Ray Davies

Ray Davies, one of rock's finest songwriters, redoes selections from his songbook with a classical choir. While aging rockers will probably recoil at this, the results are quite charming actually, especially when the heavenly voices champion "china cups and virginity" or simply offer a pillowy cushion for Davies to relax on. Things get a bit silly on some of his most famous rockers, but just as often, as with "Shangri-La," the Kinks' celebration/defamation of a fast-fading English way of life shines through. A bonus: Davies' voice hasn't aged a day.

An elegiac quality deepens many of the Kinks' most enduring songs, from "See My Friends"
to "Celluloid Heroes." Frontman Ray Davies reaffirms his belief in faded beauty with a newly
recorded collection of classics rearranged for London's Crouch End Festival Chorus. At 65,
Davies remains in remarkable voice, and although the horndog frenzy of "You Really Got
Me" isn't best served by a churchlike choir, ballads such as "Waterloo Sunset" fra... More >