You could almost make the assumption that Ray Davies, as an aging legend of rock whose name is not Dylan or Young, is making poor music these days -- but you'd be wrong. True, his new solo album, "Other People's Lives," features the kind of bland adult alternative production style that comes standard-issue on veteran rocker solo projects (or at least did until Rick Rubin came along with the revolutionary idea to make them sound good), but Davies' songwriting, while perhaps not up to the consistent brilliance of his work during the late '60s heyday of the Kinks, isn't so terribly far below it either, still sharp and cranky on the surface and imbued with that tender, nostalgic melancholy beneath. "Things Are Gonna Change (The Morning After)" is the opening track, and you can also download the closer, "Thanksgiving Day," here.
-- T.B.
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