The Kinks - The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

The band is at a peak here, with the individual songs truly becoming more than the sum of their unassailable parts here. A simultaneous celebration and condemnation of British culture, Village Green is a series of beautiful pop songs, from the playful keyboards on the opening track through the sheer giddiness of the closer, "People Take Pictures of Each Other." While the individual songs feel less distinguishable from each other than on their previous few efforts, the more unified sound fits the album, making it one of the best items in their catalog, and understandably their most popular album. Nothing here approaches the sublime power of "Waterloo Sunset," but the walking bass riff on "Picture Book," the falsettos on "The Last of the Steam-Powered Trains," and dozens of other smaller moments approach its brilliance.