Meh.
1
By Kinksy Winksy
I am the most dedicated Ray Davies fan this side of Uranus. I openly weep in years when no new Ray music is forthcoming. That being said, Americana 1 had some (four) quality toetappers. This Americana 2, though, is way below Ray's usual impeccable, creative standards. This is something that should have been released 150 years after Ray's demise as "lost material" and experienced only for a one-time novelty listen. The upside is that Ray said the Kinks were recording a new album soon. Hopefully he'll be back in keen quality form there.
Ray The Man !!
5
By Bash G
Ray Davies is a songwriters’ songwriter , who influenced a wide ranging truly great musicians from Pete Townsend, Tom Petty , Mark Knopfler to name a few . His depth is writing about complex stuff in human experience and putting them in simple words is his genius, as evident in his second installment of the Americana series. Can’t wait for the new Kinks reunion album . God bless Ray Davies & The Kinks !!
Flat and Disappointing
2
By Gertrude da Goat
Much like Ray's last effort there is nothing exciting here. Truthfully, Ray Davies is one of the all-time greats. But there is not much evidence of that here. A few borrowed themes and ideas from previous works don't help much. This has some things in common wihtbe the Storyteller album from some years back. That was not much fun either, although the live shows were pretty good. I hope Ray has gotten this out of his system now anf comes up with something more straight ahead soon. There are few talents like him in this world. This is very disappointing.
