Bug

This is easily the best studio album Dave Davies recorded and it deserves a greater audience. It is ironic that Dave chose to record a concept album because in the mid seventies he and fellow band mates in The Kinks struggled with bandleader Ray Davies to record a straightforward rock album.Brother Dave however did not fall into the trap of writing songs to explain actions but just collected a number of tracks around a central theme. The styles range from hard rocking to acoustic, but also goes into the realms of trance. Some tracks displays Dave's sense of humour. Not bad for a 50+ rocker. Kudos for Angel Air to release this album in the UK.

I'm a long time Kinks fan (second-generation) and recently decided on a whim to order 'Bug' with my CD order. Good decision.I thought it would rock, but it really rocks. There are the trademark guitars, vocals and super back-up vocals, but it's also delicate in places (such as 'Flowers in the rain') and experimental. ('Bug', 'De-Bug')Then there is some of the sentimentality and nostalgia that seems to run in the Davies-family blood ('Fortis Green').It makes for an interesting mix and an album well worth checking out if you're a fan of intelligent, dynamic rock music.

On the first power chord in the first song "Whose Foolin' Who" you hear it, yea!, that's the rippin slashin distorted "You Really Got Me" Kinks thing. Really cool stuff, rock n roll !Dave Davies sings great, rocks out, and has a paranoid theme running though the lyrics. Catchy, rockin', memorable. You can't help but hear The Kinks in Bug it's real evident. You get a sense of the huge role Dave had in The Kinks and seems to get less credit for."Whose Foolin' Who", "It Ain't Over Till It's Over" two cool rockers... Then "The Lie" has a Ventures or Shadows (since he's British, the 60's UK guitarists dug them) surfy feel then goes to a cool distorted chorus riff, really cool song... "Let Me Be" a freedom song, critical of society lyric. Really sounds like a lost Kinks song a lot, great... "Displaced Person" bluesy slide lick, heavy feel, nice slow rocker then speeds up, nice rippin' short ending guitar solo cool... "Rock You, Rock Me" a hard rock power ballad feel, great singing too... "Flowers In The Rain" here's the Englishy 60's Kinks thing. Cool song. Guess Dave dug the ballad and themed records as well as Ray did... "Fortis Green" 60's English thing. Nicely crafted 60's Birtish feel..."Why?" cool distorted slow rocker, teenage adult rebellion, classic rock n roll lyric. "True Phenomenon" tryin' something epic here, keyboard and reaching feel, it's so so... "Bug" back to rock, nice rocker, a little punky (which the Kinks always were) ..."De Bug" tryin' a techno thing, don't like it at all. "Life After Life" dj techno remix song, terrible.Another great record by Dave is Live at the Bottom Line. Cool record. Lots of audience baiting. Great version of "Strangers" and "Death Of A Clown". Cool record.Overall a great fun record lots of good rockers. Cool ballads. Dave really shows his stuff and his influence in the Kinks. Maybe some generic feel to some of it and the experimental techno stuff is bad the rest really rocks. Skip songs 10,12 and 13 and the record is great. Rock on Dave! Live at the Bottom Line

The nine years since the last studio effort from The Kinks have been bridged by reissues and live efforts. Now, finally, Dave Davies presents a new studio album, BUG. This fifty-something Rock 'n' Roll Hall-of-Famer has lost nothing in the intervening years. In fact, he has never been better as a songwriter, singer, or (sacreligious as it sounds) a guitarist than he is on this excellent effort. The younger Davies is truly the keeper of The Kinks' legacy as he demonstrated on his superb 2000 live release ROCK BOTTOM. His new release, BUG, features equally scintillating rockers like "Whose Foolin' Who", "It Ain't Over, Till It's Done", "The Lie", and "Let Me Be" that match the power chord brilliance of his old band's legendary hits. Davies is no rock dinosaur. Witness the modern rockers "Displaced Person" and the title track or the techno numbers, "De-Bug" and "Life After Life." For lovers of Brit-Pop who look to The Kinks' quieter, more subtle, and less commercial gems--there's the quirky "Fortis Green" and the moving "Flowers in the Rain." Die-hard fans will be familiar with the former (as well as "True Phenomenon" and "Let Me Be") from one of his several internet-only releases on his meta media label. Rest assured, the songs have been transformed from their humble origins and sound fresh and exciting. This is the first great rock album of the twenty-first century. The past is gone, but Dave Davies still has a way to go.

Dave is amazing -

Sweet.

In his prime he could hold his own with the best of his generation.This is by far his best solo effort