"Preservation Act 1" is a concept album and the 12th studio album by the English rock band The Kinks, released on November 16, 1973, by RCA Records.
The album did not perform well commercially, peaking at No. 177 on the Billboard 200. Despite this, it received a generally positive reception from many critics at the time. Ken Barnes, writing for Rolling Stone, criticized Ray Davies’ "tendency toward vaudevillian excess," but overall called Preservation Act 1 a "highly listenable, enjoyable album." Barnes singled out "Sitting in the Midday Sun" as a "wistfully irresistible" track and described "One of the Survivors" as "the Kinks’ best outright rocker in years." Gary Lucas, reviewing the album for Zoo World, was even more enthusiastic, calling it "one of the nicest albums to be released this year (if not the best)." Focusing on the musical theater aspects, Barbara Charone also ranked the album as one of the "most impressive" works in the Kinks' catalog.
In more recent reviews, critics have shown appreciation for the album's ambitious theatrical concept. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called "Sweet Lady Genevieve" a "forgotten masterpiece" and praised the album’s theatrical scope.
The 1991 CD reissue by Rhino combined Preservation Act 1 with its 1974 sequel, Preservation Act 2, in a 2-CD set, which included a bonus track titled "Preservation" and an extended mix of "Money & Corruption/I Am Your Man," featuring an extra instrumental break. In 1998, Velvel released a CD reissue of Preservation Act 1, which included the single versions of "Preservation" and "One of the Survivors," neither of which were available on the original vinyl.
Culturally, the chorus from the track "Money and Corruption" was used by the hacker group Anonymous during their attacks on government websites in 2014, particularly around the time of the World Cup.
