Preservation Act 1

Preservation: Act 1 is a 1973 concept album by the English rock group The Kinks.

Preservation was not well-received by critics and sold poorly (peaking on the Billboard 200 at #177), though the live performances of the material were much better received. Many hardcore Kinks fans were alienated by Ray Davies' melodramatic songwriting during the Preservation project era, resulting in albums that played more like the soundtracks to a piece of musical theatre than rock albums.

However, more recent reviews of Preservation: Act 1 have been more sympathetic to its ambitions. In particular, All Music's Stephen Thomas Erlewine has declared "Sweet Lady Genevieve" to be the "real candidate for Davies' forgotten masterpiece".^[1]

The 1991 CD reissue on Rhino was a 2-CD set combining Preservation: Act 1 with its 1974 follow-up Preservation: Act 2, but with no bonus tracks.

The 1998 CD reissue of Preservation: Act 1 on Velvel includes the single versions of "Preservation" and "One of the Survivors", neither of which are available on the original vinyl release. The latter briefly charted on the Billboard Pop Singles chart peaking at #108.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Raymond Douglas Davies. 

Personnel

• Ray Davies - vocals, guitar
• Dave Davies - guitar, vocals
• John Dalton - bass
• John Gosling - keyboards
• Mick Avory - drums

References