| Preservation Act 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 16 November 1973 | |||
| Recorded | March–July 1973 | |||
| Studio | Konk, London | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 39:16 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Producer | Ray Davies | |||
| The Kinks chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Preservation Act 1 | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+[2] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
| The Great Rock Discography | 5/10[4] |
| Pitchfork | 9.8/10[5] |
| Uncut | [6] |
Preservation Act 1 is a concept album and the twelfth studio album by the English rock group the Kinks, released 16 November 1973 by RCA Records.
Reception
[edit]Preservation Act 1 was well received by many critics at the time. A review in Rolling Stone by Ken Barnes was critical of Ray Davies' "tendency toward vaudevillian excess", but overall he rated Preservation as a "highly listenable, enjoyable album".[7] Barnes singled out "Sitting in the Midday Sun" as a "wistfully irresistible" number and labeled "One of the Survivors" the Kinks' "best outright rocker" in years.[7] Gary Lucas, reviewing Preservation Act 1 for Zoo World, also had high praise for the work, stating: "Dare I say it is one of the nicest albums to be released this year (if not the best)? Of course I will."[8] Focusing on the musical theater aspects of the LP, Barbara Charone ranked the album as one of the "most impressive" of the Kinks' career.[9]
However, it did not sell well peaking on the Billboard 200 at No. 177.
Some more recent reviews of Preservation Act 1 have been sympathetic to its theatrical ambitions, such as AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who declared "Sweet Lady Genevieve" to be the "real candidate for Davies' forgotten masterpiece".[1]
Re-release
[edit]The 1991 CD reissue on Rhino was a 2-CD set combining Preservation Act 1 with its 1974 follow-up Preservation Act 2 under the title Preservation: A Play in Two Acts. It featured an extended mix of "Money & Corruption/I Am Your Man" with an extra instrumental break and one bonus track, non-album single "Preservation".
The 1998 CD reissue of Preservation Act 1 on Velvel included additional bonus track, the single versions of "One of the Survivors".
Cultural references
[edit]The chorus from side 2's "Money and Corruption" was used by the hackers group Anonymous when attacking governmental websites during the 2014 World Cup.[10]
Track listing
[edit]All tracks are written by Ray Davies.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Morning Song" | 2:00 |
| 2. | "Daylight" | 3:19 |
| 3. | "Sweet Lady Genevieve" | 3:26 |
| 4. | "There's a Change in the Weather" | 2:59 |
| 5. | "Where Are They Now?" | 3:28 |
| 6. | "One of the Survivors" | 4:31 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cricket" | 2:56 |
| 2. | "Money and Corruption/I Am Your Man" | 6:01 |
| 3. | "Here Comes Flash" | 2:41 |
| 4. | "Sitting in the Midday Sun" | 3:47 |
| 5. | "Demolition" | 4:07 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Preservation" (Non-album single) | 3:37 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "One of the Survivors" (Single edit) | 4:07 |
Personnel
[edit]The Kinks
- Ray Davies – vocals, guitar, harmonica
- Dave Davies – guitar, vocals
- John Dalton – bass
- Mick Avory – drums
- John Gosling – keyboards
Additional personnel
- Alan Holmes – brass
- Laurie Brown – brass
- John Beecham – brass
- Krysia Kocjan, Lee Pavey, Lewis Rich, Pamela Travis, Sue Brown – additional singers
Technical
- Dave Davies – engineer
- Roger Beale – engineer
- Pat Doyle – art direction
- Chris Hopper – photography
References
[edit]- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Kinks: Preservation Act 1 > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: K". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. robertchristgau.com. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London, UK: Omnibus Press. p. 2005.
- ^ Strong, Martin C. "The KINKS biography". The Great Rock Bible. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ^ Josephes, Jason. "Kinks: Preservation Act 1". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 23 December 2001.
- ^ "Kinks Klassics". Uncut. No. 88. September 2004. p. 62.
- ^ a b Barnes, Ken, The Kinks: Preservation Act 1, Rolling Stone, 14 February 1974.
- ^ Gary Lucas, Preservation Act 1, Zoo World, 28 February 1974, p. 36.
- ^ Barbara Charone, The Kinks, Preservation Act 1, Rock, 1973, p. 34.
- ^ "'Hacktivists' claim attacks on Brazil World Cup sites". 12 June 2014.
- ^ "Preservation Act 1 - The Kinks". music.apple.com. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
- Preservation Act 1 at Discogs (list of releases)
