The Kink Kronikles

The Kinks | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Reprise / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KOZ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,054 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #56 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Baroque Pop

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Victoria

2. The Village Green Preservation Society

3. Berkeley Mews

4. Holiday in Waikiki

5. Willesden Green

6. This is Where I Belong

7. Waterloo Sunset

8. David Watts

9. Deadend Street

10. Shangri-La

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Fancy

2. Wonderboy

3. Apeman

4. King Kong

5. Mr. Pleasant

6. God's Children

7. Death of a Clown

8. Lola

9. Mindless Child of Motherhood

10. Polly

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This compilation from one of the most influential bands in rock history is, like Neil Young's Decade, one of those rare summation packages that stands on its own in the discography. Released at a time in the early '70s when the Kinks, led by songwriter/vocalist Ray Davies and his guitarist brother Dave, were attempting to reestablish themselves with America after being banned for years, The Kink Kronikles still makes a strong case for the band's high place in the Rock Hierarchy. Assembled by longtime Kronicler John Mendelssohn, this isn't exactly a hits package, although you'll find mid-period staples like "Lola"; it's a shoulda-been-hits package. With essential B-sides ("Big Black Smoke"--the best in a long line of portraits of a tired Britain), album tracks (lots from Arthur, the band's cult 1969 rock opera), and ageless singles ("Dead End Street," "Waterloo Sunset"), this makes for an unusually dense and highly concentrated set of period must-owns. --Don Harrison

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Lost" Years, October 2, 2004

By 

C. S. Junker "soul_survivor" (Burien, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kink Kronikles (Audio CD)

Between the peaks of their major hits "Sunny Afternoon" (1966) and "Lola" (1970) the Kinks were recording great music, most of which went virtually unheard, particularly in the United States. In 1966 the band was barred from performing in the U.S., and this situation wasn't rectified until 1970. In addition, their sound became more distinctly British and less commercial, although "Dead End Street" and "Victoria" did get some airplay stateside.

This two-disc set contains these hits, album tracks from "Face to Face", "Something Else by the Kinks", "The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society", "Arthur," and the comeback "Lola vs. Powerman and the Money-go-round," along with a number of single-only tracks that until very recently were available nowhere else.

Of the "British Invasion" bands the Kinks are unique in that their sound is fundamentally English rather than American. The Beatles were inspired by Elvis, Little Richard and Chuck Berry; the Rolling Stones drew their sound (and their name) from Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Ray Davies' songs, with their focus on "simple people" and "ordinary lives", their nostalgia for the village green and small-town England, are rooted in the traditions of English music-hall pop and British folk music.

Most of the songs here are not in the hard-rock tradition of the early Kinks ("You Really Got Me", "Tired of Waiting for You",) or the later Kinks ("Low Budget", "Rock and Roll Fantasy") but have a softer touch. The satirical trend evident in "A Well Respected Man" and "A Dedicated Follower of Fashion", which skewered contemporary English life, give way to longing for the village green and the old steam-powered trains. Ray Davies's brilliant, catchy melodies and superb lyrics are something unique in music.

This set is the best way to get acquainted with the Kinks. Once you get to know these songs you may want to buy all five albums, but you'll want the singles anyway.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rulers Of The Sixties Kingdom, December 17, 2007

By 

PHILIP S WOLF (SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kink Kronikles (Audio CD)

I grabbed this double LP set up with much gusto from a record shop at Christmas time, 1972. I had been a fan of the Kinks since the first blast of: "You Really Got Me" was heard over a crappy transistor radio, on a beach in 1964. I needed more Kinks, as at this time the only record by the band that I had purchased was: "Arthur".

Well, this double LP: "The Kink Kronikles", was and still is one of the greatest records of music from the sixties. The music of Ray Davies (and brother Dave) in all it's glory is found here and in 1972 all that it cost me was $5.99 and I cannot think of a greater bargain than that. For me these two records stand as THE greatest hits of the sixties and early seventies.

The songs of Ray Davies are British anthems: "Dead End Street" "This Is Where I Belong" "Waterloo Station" "Victoria" and "Days". A previously unissued track is here as well: "Did You See His Name?". I played these two records until they melted. This kollection opened a huge door of music into my world, and I was buying a lot of Kinks records after hearing the wonderful music found here.

This is the DEFINATE look into a period {1966-1971} of some of the greatest music to have come forth from England during those years. The Kinks have never gotten their due. Without these fantastic songs the 1960's still would have gone on...BUT, There would have been a real huge hole right in the middle of that decade, that where this timeless music, would have been.

If you wanna find out, what all the fuss was about and just why this type of rock music gets folks my age up and outta their easy chairs and rings all the right bells and whistles more than forty years on. This disc will set it all into place. This is the sixties, some of the greatest music that you will ever listen to is on this CD and that (as they say) is a fact!
FIVE STARS !!!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Were all these songs hiding somewhere?, December 24, 1999

By 

D. A Wu "squonch" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kink Kronikles (Audio CD)

I may not be qualified to judge the quality of this compilation, as I do not own any Kinks albums besides this one. But as a newcomer to the Kinks discography, I sure found this an enjoyable listen that ages well in my collection, even if the sound quality is a little thin (for lack of a better word). This album reminds me of the satisfying experience of getting into Big Star's first two albums.

I especially enjoy Side One. Being a working stiff, "Get Back Into Line," literally brought tears to my eyes - you'll see what I mean. Also, tunes like the whimsical "Waterloo Sunset," the exuberant "This is Where I Belong" and many others deserved to be radio standards but apparently never were: I never heard many of these great songs before buying this disc. I was lucky to have found this as an inexpensive discount bin cassette. Though I imagine it would be better to buy all the individual albums, I'd pay ten times the Amazon price based on how much cathartic listening pleasure this album actually delivered to me.