Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an essential purchase for fans of British Invasion pop/rock music. During the years 1964 to 1966, the Kinks placed eight songs in the U.S. Top 40. The rest of the album is rounded out with key album tracks (like "Stop Your Sobbing") as well as all of the Kinks' British singles (with the glaring exception of their No. 10 U.K. hit "See My Friends").

You get the raw energy of "You Really Got Me" and the sound-alike "All Day And All of the Night," but singer/songwriter/guitarist Ray Davies would not be pigeon-holed and would write later hits like the lovely "Set Me Free," and songs that would poke fun at conformity ("Dedicated Follower of Fashion") and ridicule British income tax laws ("Sunny AFternoon") and the superficiality of a 9-to-5 existence ("A Well Respected Man").

The albums that these songs were taken from (like "Kinks-Size," "Kinda Kinks," "Kinkdom") were from a period when the Kinks were essentially a singles band. And while there is much to enjoy on these early albums, this greatest hits package gives you the essentials. Starting in 1967 their albums as a whole were much stronger and I would recommend also getting albums like "Something Else," "Face to Face" and "Village Green Preservation Society" to round out your Sixties-era Kinks kollection. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This is a great selection of early Kinks songs. But, if you are a true fan you should buy their masterful albums. You can buy this as well, as there is very little overlap (except for "Face to Face"). Here is the order in which I recommend buying them:

1. Something Else By The Kinks (5 stars)

2. Face to Face (5 stars)

3. Village Green Preservation Society (5 stars)

4. Arthur... (5 stars)

5. Lola Versus Powerman & The Moneygoround (4.5 stars)

6. Misfits (4 stars)

7. Muswell Hillbillies (4 stars)

The first five are masterpieces. "Something Else" and "Village Green" are cohesive ensemble pieces; "Face to Face" is a fabulous collection of songs. Note that this is not a ranking; this is just the order in which I recommend buying these gems.

These are great songs, no doubt, but somehow something got lost in the mix to CD. You Really Got Me and I Need You especially lose the original punch they had on vinyl. I don't know what it is, but they just sound thinner and less exciting on CD. Maybe too "clean," even. Other than that, great stuff. I'm glad they at least kept it in mono.

This CD is a definite must if you don't know a lot about the Kinks, but know that you like "You Really Got Me," or "All Day And All Of The Night." Going beyond those two songs this CD expands on the Davies genious and gives you a glimpse of why they actually are credited as helping start the punk movement nearly a decade later. Yet other songs stick to the pop ballad formula of the 60's British Invasion. If you buy this CD with the belief this is all the Kinks had to offer you are WRONG. This CD is merely a stepping stone for those unfamiliar with the KINKS. I would have given this CD 5 stars for the music, but due to the recording quality... something that was out of their control due to contracts and copyright ownership in the 80s, I gave it a 4. Not a bad recording, but their remastered stuff is far better. Sad to say this recording label hasn't done so yet. Still it's a must!

This is a great cd to buy for all of the early Kinks singles (most notably "You Really Got Me"). That said, they went on to do much better things. A lot of people would say the Velvet Underground are the most underrated band of all time, but everybody knows that -- so in reality the Kinks are! - I am a huge music fan, but I just recently discovered the Kinks (I am 29 - I discovered them 2 years ago). They are brilliant!! This album collects their earliest singles and "Come Dancing...." collects the later ones. What establishes them as pure geniuses of pop music are there albums, though. Buy these now!!!!: "Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society" -- this is easily as good as Sgt. Pepper's, Highway 61 or VU + Nico.... and get "Arthur, or decline....", and "Something Else" ---- after you have those three get "Muswell Hillbillies" and "Lola..." -- then get this greatest hits comp and the "come dancing" comp. and you will have the heat of heat of kinks stuff and you will be wondering, like me and a lot of other confused people why this band wasn't huge! But it is O.K. - they will be your private band that you don't have to share with the rest of the world (unlike the equally (but not more)brilliant) Beatles. The heat kids - THE HEAT!!!!

This wonderful collection documents the most relevant years of the Kinks. While I must aggree with the other reviewer that most "Greatest Hits" projects tend to be slightly evil and the truest way to understand a song is in the format of its original album. However, in this case many of these great tracks would be overlooked as they are B-Sides to singles. For that reason, this album is essential to any sincere record collection. Fabulous obvious tracks like "You Really Got Me", "All Day And All Of The Night", and "Tired Of Waiting For You" are met by other great singles like "Everybody's Going To Be Happy" and "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion". The selling point here is B-Sides like "Who'll Be The Next In Line", "I Need You" and "I'm Not Like Everybody Else". If you have only one Kinks item in your record collection, make it this one.

I am a relative youngster of 27 years and I certainly did not grow up with '60s music, but the Kinks have a raw, aggressive power that translates well into the 2000s!

Everyone is familiar with their hits that are played on oldies radio, but there was so much stuff on this CD that I never heard before and liked BETTER than their radio hits!

I can not reccomend this CD any more highly. ESSENTIAL!

What a great CD this is! This was the first Kinks CD I bought and I love it. This is the place to hear Dave Davies' green amp (an 8 watt amp stuck with a knitting needle and plugged into a Vox AC 30) at its distorted best. Here you can hear some true rock classics like "You Really Got Me" (I love Dave's solo), "All Day And All Of The Night", and "Tired Of Waiting For You". If you've never heard The Kinks before, this CD is definately the way to go. And if you have heard The Kinks . . . Well need I say more?

The inexhaustible "You Really Got Me" introduced the band Stateside with Dave Davies' primal guitar riff (solo too) as dirty sounding and equally memorable as that of "Satisfaction". This stands as one of rock's greatest singles. Gee, "Till the End of the Day" could have fit this mold too. But it was clearly brother Ray Davies' songcraft and vocals that would eventually catapult the band to its ambitious concepts. This recap, with Ray dominating, covers their early period with several songs already having serious lyrical content. Chief among the missing is the lovely "See My Friends". But showcasing superb English B-sides, such as "Who'll Be the Next in Line" and "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" more than even up the score. With his satirical attack on conservative society, "A Well Respected Man", Ray redefined his lyric approach for the first time. His social wit went further to the extreme and mirthfulness permeated the self-promoting character in "Dedicated Follower of Fashion". The biggest leap in Ray's art, however, was on the not-so-funny "Sunny Afternoon". The pathos in his voice enforced the bruised solitude of a man who's lost everything. The slow-moving melody accentuated the song's purpose. Then there were those gorgeous harmonies from Ray's first wife, Rosa. Until their classic LP "Face To Face", which does include "Sunny Afternoon", most of their commercial and artistic success was owed to their singles. And this eighteen-song compendium does flattery to their accomplishments during the British Invasion years.

R.I.P. Pete Quaife

This disc brings together 18 songs from the early phase of the Kinks' career, when they were still primarily a singles band. The recordings range from 1964's "You Really Got Me" to "Sunny Afternoon," which came out in 1966. As such, it's an ideal snaphot of a great rock band in its rawest, grittiest incarnation, bashing out two-and-three chord ravers with boundless energy and ample power. The afformentioned "You Really Got Me" is simply one of the greatest rock 'n' roll songs of all time, a propulsive pounder with an electrified vocal and a guitar solo that paints the sky. And it's not the only great recording here: "All Day And All Of The Night" is relentlessly catchy and unmistakeably cool, with its grinding guitars and salivating vocals. There's also the explsive "Come On Now," the melodic rush of "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy," and the oddly touching "Set Me Free." The biting sarcasm of "A Well Respected Man" shows off Ray Davies' early talant for social commentary, and "Till The End Of The Day" is a rollicking ode to rock 'n' roll rebellion. Basically, it's a great collection of rock songs from a great, great group in its early, rockin' prime. Rock fans, pick this baby up!