Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire (studio album)
by The Kinks

Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire by The Kinks
Year: 1969
Overall rank: 357th   
Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 715 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1969 (14th)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1960s (48th)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (357th)

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The Kinks, Arthur Or The Decline & Fall Of The British Empire, 1969 1st Reprise
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The Kinks Arthur Decline 6366 Stereo Reprise Records Vintage 1969 LP Vinyl EX
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The Kinks - Arthur - Used CD, Very Good Condition
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The Kinks bestography

Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire is ranked 2nd best out of 62 albums by The Kinks on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Kinks is The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society which is ranked number 150 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 9,376.

The Kinks album bestography « Higher ranked (150th)
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
This album (357th)
Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire
Lower ranked (415th) »
Something Else By The Kinks

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Average Rating: 89 (237 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 85 (166 votes)Comments: View 1
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Average Rating: 82 (156 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 83 (153 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 84 (164 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 82 (154 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 81 (151 votes)Comments: View 0
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Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 357th | 1960s rank: 48th | 1969 rank: 14th

Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire collection

Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire ratings

Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 715 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 715 ratings for this album.

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45/100
 !
44 hours ago Yazeed   2453/100
 
80/100
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12/22/2025 22:38 Olli   6,67364/100
 
75/100
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12/11/2025 16:34 Exist-en-ciel   4,69770/100
 
70/100
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12/06/2025 08:41 colabunga   58680/100
 
80/100
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11/18/2025 20:59 Jakor   4,88269/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.2/100, a mean average of 81.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.6.

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Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire favourites

Showing latest 20 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 134 members

Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 45 comments |
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Rating:  
90/100
From 11/02/2023 06:12 | #299747
This is probably The Kinks' finest album. Clever and sarcastic songwriting, outstanding drums, and memorable choruses.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/02/2023 06:04 | #299745
Fabulous drums.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/09/2023 01:34 | #293800
An interesting concept album that is full of the classic Kinks charm that leads to an enjoyable experience. The song writing is great and well thought out making it fun to explore his words in depth. Musically, it has that feel good vibe to it that makes you feel happy when you listen to it and instantly makes you feel nostalgic for the music even if you haven't heard the album before. I am also a huge fan of the horn and string arrangements on here as they add so much to the sound and atmosphere especially on the bigger tracks. They completely transform a song like Yes Sir, No Sir from a decent song into one that I absolutely love to revisit. Overall, a solid Kinks release that doesn't blow me away but it is harmless and a lot of fun to listen to.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 01/09/2023 13:01 | #292648
This album has got at all! Great songs. Great playing. Great lyrics. Interesting story. Good production. Plenty of bonus-tracks.
Of course "Shangrila" is the oustanding track. But there are no weak songs here. "Some Mother`s Son" is very moving - could be an anti-war anthem! "Young and Innocent Days" - beautiful sentimental Davies ballad.

Energy in the rockers "Brainwashed", "Victoria" and "Nothing to Say"

Lots of humour and satire throughout the album.

Among the bonus tracks you`ll find some af Dave Davies' best songs from this period, "This Man He Weeps Tonight" and "Mindless Child of Motherhood" as well as the previously unreleased "Mr Shoemaker's Daughter" from Dave`s aborted 1969 album!

This album deserves to be in any record collection.

https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDkinks.html
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 06/26/2022 06:04 | #286671
The Kinks best album imo and one of my all time favourite albums. Wonderful from start to finish
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/06/2022 15:58 | #285044
This album grew on me a lot, it's extremely british, but I love it about it. My favorite tracks are Victoria, Mr. Churchill Says, Shangri-La, Young And Innocent Days and the most heartbreaking Some Mother's Son.
Altough I think that Yes Sir, No Sir and Nothing To Say are skips, album still stands strong.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 04/14/2022 15:47 | #284237
I regard "Shangri-La" as one of the greatest songs of 1969.
It's up there alongside Space Oddity, Gimme Shelter, Something, Whole Lotta Love, The Court of the Crimson King.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/20/2021 15:10 | #277703
Not better than Village Green, Arthur is still an amazing album. The only aspect I don't like about it is the tendency of some songs to interrupt halfway through just to turn into something melodically and rhythmically different (Yes Sir No Sir, Australia, Mr Churchill Says, Princess Marina...). Feels a bit too inconsistent as a whole because of this but there are a lot of brilliant ideas that deserve recognition.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 11/15/2021 19:46 | #276326
If this site has taught me anything, it's that I need to spend more time with the Kinks.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 07/01/2021 23:07 | #271222
i think this is my favourite kinks album , excellent songs
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1969
1. Abbey Road by The Beatles
2. In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson) by King Crimson
3. Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin
4. Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones
5. Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin
6. The Velvet Underground by The Velvet Underground
7. Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake
8. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
9. In A Silent Way by Miles Davis
10. Hot Rats by Frank Zappa
11. Tommy by The Who
12. The Band by The Band
13. Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
14. Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire by The Kinks
15. The Stooges by The Stooges
16. Crosby, Stills & Nash by Crosby, Stills & Nash
17. Green River by Creedence Clearwater Revival
18. Stand! by Sly & The Family Stone
19. Willy And The Poor Boys by Creedence Clearwater Revival
20. Karma by Pharoah Sanders
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