The first Kinks album consists mostly of a bunch of mediocre R&B covers and terrible original songs penned by the band’s producer at the time Shel Talmy. Odds are you already have any good songs on here on some Greatest Hits album. If you see any songs you don’t have, then take solace in the fact that you are missing absolutely nothing. On the band’s second album, Kinda Kinks, Ray Davies’s true songwriting talents begin to emerge in album format. This album is just a vehicle for singles.

(The Deluxe Edition released in 2011 contains many early non-album tracks that were only available on singles that are actually great Kinks tracks. Recommended, if you can find that edition.)

And what’s with that awful shade of red what are you all fucking Broadway stars or something