Muswell Hillbillies
| Muswell Hillbillies | ||||
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| Studio album by The Kinks | ||||
| Released | 24 November 1971 | |||
| Recorded | August–October 1971 | |||
| Studio | Morgan Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Rock, country rock | |||
| Length | 44:38 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Producer | Ray Davies | |||
| The Kinks chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Muswell Hillbillies | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Blender |   |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Drowned In Sound | (10/10) |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.9/10) |
| Rolling Stone | (favourable) |
Muswell Hillbillies is an album by the English rock group The Kinks. Released in November 1971, it was the band's first album for RCA Records. The album is named after the Muswell Hill area of North London, where band leader Ray Davies and guitarist Dave Davies grew up and the band formed in the early 1960s.
The album centred on themes of poverty and working-class life, as well as the destruction and subdivision of old Victorian neighbourhoods—a practice that had become commonplace in North London during the 1970s.
Muswell Hillbillies was the band's first album for RCA Records, their prior recordings having been released on Pye Records (Reprise Records in the United States). Their contract with Pye/Reprise expired the same year. The album was recorded between August and October 1971 at Morgan Studios, London, using a new brass section, the Mike Cotton Sound, which included Mike Cotton on trumpet, John Beecham on trombone and tuba, and Alan Holmes on clarinet.
The album was not a commercial success (it failed to chart in the United Kingdom and peaked at #48 in the U.S.), and its sales were a disappointment following the success of Lola the previous year. Stereo Review magazine called the poor-selling record "album of the year" in 1972 (even though it was released on 24 November 1971). In the 1984 Rolling Stone Album Guide, Rolling Stone editors gave the album five stars out of five and called it Davies' "signature statement" as a songwriter.
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