The Kinks

[METALMAN]

I've always had a soft spot for the Kinks. I liked them enough to have a 2CD best of that I regularly enjoyed, but that was about it. I was never that curious about the rest of their music. However, a little while ago - last year I think - I bought all of their albums from their debut through to Lola for £3 each. Just because they were there, really.

Now, I generally enjoy the albums where they sing about picnics and walks in the park and that sort of the thing. But the earlier albums don't interest me at all aside from the singles. To me they just seem to be full of hamfisted covers and lacklustre originals.

As good as the more bucolic albums are, there isn't one I'd go so far as to call "great" (with the possible exception of Village Green), although I have arrived at that conclusion after fairly limited listening.

Impulsive as I am, I have a new found urge to listen to lots of Kinks music following Ray Davies' turn at the London 2012 closing ceremony. Are any of the albums worth exploring in greater detail? Or should I just stick to the best of?

Basically, just talk about the Kinks and your experiences with them 'cause I like that sort of thing.

[Schlitzbrille]

I got introduced to them via VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.

I'm also looking for recommendations on what Kinks songs to check out that aren't Lola or You Really Got Me.

[RPS]

Now, I generally enjoy the albums where they sing about picnics and walks in the park and that sort of the thing. But the earlier albums don't interest me at all aside from the singles. To me they just seem to be full of hamfisted covers and lacklustre originals.

A lot of early rock and roll is like that. Rock bands can come out and sound amazing right from the gate these days because there is a template and a lot of the stuff has been done before. Rock musicians in the sixties were still figuring out the template and figuring out what worked.

[Skummy]

Ray Davies is genuinely one of, if not the greatest live act I have ever seen. He's fucking brilliant.

As for albums, it depends what you want, really. A lot of people mostly know the Kinks from "You Really Got Me", and expect more of that, and that's just really not them at all.

Something Else and Face To Face are my favourite albums they've put out, but the singles are amongst their best stuff, and the recent Best Of/London Songs is a fucking brilliant compilation.

[VerbalPuke]

As much as I love the sixties garage sound, the Kinks have always been rather boring to me. I've listened to a ton of their music and it's never quite gripped me. I'd much rather jam the Sonics if I'm in the mood for something out of that era, they were much more wild and fun.

Not to say the Kinks are shit, I can see why so many garage rock aficionados are high on them, they just never did it for me.

[Schlitzbrille]

Can somebody recommend me about...er...five songs by The Kinks I should check out?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

The Kinks are my favourite band ever. Ray Davies is a lyrical genius.

My favourite album is Village Green Preservation Society but outside of that I could knock up a huge list of classic songs from brilliant albums.

You Really Got Me, All Day and All of the Night, Days, Sunny Afternoon, Waterloo Sunset, Victoria, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Have a Cuppa Tea, Apeman, Lola....All of those are proper proper top quality songs - the real cream of musical history.

As for five Kinks songs you should check out. To span their styles and covering their famous songs go for....

All Day and All of the Night

Waterloo Sunset

Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Days

Sunny Afternoon

You'll probably recognise some or all of them.

[Skummy]

Aside from the obvious, my favourite Kinks tracks are "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and "Big Black Smoke", with a soft spot for "Come Dancing".

[Pesci]

The Kinks are one of those bands I really like everything I hear from (heard all of their well-known songs I think), but I've never had the motivation to properly check them out.

[METALMAN]

Aside from the obvious, my favourite Kinks tracks are "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and "Big Black Smoke", with a soft spot for "Come Dancing".

Come Dancing is lovely, isn't it? You'd never imagine that sort of glitzy 80s production would work for the Kinks...but it just does.

[Damian WayLNKe]

I've pretty much have grown up knowing their hits without knowing who actually performed them. I heard some of their other songs on Wes Anderson soundtracks and have hunted more of their albums down. I love their songs from The Darjeeling Limited: This Time Tomorrow, Strangers and Powerman.