The Kinks: The Ultimate Collection
7th October, 2002Translation of review from VG (biggest Norwegian newspaper):
Sing these songs on the next meeting, Jens (leader of the norwegian labour-party)! The Kinks, more than any other band, are the "arch"typical British poporchestra.
Where The Beatles and The Rolling Stones messed with and copied American rock, soul, country and blues, Ray Davies wrote his "geniously"(splendid?) lyrics and songs about the daily life in Britain, about tours to Blackpool, about problems paying the rent in time, about "Terry and Julie", about transvestites in Soho. Where The Beatles and The Rolling Stones found themselves quickly comfortable among the rich and famous, Davies and The Kinks kept their ...relation (connection)...? to the workingclass.
"The Ultimate Collection" is without a doubt the best Kinks-collection ever made so far, and that does say in fact not much. (last bit is a very "norwegian" way to talk...) A quick walkabout in the record stores, and a lot of different and random "put-together" collections will appear. On this, for a change, they have worked systematically with the list.
The first CD - there are two - contains all their english hits (hits in England), twentyfour in numbers (including two with Dave Davies, but real Kinks-tracks), while CD2 is more selective, containing chosen "forgotten" singles, some european and american hits, and well-known b-sides and albumtracks. Together these 44 songs are almost a perfect collection of the best that has been recorded by one of pop's absolute giants.
Unbelieveably The Kinks had just six top 10-hits on the VG-chart (the official list for Norway now, and back in the sixties a normal newspaper-list), all during two magical years, 1966-67, and they are of course here. Do you need some titles, ok - fine: "Sunny Afternoon", "You Really Got Me", "Lola", "Come Dancing", "Mr. Pleasant", "A Well Respected Man", "Dead End Street", all are here.. In the lack of having something to complain about:
I miss one single, "Drivin" from 1969. If there is a band who deserves a great anthology, it's gotta be The Kinks. Meanwhile this is a "goldish" reminder about Ray Davies' and the group's greatness.
TOR MILDE
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Some of the sentances are very "norwegian", and we have another way to
build up sentances. I hope you'll understand the translation!
Bjorn in Bergen
