As a composer of classic songs such as You Really Got Me, Waterloo Sunset, Sunny Afternoon and Lola, Kinks singer Ray Davies is one of the living legends of pop music. Countless bands, from Blur to Oasis and from Kaiser Chiefs to Arctic Monkeys, are indebted to his slightly ironic style with which he knows how to perfectly describe typical British life. In the run-up to the album, Davies was shot
… in New Orleans, after which he had to stay in bed for a year. Two decades after his only solo album Return To Waterloo (1985) - not counting the live album Storytellers from 1998 - the aptly titled Other People's Lives is released. As usual, Davies shows little of himself and is mainly a keen observer of others, in songs that may not reach the level of his best work, but are certainly worthwhile at times. Thanks to the original text sheets printed in the booklet, complete with strikethroughs and corrections, we learn that songwriting is not easy for a recognized genius like Ray Davies. (MS)more
