I just had to comment on how heavily slanted this "ultimate" collection is. It purports to cover the Kinks' entire career, but practically all of the material here is from the very narrow period from "The Kink Kontroversy" (1966) through "Something Else by the Kinks" (1967). The remaining 30+ years of the band's career is covered by a few carelessly tacked-on tracks at the end. Prominent late-'60s albums like "Arthur" and "The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society" are glossed over, and the band's popular resurgence in the 1980s is almost totally ignored. Obscurities like "Sittin' on My Sofa" and "She's Got Everything" are great for devoted Kinks fans, but on a career overview album aimed at new or casual fans, why include them instead of later hits like "Destroyer" and "Sleepwalker"? Why bother covering the later years at all if the collection is going to be so hopelessly lopsided?

For a new fan looking for a broad and balanced overview of the Kinks' long career, I would recommend picking up "The Singles Collection," "Celluloid Heroes," and "Come Dancing with the Kinks," which cover (roughly) the '60s, '70s, and '80s respectively.

The Kinks are one of the few 60s bands that have stood the test of time, and this is *the* great CD that brings them into the 21st century. If you like Cake, or Beck, or Wilco, or any of the other poetic/pop alternative bands of the 90's and 00's - check out the Kinks. They are the original grunge band. For all the boomers out there like me, this is an album you will love. Many of the songs on this CD I first heard on a tinny transistor radio as a middle school student. You Really Got Me ... All Day and All of the Night ... Tired of Waiting. These songs STILL ROCK!!

The first CD of this collection contains all of their UK hits in chronological order, from their first success (You really got me) in 1964 to their last (Don't forget to dance) in 1983. All the classic songs are here including You really got me, All day and all of the night, Tired of waiting for you, Dedicated follower of fashion, Well respected man, Sunny afternoon, Waterloo sunset, Autumn almanac, Days, Lola and Apeman. It also includes Dave's two solo UK hits - Death of a clown and Susannah's still alive (inserted in their correct places chronologically between the other Kinks hits).

Being presented in chronological order, this CD shows their progression from their musical roots in R+B to more of a mainstream pop group and continually changing their style thereafter. Nevertheless, their songs were always distinctive because of Ray's talent for making ordinary situations into extraordinary songs. My favorite Kinks song is Waterloo sunset, a huge UK hit but not an American hit. It is about romance at a railway station that I am familiar with, though I cannot possibly imagine what inspired Ray to write that song, but he was a genius.

The second CD is less instantly appealing, containing a mix of B-sides and rarities as well as songs that were hits for others although not for the Kinks, including David Watts (a minor UK hit for punk-rockers The Jam) and Stop your sobbing (a minor UK hit for the Pretenders). If you enjoy listening to more than just the hits, you will find plenty to interest you here.

The best tribute to the quality of the Kinks' songs lies in the diversity of the covers that have been recorded by singers in several genres of music. Apart from the aforementioned tracks by the Jam and the Pretenders, Kirsty MacColl (Days), the Stranglers (All day and all of the night), Petula Clark (Days - and a French version of Well respected man), Cathy Dennis (Waterloo sunset, Sunny afternoon), Green day (Tired of waiting for you), Jimmy Buffett (Sunny afternoon), Van Halen (You really got me) and Barb Jungr (Waterloo sunset) are among those who have covered Kinks songs.

Despite the brilliance of some of the covers, here you get the chance to hear the original versions of their classic songs, plus a selection of their other music.

Cool overview of the their fairly long career. I'm a sucker for their raw early stuff so the first disc is naturally my favorite. However I was surprised to hear some pretty cool songs from the 70's and 80's that I was previously unfamiliar with. I'd like to see see a few more oldies in here though!
...still a very neat set.

I won't go into much detail with this review, suffice to say that is a very good collection that covers a lot of ground. What it doesn't quite do successfully however is demonstrate just why the Kinks were so great - sure, it has the classics like "Sunny Afternoon", "Waterloo Sunset" and "Lola", as well as a number of quality album tracks, but it under-represents the period where they were at their most brilliant (and quintessentially British!) - i.e the Village Green and Arthur albums. So while you can listen to this collection and appreciate that these songs are terrific, you don't really get too much of a sense of why this band was so important and why, for that matter, they were so influential to the Britpop bands (particularly Blur, with their Parklife and Great Escape albums). Having said that, I think this is a useful collection because it covers all of the high points of their earlier work, when their albums weren't consistent. I think if you get this set, Face to Face, Something Else..., Village Green..., Arthur..., Lola vs Powerman and Muswell Hillbillies, and possibly Kink Kontroversy, then you have the best of the Kinks and all you really need.