing from someone who’s uneducated than something outright disrespectful.
on the whole, really glad i gave this one a spin!
faves – Contenders, Strangers, Lola, This Time Tomorrow, Apeman
dislikes –
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One – 8/10
i’ll be back next week with a review of Pretties For You, from Alice Cooper- in the meantime, please let me know what album you’d like me to review below!
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