An overlooked gem from The Kinks – a set that's got all the wit of their late 60s material, a bit of the rootsy currents of Muswell Hillbillies, and a lot more bite than the group would have in some of their next few albums to come! Ray Davies' pen is razor-sharp, as is his vocal approach – and the songs are maybe even more gritty than the group would have done a few years before – furthered by some of the instrumental currents that also bring in a few acoustic elements and some Americanized riffs, which are then also matched by an occasional twang in Ray's vocal presentation. Plus, the double-length set also features one album of studio material, and a second live album – almost as a "bonus" thrown in for good measure. Studio tracks include the hit "Celluloid Heroes", plus "Here Comes Yet Another Day", "Maximum Constipation", "Unreal Reality", "Hot Potatoes", "Motorway", and "Supersonic Rocket Ship" – and live cuts include "Skin & Bone", "Alcohol", "Banana Boat Song", "Lola", "Holiday", and "Mr Wonderful". LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to go wrong with The Kinks at this point in their career – a time when even at their most basic, the group had something special that set them apart from most of their contemporaries! There's a definite bluesy undercurrent to most of the music here – an aspect that Ray Davies would shake a bit more in later years, but which here comes to light in a really good way – mixing up some rootsy energy with the jangly guitar lines that the Kinks used to shade in their grooves. Titles include the classic "So Tired Of Waiting" – plus "Come On Now", "So Long", "Something Better Beginning", "Come On Now", "Nothing In The World That Can Stop Me Worryin Bout That Girl", and "Look For Me Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "So Long", "Come On Now", "Dancing In The Street", "Tired Of Waiting", "Naggin Woman", "Something Better Beginning", and "Got My Feet On the Ground". LP, Vinyl record album

Ray Davies is really coming into his own by the time of this third album by The Kinks – penning almost all the tunes in the set, and really starting to stretch out with some of his more unique ideas! The songs are already beginning to show that picture postcard side of British pop that was the Kinks stock in trade during their best years – and the themes and subjects are really expanded from the group's music of the previous years – already shaking off their American influence, and bringing the world a decidedly English version of rock and roll. Of course, the album does feature the group's wonderful cover of "Milk Cow Blues" – still a nice link to the earlier years – plus the Davies originals "When I See That Girl Of Mine", "I Am Free", "Till The End Of The Day", "The World Keeps Going Round", "I'm On An Island", "It's Too Late", "You Can't Win", "Where Have All The Good Times Gone", "Gotta Get The First Plane Home", and "Ring The Bells". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest albums from The Kinks – the kind of material that pulled them strongly past their bluesy, garagey roots – into a role that has them giving some of the clearest, keenest visions of 20th Century British society – with all of its joys and worries! The tunes here are wonderful – well-penned little odes to the common man and fading scenes and styles of the UK – presented together as a sublime portrait of a late 60s England that hardly any other group would try to touch – all with wit and wisdom from the great Ray Davies, and loads of tuneful work from the rest of the band. Titles include "Do You Remember Walter?", "Picture Book", "Sitting By The Riverside", "Village Green", "All Of My Friends Were There", and "The Village Green Preservation Society". LP, Vinyl record album

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A hugely successful live album from The Kinks – maybe one of the best-remembered moments from their Arista Records years! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the oddest of the 70s concept albums by The Kinks – a set of tracks that takes Ray Davies and the band back to the school days of their youth – where they revisit frustrations, anger, and the disgrace in the title! The best moments here are the ones that unlock a bit of the straighter rocking that shows up more in late 70s Kinks work – like the excellent single "I'm In Disgrace", the anthemic "No More Looking Back", or the leadoff "Schooldays" – and a few of the weaker moments get a bit too silly, and almost showy at times – like Ray's writing for a forthcoming Broadway career. Titles include "The Hard Way", "Headmaster", "Education", "Jack The Idiot Dunce", and "Finale". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the highest-concept of all 70s Kinks album – a dark exploration of fame and the price of success, done as a mini-rock opera starring Norman & The Starmaker! As with some of these sets, the best tunes here are those that are the most subtle and less dramatic – and which revisit the more everyday themes of the group's Village Green years. Other tracks are a bit more showy and gimmicky, in a way that almost makes you feel silly for caring about the subject matter – even though Ray Davies's vision of the issues at hand is still as biting as ever. A few standout tracks move into straighter rocking territory, but without the kitsch of some of the other "oldies" styled numbers – and titles include "Holiday Romance", "Everybody's A Star", "Rush Hour Blues", "Nine To Five", "When Work Is Over", "Ducks On The Wall", "You Can't Stop The Music", and "Face In The Crowd". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most successful of the later Kinks albums – thanks to the hit single "Come Dancing", which kind of tied together the group's later leanings with some of their sweeter, nostagic approaches from the 60s. In fact, there's a quality to the set that really has Ray Davies going back to his "little pictures" sort of approach – wrapping up individuals and individual subjects nicely in the space of 3 to 4 minutes. Titles include "Labour Of Love", "Definite Maybe", "State Of Confusion", "Heart Of Gold", "Young Conservatives", "Cliches Of The World", and "Come Dancing". LP, Vinyl record album

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Includes their classic "Well Respected Man", the great "See My Friends", and other titles that include "I Need You", "Who'll Be The Next In Line", "Wait Till The Summer Comes Along", "Never Met A Girl Like You Before", "Such A Shame", and "It's All Right". LP, Vinyl record album

A real standout from Ray Davies and crew – heavy-hitting here with guitars that seem a bit more amped up than usual, and a slight post-punkish groove that's almost a reinvention of the group's sound for an 80s new wave market! The album's a surprisingly hard rocker in parts, and has a darkness that's a nice change from some of the late 70s Kinks material – but also shows Ray still able to come up with some more tender numbers in just the right spots. Tracks include "Add It Up", "Destroyer", "Yo Yo", "Art Lover", "Better Things", "Killer's Eyes", "Around The Dial", and "Give The People What They Want". LP, Vinyl record album

An album that maybe marked the close of one chapter of The Kinks, and the start of another – music that still holds on to some of the best elements of their late 60s Village Green era, but which also moves the group into some of the headier territory of their Muswell Hill/RCA years too! Ray Davies has never sounded more earnest – still able to pull off wit when needed, but also more down to earth – and because of the massive title hit, the set was also one that put the group in front of the ears or more folks than had been hearing them in previous years. Titles include, of course, the mega-hit "Lola" – plus "This Time Tomorrow", "Apeman", "Strangers", "The Contenders", "Long Way From Home", "Rats", and "Top Of The Pops". LP, Vinyl record album

A key transitional album for The Kinks – a record that took them from the lighter "picture postcard" rock of their late 60s albums, into the headier concepts that would mark most of their early 70s work! The concept here is fortunately a light one – a faux-hillbilly sort of groove, carried off by Ray and the group in a nice mix of London Muswell and East Tennessee. The tunes are nicely short and focused, with some older styles of music that almost give the record a Tom Waits-ish feel at times – and titles include "Muswell Hillbilly", "Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues", "20th Century Man", "Skin & Bone", "Alcohol", and "Have A Cuppa Tea". LP, Vinyl record album

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A true masterpiece of late 60s pop – music originally recorded for a TV special in 1969 – and one of the Kinks' greatest albums ever! The semi-concept album traces the woes, worries, and hopes of a British family, as one half is on the verge of emigration to Australia. The work comes out of the sort of songwriting that Ray Davies had been perfecting on albums like Village Green and Something Else – but the overall style is more sophisticated, yet not nearly as self-indulgent as some of the 70s concept clunkers. Instead, the songs are brilliantly tight, and stand on their own well past the concept of the original album. Titles include "Victoria", "Brainwashed", "Australia", "Shangri-La", "Mr Churchill Says", and "Yes Sir No Sir". LP, Vinyl record album

Great material from the tail end of their Reprise years – non-album tracks, collected to form one great last record! Titles include "Pictures In The Sand", "Where Did The Spring Go", "When I Turn Off The Living Room Light", "There Is No Life Without Love", "Til Death Do Us Part", "Groovy Movies", "Misty Water", and "Where Did The Spring Go". LP, Vinyl record album

A real standout in the later catalog of the Kinks – a record that gave the group a number of minor hits, and which let them rock out a bit more than usual – in a style that was clearly influenced by the punk of the period, but which also had sort of a Pete Townsend-esque quality to it. Titles include "Superman", "Catch Me Now I'm Falling", "National Health", "Pressure", "Misery", "A Little Bit Of Emotion", and "Attitude". LP, Vinyl record album

A high point of the Arista years – with cuts that include "Get Up", "Rock N Roll Fantasy", "Live Life", "Hay Fever", "Misfits", and "Black Messiah". LP, Vinyl record album

A goofy title track, and a groovy little album from Jan & Dean – a set that has them settling nicely into their role as one of the most playful pairs in west coast pop – with a heck of a lot more staying power than some of their more surf-washed contemporaries! The album's got a number of tracks that follow in the similar LA-environs mode as the title track – but instead of being gimmicky, they almost come across with this whimsical sort of charm – like they're Jan & Dean's version of British tunes from The Kinks – a wonderfully playful picture postcard version of California, with more wit than you might expect! Titles include "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena", "The Anaheim Azusa & Cuckamonga Sewing Circle", "Summer Means Fun", "Old Ladies Seldom Power Shift", "Sidewalk Surfin", "One Piece Topless Bathing Suit", and "Horace The Swinging School Bus Driver". LP, Vinyl record album

Label sampler with cuts by Deep Purple, Zephyr, Tony Joe White, John Stewart, Jennifer Warre, The Kinks, The Mothers, Joyce Everson, High Country, Bob Mosley, Jethro Tull, Mary Travers, Jack Elliott, Arlo Guthrie, Fleetwood Mac, Cold Blood, and Paul Kelly. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the crowning achievements of The Turtles – a set that features all original material by members of the group, and stellar production by Ray Davies of The Kinks! The set's the only full length that Davies ever handled – and it's obvious the group really rose to the occasion for the honor – hitting territory that's nicely sophisticated, yet which still has the sharpness of their earlier material too – a bit like the territory that Ray was hitting at the time with his own music. The songs are both a lot more personal, and have some deeper currents too – as The Turtles, like so many other west coast pop acts, were really maturing at the end of the 60s. Titles include "She Always Leaves Me Laughing", "Somewhere Friday Night", "Dance This Dance", "You Don't Have To Walk In The Rain", "Bachelor Mother", "Love In The City", and "House On The Hill". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes tracks by Fontella Bass, Otis Redding, Supremes, Shangri-La's, Joe Tex, Byrds, Yardbirds, Marvin Gaye, Kinks, Martha & The Vandellas, Beach Boys, Miracles, and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Performed by Ray Davies, Mick Avory, Jim Rodford, and Ian Gibbons of The Kinks. LP, Vinyl record album

A well-rounded set from Rick James' Stone City Band – a set that's got some mellower moments than most of Rick's own work from the time – but in a nice way that really offsets the group's tendency towards bassier funk! Lead vocalist Levi Ruffin stretches out nicely on a few more laidback cuts – not the most classic soul of his time, but with sensitivity that's greater than his handling of the simpler lyrics on the groovers here. Ruffin composed two of these ballads – "Feel Good Bout Yourself" and "Lovin You Is Easy" – and other tracks include "Tin Soldier", "Keep Love Happy", "Ganja", "Freaky", and a cover of The Kinks' "All Day & All Of The Night". LP, Vinyl record album