Sean Anderson - 4/1/2011

These latest reissues (Kinks, Kinda Kinks, Kink Kontroversy) should be snapped up by any Kompletist. The deluxe versions are impressive and well worth it. They're in very nice, chunky digipaks like the VGPS one, which was released years ago. They fold open first to the original sleeve notes (in the case of Kinks) and entertaining newspaper/magazine cuttings. Completely folded out, there are the two discs, EP front and back covers and the sleeve for the booklet. The booklets are well presented and informative, with more newspaper cuttings, photographs and quotations; however, there are some pretty bad errors, one of which is the misspelling 'Davis' that sticks out like a sore thumb and in some cases the wrong word is even used, e.g. 'compromise' instead of 'comprise'. I didn't let this spoil my enjoyment.

I get the impression that a good job has been done with the remastering. Listening to the first disc of Kinks, there is a lot of punch: it seems they've managed to give the bass a boost without distortion because the vocals are a crystal clear overlay. The harmonica was noticeably sharp. I'm very happy with the bonus tracks, but why is there no Oobadiooba?! They could easily have included it. Similarly, with Kinda Kinks, they could've included the See My Friends BBC sessions, although there are already two versions of said song on that CD. (And the BBC session of I Am Free is unfortunately absent from Kontroversy, and still only available on bootlegs.) The order of the tracks is generally good, but irritates me on a couple of occassions. Both the Kinksize Session and Kwyet Kinks tracks are featured, but in the wrong order for some reason. This can be changed on a playlist, though.

It's interesting how they're swapping around bonus tracks on the albums. The When I See That Girl Of Mine demo no longer appears on The Kink Kontroversy like before, but it does appear on Kinda Kinks. From this, I'm guessing that the Something Else deluxe version will not feature Polly or Wonderboy and that Arthur will not feature King Kong (these tracks are now on the VGPS deluxe and it doesn't seem that they want to duplicate content).

As for the album itself, it is a typical 60s rushed recording, but that shouldn't take away from it - it has an excellent spontaneous feel. Containing more original material than the first album's collection of 50s rock hits and Talmy-penned material, Kinda Kinks is an interesting mix of sounds.

There is clearly a lot of influence from the Motown sound and Dancing In The Street (a Martha and Vandellas classic) is indeed covered, but this is probably one of the weaker tracks - an acceptable cover, but one that does not live up to the original.

There are some decent lively rock/pop numbers such as Got My Feet On The Ground, Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight and Come On Now. In terms of what The Kinks are capable of, these tracks are so-so, but still great listening and good to dance to. By far the best example of 60s pop and some of the Kinks' best on this album is Tired of Waiting For You.

Completing the album are some sweet ballads such as Don't Ever Change and the stripped-back, folk-style Nothin' In This World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl is worthy of mention.

If you're not convinced by Kinda Kinks, the purchase is surely worth it for the bonus disc. This is the 60s album curiosity - many bands produced excellent singles and EPs, which were then left off their albums. Now, though, in the days of CD reissues, this is a blessing, a win-win situation (or perhaps a curse where wallets are concerned).

A chain of well-known songs oft seen on compilations (Everybody's Gonna Be Happy, Who'll Be The Next Line, Set Me Free, I Need You, See My Friends (an early experiment with the Indian sound)) is followed by the great Kwyet Kinks EP (notably featuring Ray's first social commentary A Well Respected Man).

If you already have a Kinda Kinks reissue with bonus tracks, the new content includes the very basic but interesting and unusual 1965 demos (intended to sell songs to other artists) found previously on bootlegs and a harder alternative take of See My Friends with a more prominent guitar as well as recordings from the BBC sessions, one of which - Hide And Seek - is not available on the BBC sessions CD.

Overall, Kinda Kinks is a hint at what is to come and the bonus disc is packed with gems, but if you want a really good album and some of Ray's renowned social commentaries and cannot buy all the CDs, the new deluxe Kontroversy might be a better choice - or, even better, you could wait for the deluxe editions of Face To Face and Something Else, both brilliant albums.