Come Dancing with the Kinks: The Best of the Kinks 1977-1986 [Koch 2004] [Digipak] (CD - 1986)

The Kinks: Ray Davies (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Dave Davies (vocals, guitar); Nick Newell (saxophone, keyboards); John Gosling, Ian Gibbons (keyboards); John Dalton, Andy Pyle, Ron Lawrence, Jim Rodford (bass); Nick Trevisik, Mick Avory, Henrit (drums).

Includes liner notes by Peter Doggett.

This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.

The Kinks: Ian Gibbons (keyboards, background vocals); Andy Pyle (bass guitar); Mick Avory (percussion); Dave Davies, Ray Davies .

Personnel: Dave Davies, Ray Davies (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Mick Avory (drums).

Liner Note Author: John Swenson.

Arranger: Ray Davies .

Originally released as a double-album set in 1986, just after the Kinks had their last run at chart success, Come Dancing With the Kinks (The Best of the Kinks 1977-1986) does an excellent job of summarizing their stadium rock and AOR radio favorites on Arista. It leaves no single or radio favorite behind, while adding such terrific obscurities as "Long Distance" (originally only released as a bonus track on the State of Confusion cassette; the early '80s were a completely different world than the late '80s), the non-LP single "Father Christmas," the wonderfully sentimental album track "Better Things" (a close, upbeat cousin to Dylan's "Forever Young"), and the charming "Heart of Gold." In addition to these, there are live takes of "You Really Got Me" and "Lola" taken from the fine One From the Road album. It winds up being a representative selection of the Kinks' time as stadium warriors. They may have released some good albums during this period -- and Misfits and Low Budget are close to great -- but listeners looking for the bare essentials from this period will not be disappointed with this first-rate collection. [Three songs -- "Catch Me Now I'm Falling" plus the title tracks to Misfits and Sleepwalker -- were dropped from the CD reissue of Come Dancing in order to have it fit the running time of a late-'80s compact disc.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Although it closely resembles the 1986 Arista collection (and even boasts the same cover and title), the 2000 release of Come Dancing With the Kinks is not quite that album -- it's a reinterpretation of that collection, spearheaded by Ray Davies. It restores "Catch Me Now I'm Falling," "Misfits," and "Sleepwalker" (the three songs dropped from the CD version of Arista's Come Dancing) and eliminates the excellent "Long Distance" along with "Heart of Gold" and the masterpiece "Juke Box Music," while adding "A Gallon of Gas," "Full Moon," and "Good Day," and shuffling the track order. Do all these monkeyshines result in a better album? No. It's close, but the subtle differences do make a difference, and the original still does reign supreme, since the running order on the original was simply superior. This new incarnation is still enjoyable -- the substitutions are good, even if they don't match the originals -- and it even remains an accurate introduction to this era. But anyone who can find the Arista issue of Come Dancing will find a better compilation than this Koch/Konk reworking. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize