General Music Discussions - the Who vs the Kinks

Both bands wrote rock operas (Kinks win in quantity, but not in quality, IMHO), but It's The Who hands down for me. (never much into Kinks, TBH.

Can't beat Tommy, Leeds, Next and Quadro

Give my vote to the Kinks though the Who and Townshend were my first love.

LAM-SGC wrote:

This is simply the 60s version of Blur vs Oasis. With The Kinks influencing Blur and The Who influencing Oasis. That said,while Blur were at times as interesting as The Kinks, Oasis were never as interesting as The Who.

Maybe initially The Who influenced Oasis but that didn't stick. Remember Paul McCartney saying ' I think I've heard that before' commenting on Wonder Wall.

The Who were the only sixties band that could give the Beatles a run for their money in terms of importance and influence. The Kinks are not really anywhere close to those two imo.

It wasn't just the rock musicals but Who's Next is an undoubted classic. What did the Kinks do that came anywhere near that?

Mortte wrote:

Although Who is really big to me and got into Kinks never as much, I think Face To Face, Something Else, Village Green, Arthur & Lola are as classic albums as those Who´s classic albums and I know people who think absolutely backward way of these bands as I. Also I know Kinks seventies albums have got respect, although I am not familiar at all of them. I think it´s just Kinks never made it on the same level as Who and I think it´s just how things go in this world, nothing to do with both bands quality of music.

I agree which much of that. For me, Pete Townshend and Ray Davies both improved as songwriters even after their initial impressive run of 'teen anthem' hits. You Really Got Me, I Can't Explain, My Generation and All Day and All of the Night etc are still thrilling 60's pop songs but in terms of maturity, depth, range, sophistication and craft they pale somewhat in comparison with much of the material that subsequently appeared on albums like Who's Next, Lola v Powerman, By Numbers, Who Are You and Muswell Hillbillies. Guess what?, both they and us had to be dragged kicking and screaming into adulthood with all the added responsibility, freedom and sacrifice that such entails (with Pete and Ray's additional burden of having to 'grow up in public.') Townshend is on record as acknowledging the Kinks as a major inspiration for most of the early Who singles. It's tempting to compare both bands given the amphetamine fueled rush of their Dansette 45s, art school origins and a tenuous Mod connection but they parted company forever stylistically circa Village Green Preservation Society. This was Davies' eulogy for a set of English values he felt were being destroyed by an all encompassing drive towards a corporate engineered modernity (maaan). That said, the Kinks 4 year ban from entering the USA in 1965 certainly forced Ray into such a conservative looking perspective and probably denied the Kinks their destiny as a band who could compete with the Stones, Who, Beatles et al during the British invasion peak years. They also both explored Rock as Theatre with the Who winning that laudable but ultimately doomed venture hands down i.e. the music on Tommy and Quadrophenia is way, way better than that of the Kinks efforts but the plot-lines would shame an earnest but truant drama student. The Kinks best work IMO is a type of insular English Rock folklore while the Who have always been an outward looking and declamatory beast. I love 'em both for completely different reasons.