The Singles Collection

so-so
I bought this because some of the hits are really fantastic songs. I thought that perhaps some of the others would be great songs as well. But, in my opinion, these others have no redeeming quality to them at all.

Kinks must haves
Fills the holes in the Itunes collection. All are Kinks classics that one must have to satisfy a craving for the lads. Sunny Afternoon, Dedicated follower of Fashion, Well Respected Man, Waterloo Sunset (original version-not live!) & Victoria (also original studio & not live!) A true collectors item. Great quality remastered recordings. All cuts sound great! This collection of their oldies provides the rare as well as the big hits. It is the most complete collection that I've found.

Great way to get the songs you want . . .
Let's face it: The Kinks, like the Stones and the Who, were not the producers of the most consistent LP's when they were in their prime. Until Something Else, a typical Kinks LP had a couple of singles, a couple of B-sides, and may one or two other notable tracks and then the rest could be considered relative filler (whether it be songs aping earlier experiments by the Beatles or retreads of Kinks' formulas that had worked previously). With this collection, you can get great clean versions of their early singles without having to purchase four or five albums that you generally skip past half the songs on when listening to.

If you're only going to own one Kinks CD...
...this is it. All the great hits.

Great overview of the Kinks' tenure on Pye
"The Singles Collection" is a great survey of the Kinks' singles on Pye Records, including initial Beatles facsimiles (including awkward "woo!" falsetto), successful forays into hard rock ("You Really Got Me" has been called the first heavy metal song) and psychedelia ("See My Friends" showcases this little-known aspect of the band), and finally the quirky social commentary that they're probably best known for today ("Well Respected Man," "Dead End Street," and numerous other gems). This compilation covers the albums from the debut "Kinks" through "Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround Part One," but a substantial portion of these tracks were standalone singles. That means that this collection hardly tells the whole story-- in fact, important albums like "The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society" and "Arthur or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire" are barely represented at all. But it also makes this disc a valuable resource for excellent non-album tracks like "Set Me Free" and "Autumn Almanac" that can be hard to find elsewhere with such crisp sound quality. I recommend this compilation to Kinks newbies and hardcore fans alike, because it's both a competent primer on the band's first decade as well as a great source for some hard-to-find music. Just be sure you also pick up the albums, at least from "Face to Face" onward, to get the full picture of this indispensable band.