Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The "Lost" Years, October 2, 2004
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.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rulers Of The Sixties Kingdom, December 17, 2007
I grabbed this one 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 owned was: "Arthur".
Well, this Double LP: "The Kink Kronikles", was and still is One of the Greatest Records of Music from the 1960's, I was ever Lucky enough to Purchase {$5.99}, for me it's THE Greatest Hits of that Decade.
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 this.
This is the DEFINATE look into a period {1966-1971} of some of the Greatest Music to have come from England during those years. The Kinks have never Gotten Their Due. Without these Great Songs, The Sixties still would have gone on...BUT, There would have been a 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, this Rock Music, we old-Timers, are still all worked-up over, more than Forty Years on, this will set it all in Place. This is The Sixties, some of the Greatest Music that you will ever listen to is on this CD.
FIVE STARS !!!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fine collection of mid-period Kinks, December 22, 2000
Most people are probably most familiar with The Kinks circa either 1965 ("You Really Got Me," "All Day and All of the Night") or 1983 ("Come Dancing," "Don't Forget to Dance"). In between those two periods of peak popularity, however, The Kinks put out a ton of great eclectic music. The one well known song from this period, the surprise 1970 hit "Lola" is about a transvestite and is not at all out of character for the period. "The Kink Kronikles" is two discs loaded with songs of similar quality, many with the same witty humor and storytelling as "Lola." For instance, there are "Victoria" (a nostalga trip to England's Victorian period), "Apeman" (revealing a desire to return to the jungle), "Waterloo Sunset" (Napoleon in Paradise) and "Village Green Preservation Society" (another in the band's ode to show business). The one missing track from the period is "Celluloid Heroes," inclusion of which would have upped the rating by an additional star.Kinks leader Ray Davies was sort of a British Bruce Springsteen without the bombast. This is one of the finest collections of his stories.
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by The Kinks 
