The Kinks: Ray Davies, Dave Davies (vocals, guitar); Pete Quaife (bass); Mick Avory (drums).
Compilation producer: Gary Stewart.
Includes liner notes by John Mendelssohn.
Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot, Shel Talmy & Ken Perry.
Featuring a total of 18 highlights from the Kinks' early career, Rhino's Greatest Hits is the definitive compilation of the group's hit singles from the mid-'60s. Beginning with "You Really Got Me" and ending with "Sunny Afternoon," all of the Kinks' essential garage rockers and British Invasion singles are here -- "All Day and All of the Night," "Till the End of the Day," "Tired of Waiting for You," "A Well Respected Man," "Stop Your Sobbing," "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," "I'm Not Like Everybody Else," "Where Have All the Good Times Gone." Only the ambitious, Indian-tinged British hit "See My Friends" is missing, but it isn't a major oversight, especially since the disc distills the group's uneven early albums into manageable form for many fans. While Kinkdom, Kink Kontroversy, and Face to Face have many excellent album tracks in their own right, Greatest Hits remains a terrific summation of the group's earliest, hardest-rocking work. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
These eighteen songs are indeed the great hits of The Kinks, along with some B-sides and EP selections. From "You Really Got Me" in 1964 to "Sunny Afternoon" which was released at the beginning of the summer of 1966, these songs--all penned by Ray Davies--move easily from streamlined jackhammer rockers to cabaret-inflected character studies. Yet to come was the astounding SOMETHING ELSE of 1968, which perfectly realized Davies' vignettes celebrating the disappearing pleasures of English life, as well as his increasing distaste and distrust for contemporary business and politics. He moved easily between first-person plaints ("I'm Not Like Everybody Else") and scathing third person portraiture ("A Well Respected Man"). There were plenty of high points after 1966, but the compositions from those two years remains potent and exhilarating decades after their creation. minimize