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See My Friends (album)

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See My Friends
Studio album by
Ray Davies
Released1 November 2010
GenreRock
Length49:15
LabelUniversal
ProducerRay Davies and Martyn Berg
Ray Davies chronology
The Kinks Choral Collection
(2009) 		See My Friends
(2010) 		Americana
(2017)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic51/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
American Songwriter[3]
Clash6/10[4]
Classic Rock6/10[5]
Consequence of Sound[6]
Mojo[7]
Q[7]

See My Friends is a studio album released by Ray Davies with the collaboration of various other artists on 1 November 2010 in Europe and in early 2011 in the US. The album features new studio collaborations of Ray Davies' compositions, which were originally recorded by his band the Kinks.

The album was recorded in Oslo, New York City, New Jersey, Chicago and London. Davies stated: "This project came about almost by accident, with some tracks I had to appreciate the style of the other artists, otherwise it would have sounded unbalanced. And I wanted the album to work as an entire listening experience but each track had a life of its own".[8]

The album includes the last studio recording by Alex Chilton. See My Friends was released seven months after his death. He previously covered "Till The End of The Day" on Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers.

Critical reception

See My Friends was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 51 based on 13 reviews.[1]

Kinks biographer Rob Jovanovic writes that, following the 2009 album The Kinks Choral Collection and other projects in which Davies revisited his past achievements, See My Friends suggested "he couldn't leave it alone".[7] According to Jovanovic, the majority of critics questioned the reason for the album. Among these reviews, Mojo gave it one star out of five, and dismissed Davies and Metallica's version of "You Really Got Me" as a "travesty".[7]

In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "A tribute album starring the man of honor himself, who also curated the whole affair, See My Friends is a bit of a curious creature. Certainly, Ray Davies' influence is so pervasive he could rope in a number of heavy hitters from a number of different generations."[2] At American Songwriter, Michael Sandlin said "See My Friends proves, if nothing else, that there's simply no force on Earth malevolent enough to destroy a good Ray Davies ditty.[3] CC Baxter of Clash explained: "See My Friends was a labour of love for head Kink Ray Davies, it feels like a personal journey through the past on his part, and a genuine tribute from those who've contributed.[4]

Commercial performance

In the UK, See My Friends peaked at number 12 on the UK Albums Chart,[9] and number 9 in Scotland.[10]

Track listing

See My Friends track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Better Things" (featuring Bruce Springsteen)Ray Davies3:12
2."Celluloid Heroes" (featuring Jon Bon Jovi)Ray Davies5:18
3."Days/This Time Tomorrow" (featuring Mumford & Sons)Ray Davies4:17
4."A Long Way from Home" (featuring Lucinda Williams and The 88)Ray Davies3:06
5."You Really Got Me" (featuring Metallica)Ray Davies2:15
6."Lola" (featuring Paloma Faith)Ray Davies4:32
7."Waterloo Sunset" (featuring Jackson Browne)Ray Davies4:06
8."Till the End of the Day" (featuring Alex Chilton and The 88)Ray Davies2:40
9."Dead End Street" (featuring Amy Macdonald)Ray Davies3:29
10."See My Friends" (featuring Spoon)Ray Davies4:00
11."This Is Where I Belong" (featuring Black Francis)Ray Davies3:02
12."David Watts" (featuring The 88)Ray Davies2:20
13."Tired of Waiting for You" (featuring Gary Lightbody)Ray Davies2:49
14."All Day and All of the Night/Destroyer" (featuring Billy Corgan)Ray Davies3:54
International release[11]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Victoria" (featuring Mando Diao)Ray Davies3:18

Charts

Chart performance for See My Friends
Chart (2010) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 55
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 35
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 54
French Albums (SNEP)[15] 154
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 50
Scottish Albums (OCC)[10] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[9] 12
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[17] 3

References

  1. ^ a b "See My Friends - Ray Davies". Metacritic. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Ray Davies See My Friends review". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b Sandlin, Michael. "American Songwriter Review". American Songwriter. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Ray Davies – See My Friends | Clash Music Latest Album Review". Clash. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  5. ^ Dalton, Stephan (January 2011). "Ray Davies – See My Friends". Classic Rock. Vol. 153. p. 109.
  6. ^ "See My Friends". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d Jovanovic, Rob (2013). God Save the Kinks: A Biography. London: Aurum Press. pp. 279–80. ISBN 978-1781311646.
  8. ^ "See My Friends preview". Vintage Vinyl News. 21 September 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  9. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  11. ^ "See My Friends by Ray Davies". Apple Music. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Ray Davies – See My friends" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Ultratop.be – Ray Davies – See My friends" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ray Davies – See My friends" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Lescharts.com – Ray Davies – See My friends". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Ray Davies – See My friends" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Ray Davies Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
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