Ray Davies: Other People's Lives

Sonically, it tries too hard to find a home on postmodern pop radio, but these thirteen tracks -- dealing with mortality, the breakup of the Kinks, and the tourist culture of New Orleans -- show that his unique way with a pen and guitar are still unmatched in rock.

First things first: this is, indeed, the first-ever solo album by celebrated Kinks songwriter and lead vocalist Ray Davies, coming over 40 years into his career as what fellow British Invasioner Pete Townshend once called Britain's poet laureate of rock. For longtime fans, this is not the sort of back-to-basics approach that Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash took in their autumn years; Davies has long been dogged by what he thinks pop radio expects of him, and so the sleek production of Other People's Lives slightly mars the effect of these 13 songs: not an embarassing sop to modern tastes, but definitely radio-friendly.

Nevertheless, for those who view Ray as a songwriter and storyteller first, and as a pop icon second, these tracks will seem like an oasis in the desert -- his character studies are as fascinating as ever, whether it's the feckless lover of "Creatures of Little Faith" or the self-explanatory "Next Door Neighbor." However, most of this CD, recorded in 2002 and 2003, deals with Davies himself -- his final breakup with the Kinks, all the ugly recriminations thereof, and his move to New Orleans. Because of the time frame, you won't find songs about Katrina or his shooting at the hands of a mugger two years ago, but it is a fascinating look at mortality from a man who's lived cheek-by-jowl with regret for most of his career. As he sings on "After The Fall": "You can learn your lines and fabricate a show / but the way we come in, yeah, that's the way we're gonna go."