Search - Kinks :: Singles Collection

Ray and The Kinks

Dirk Nuyts | Oostmalle, Antwerpen Belgium | 07/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"About CD1 I can be short: almost al the songs presented here are great and very well-known by the public. Nothing less than true masterpieces of sixties pop you're getting, except maybe the Kinks' version of Long Tall Sally. But that won't spoil the fun at all. Here you have all the singles of this historic group during their first period. Reason enough to buy this one. (still a better idea is to buy all the regular albums!) I mainly bought it for the second CD because I already had all those songs on different original Lp's and CD's. This one gives you more excellent songs of the group like Mr. Pleasant, Celluloid heroes (why wasn't that one ever a single?) ,Holiday Romance, Afternoon Tea and others (some remixed). More songs which are presented here, belong to Ray Davies' solo-work. So are Voices In The Dark and Return To Waterloo. Fine songs which Ray made for the soundtrack of the motion picture 'Return to Waterloo'. Some appear here for the first time: The Shirt, a great song with a very funny story and with a surprisingly jazzy sound! Then there are the demo's The-Million-Pound-Semi-Detached and My Diary, which are not really masterpieces in my opinion. All together a fine second CD, although there's no cohesion. I think it would have been better to re-release the soundtrack of 'Return to Waterloo' with these extra Ray Davies songs. That collection would have suited better as a whole. Now collectors have to buy this CD for only a few missing songs. Besides this, it's value for your money, believe me."

The Starting Line

Gianmarco Manzione | Tampa, FL USA | 08/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the only resort for Kinks fans who are just setting out on one of the longest roads of discovery in rock history. The band's oeuvre is as astonishing in size as it is for the quality it sustained well into the 90s. Understandably, many Kinks retrospectives are available, and I happen to have bought several of them over the years as I gradually came to understand the immensity of what I had gotten myself into. This isn't a rock band; this is an enduring monument of an historic era. The Kinks distributed their many gems throughout an enormous catalog of albums, and the later triumphs are particularly difficult to find because the albums are not widely available. But "The Singles Collection" is a perfect starting point for several reasons. The sound quality features an unprecedented and revelatory clarity, while the song selection is the most comprehensive of any kinks collection, featuring even the two earliest singles, "Long Tall Sally" and "You Still Want Me." Both singles failed commercially but they are very strong suggestions of the genius that was to come, and make for intriguing introductions to the sound The Kinks eventually grew into. Every early hit you need is here, from thrashers and ballads like "You Really Got Me" and "Tired of Waiting For You" to later and more mature masterpieces like "Lola" or the divine "Waterloo Sunset." Even Dave's famed "Death of A Clown" and Ray's lesser known but characteristic "Days" are here. Particularly revealing is the second disc, "The Music of Ray Davies," featuring demos and outtakes that range from famous to obscure. Ray's "The Shirt" is a seductively produced masterpiece, while the 80s outtake "Voices in the Dark" is ghostly in its beauty and atmospheric production. Similarly, the stripped down and artful "Return to Waterloo" manages to glimpse the celestial heights reached by its earlier counterpart, "Waterloo Sunset." These unearthed jewels just go to show how impossible it is to lift up every stone of The Kinks contribution to rock 'n roll. One wonders how much they've got locked up in the vaults. Listeners intrigued by this second CD are strongly encouraged to take a chance on the band's laterwork for Arista. Albums like 1977's "Sleepwalker" and 1984's "Word of Mouth" have engenered inaccurate critical appraisals that wrongly turn away novice fans. In any event, this is the place to start. The sound quality alone is worth the price, and the hard-hitting song selection exhausts much of the early essentials while leaving so much more to be discovered."

First Rate Introduction

Tezcatlipoca | Espinho,Portugal | 08/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was my gateway to the Kinks and I've since grown to be a huge fan of them so I couldn't recommend this compilation more dearly,especially since it documents so accurately their metamorphosis from, heavy metal inventing, riff rockers to baroque pop purveyors in grand style.



Also take into account that here reside several of pop music's undying classics be it the riff heavy trio of "You Really Got Me","All day and all of the night"and"Til the end of the day" or the lush tunes of "Waterloo Sunset","Days"(check out this track's magnificent break starting with "I wish today would be tomorrow")or"Victoria".



A pretty good introduction to one of the trully great bands of all time.

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