The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies

The Kinks take on America by imitating Americana - sort of. They still sound like The Kinks, but with more piano and twangy guitars. It's an itneresting change, and it's effective in spurts. Opener "20th Century Man" is one of their best songs, and it sets the tone for Ray Davies' latest slant on alienation. "Uncle Son" is an effective blues ballad, and "Alcohol" sloshes and sways like a drunken song should. The country-rock makeover fits The Kinks, though, making them a looser band than in their orchestrated pop days. While those days ultimately resulted in better music, Muskwell Hillbillies is still one of their best albums.

The Kinks - Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of British Empire)

The only way to be disappointed by this album is to expect some medieval jousting action. In actuality, the Arthur of the title is an English everyman whose family moves to Australia. But lyrically, the album once again depicts the then-modern England as a bit of a bore, with "Brainwashed" exploring the mundane  nature of suburban life, while "Mr. Churchill Says" and "Some Mother's Son" explore war. Musically, The Kinks' ambitions continue to grow, with  "Australia" being a sweeping, sprawling multi-part epics and "Shangri-La" ambitiously building. Both are multi-layered suites, and they form the core of the album, thematically and sonically. The Kinks reached their peak at Something Else, but Arthur finds that the peak is actually a plateau; as of this album, they're still there.

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.

The Kinks - Something Else by The Kinks

Face to Face is widely considered The Kinks' first masterpiece (I'd put a vote in for The Kinks Kontroversy, myself), but Something Else is just plain better. There's nothing particularly different about the album sonically from its predecessor; it's still the same style of pop from its predecessor, but the songs are sharper by just a smidgen. The album's sound is quirky and relaxed, backing character studies that can be both celebratory or biting, depending on the song. Ray Davies' ability to distill social observations ("Two Sisters," "David Watts," "Harry Rag") into a 3.5-minute pop song surface here. His songwriting in a general sense reaches a certain peak at the end: "Waterloo Sunset" is one of the prettiest songs ever recorded, with falsettos that rival The Beach Boys. It's an absolutely gorgeous end to an already great album.

The Kinks - Face to Face

Arguably the first classic by The Kinks, it opens with a bang. "Party Line" is a nervy little rocker with gentle harmonies and an incessant hook. Many of the songs, from "Sunny Afternoon" to "Dandy" burrow their way into your brain - and I mean that in a friendly way. They're sharply written songs, with well-crafted production. Some of the observational songwriting Ray Davies would explore in the future of the group surface here in the form of songs like "Session Man" and "House in the Country." The Kinks have a jovial sense of melody that is hard to resist, even in the mean-spirited bonus track (on the CD) "Mr. Reporter." More than anything, the album is as gorgeous to listen to as anything to come out of the 60s.

The Kinks - The Kink Kontroversy

This early Kinks album plays like a garage rock masterpiece; many of the songs can coast by on sheer catchiness alone, lacking the nuance and unity of the Kinks albums that followed it. It's far from their best album, but it could be considered an early sign of the greatness that would come on the rest of their releases through the 60s. It's simpler, though, with songs like "I Am Free" working despite sounding mildly derivative. The strength of Ray Davies' songwriting carries the album through such moments: "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?" rocks hard (and would live on as a Van Halen cover), while "I'm On an Island" sounds like a dry run for their future direction. However, most of the songs, while more carefully constructed than "You Really Got Me," show a band still refining its sound and style.

The Kinks - Misfits

The Kinks/Misfits
Misfits came out in 1978. Previous to this, the most recent Kinks album I have is Muswell Hillbillies, from 1971. Six years can be a lifetime in popular music, so I did not know what to expect from this album when I put it on. In short: it's a surprisingly energetic arena rock album from an older band with roots in the sounds of the British Invasion. Some surprises include the reggae-inflected "Black Messiah," and years of churning out concept albums hasn't robbed them of their humor. Seventeen years later, Pulp would open Different Class with the song "Misshapes," which bears more than a striking resemblance to Misfits's title song.