The Journey - Part 2
The Kinks
The Journey – Part 2 is the second volume of The Kinks’ 60th‑anniversary anthology, released in late 2023 as another 2CD/2LP set of remastered original recordings curated by Ray Davies, Dave Davies, and Mick Avory. Like Part 1, it avoids strict chronology; instead, its 30‑plus tracks (34 on CD) are grouped into four themed sections that follow a loose narrative about a “journeyman” whose world falls apart, is tempted and lost, then gradually regains perspective and connection. The material covers the band’s core Pye/RCA years from 1965 to 1975 and mixes major hits, cult album cuts, and a handful of new or rare mixes, including 2020 and 2023 remixes and several previously unreleased 1975 live tracks.
Side 1 (“The world around the journeyman starts to crumble…”) pulls together songs about social pressure and fraying stability—“Till the End of the Day,” “A Well Respected Man,” “David Watts,” “This Time Tomorrow” (alternate take), “Preservation,” and others—suggesting success tinged with anxiety and moral drift. Sides 2 and 3 push the character “astray” and into the underworld: darker, often theatrical tracks such as “He’s Evil,” “Scrapheap City,” “Alcohol,” “Rainy Day in June,” “Wicked Annabella,” “Where Are They Now?” (2023 mix), and deep cuts like “Two Sisters,” “Animal Farm,” and Dave Davies’ “Susannah’s Still Alive” sketch ghosts, temptations, and lost innocence. Side 4 brings a kind of hard‑won uplift, moving through “Lola,” “Sunny Afternoon,” “See My Friends,” “20th Century Man,” “Celluloid Heroes,” and finally “Big Sky” and “God’s Children,” which Ray and Dave frame as songs about inner strength and a “fresh start in a new world.” Critics regard The Journey – Part 2 as a rich companion to Part 1: a thematically sequenced, remastered overview that highlights how much of The Kinks’ catalogue—hits and deep cuts alike—turns on questions of identity, disillusionment, and stubborn hope.
The Journey - Part 2
The Kinks
The Journey – Part 2 is the second volume of The Kinks’ 60th‑anniversary anthology, released in late 2023 as another 2CD/2LP set of remastered original recordings curated by Ray Davies, Dave Davies, and Mick Avory. Like Part 1, it avoids strict chronology; instead, its 30‑plus tracks (34 on CD) are grouped into four themed sections that follow a loose narrative about a “journeyman” whose world falls apart, is tempted and lost, then gradually regains perspective and connection. The material covers the band’s core Pye/RCA years from 1965 to 1975 and mixes major hits, cult album cuts, and a handful of new or rare mixes, including 2020 and 2023 remixes and several previously unreleased 1975 live tracks.
Side 1 (“The world around the journeyman starts to crumble…”) pulls together songs about social pressure and fraying stability—“Till the End of the Day,” “A Well Respected Man,” “David Watts,” “This Time Tomorrow” (alternate take), “Preservation,” and others—suggesting success tinged with anxiety and moral drift. Sides 2 and 3 push the character “astray” and into the underworld: darker, often theatrical tracks such as “He’s Evil,” “Scrapheap City,” “Alcohol,” “Rainy Day in June,” “Wicked Annabella,” “Where Are They Now?” (2023 mix), and deep cuts like “Two Sisters,” “Animal Farm,” and Dave Davies’ “Susannah’s Still Alive” sketch ghosts, temptations, and lost innocence. Side 4 brings a kind of hard‑won uplift, moving through “Lola,” “Sunny Afternoon,” “See My Friends,” “20th Century Man,” “Celluloid Heroes,” and finally “Big Sky” and “God’s Children,” which Ray and Dave frame as songs about inner strength and a “fresh start in a new world.” Critics regard The Journey – Part 2 as a rich companion to Part 1: a thematically sequenced, remastered overview that highlights how much of The Kinks’ catalogue—hits and deep cuts alike—turns on questions of identity, disillusionment, and stubborn hope.