Mindless Child of Motherhood - The Kinks, Davies, Dave [1]
Polly
Big Black Smoke
Susannah's Still Alive - The Kinks, Davies, Dave [1]
She's Got Everything
Days
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 whe... more »n 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« less
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
"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."
Rulers Of The Sixties Kingdom
PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 12/17/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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 !!!"
Fine collection of mid-period Kinks
Brian D. Rubendall | Oakton, VA | 12/22/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Were all these songs hiding somewhere?
D. A Wu | Chicago, IL United States | 12/25/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Start with this album(1972) then proceed backwards!!!
starsinmybeard | Portland, ME USA | 05/09/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Kink Kronikles is one of those albums included on my 'if I ever was trapped on a desert island' list(providing I happened to have a cd player and plenty of batteries!!) I think if I had a choice it would be my favorite album- at least as a compilation- of course in 1972 when it came out, most of the songs were unknown to most Americans, and there are b-sides, a-sides that never made it on an album, etc. There is a theme to this wonderful collection, and that tends to make it a coherent, solid hand-picked-from-the-vault collection, not just a run of the mill 'greatest hits' number. Furthermore, it doesn't include 'You really got me' or 'All day and all of the night' or 'Tired of waiting', or 'Well respected man' etc, etc!!what band in their right mind would not include the most commercially successful American releases? Why the Kinks of course! Anyhow, this album contains a full cast of Ray Davies' characters- Lola, Apeman, Polly, Wonderboy, King Kong, Mr. Pleasant, David Watts, and some of Dave Davies' characters as well- Susannah, Death of a clown, Mindless child of motherhood. The theme of side A tends to be more situational, the things Ray wants, needs, desires, or is just plain stuck in the middle of (whether it's really him or a person he becomes for the role!) Side B is more about other people- that he knows(Lola) or is just weaving a story about. I guess you could say that this album is a very personal album- and rivals any other bands' compilation albums (Beatles and T.rex are the only competition in my view) These guys had something in the order of 17 top ten hits in Britain from 1964-1971. The greatest modern songwriter in a band- Ray Davies!! bar none!!Great lyrics, great music! every song- and more prolific in this period than almost Lennon and McCartney put together!(John and Paul wrote about 200 or so songs together from 1963-1970(1969 technically), and Ray wrote about 200 songs from 1964-1970 alone. This album is the first a new fan should listen to. It changed this Beatlemaniac (and beatle lovers are the hardest to convert to anything else, because if you like the best, there is no other!) This album is the best!!! buy it."