Although generally not as highly regarded by the critics as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, or the Who, the Kinks may well have influenced far more musicians. The three-chord sledgehammer proto-metal burst of teenage lust called "You Really Got Me," the Kinks' third single and first hit, touched off a garage band explosion, which in turn influenced the rise of punk a decade later. Blessed with an astute songwriter in Ray Davies, the Kinks followed the template of "You Really Got Me" for a couple years, racking up hits with "All Day and All of the Night," "Tired of Waiting for You," and "Till the End of the Day." But Davies had more than one card in his pocket, and he blossomed into a sharp social satirist ("Dedicated Follower of Fashion"). By the time the album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society was released in 1968, Davies had become a master of elegiac studies in English suburbia. The gender-bending "Lola" was a big hit in 1970 and the Kinks entered the video era in 1983 with "Come Dancing" and its memorable video. The Ultimate Collection spans the group's career in two discs, including the hits, B-sides, and key album tracks. ~ Steve Leggett minimize