It is a very Kinky bit of irony that as The Kinks were
hitting an artistic peak in 1968, they were at an all-time commercial low.
Consequently, almost nobody bought their masterpiece, the album that I
personally believe to be pop’s very finest: The
Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Of course, in the year’s
following its near-silent release in late 1968, many have become aware of the
album’s nostalgic, delicate, funny, sad, absurdly tuneful charms. You know that
later-day artists such as Blur, Elliott Smith, Belle & Sebastian, and The
Shins were listening—not to mention The Kinks own contemporary and Village Green super fan Pete Townshend.
Today, this album is regarded as a pop treasure, and as has
become customary for such things, its fiftieth anniversary is not being ignored
as its original birthday had been. The Kinks
Are the Village Green Preservation Society is being released as a massive a five-CD,
three-LP, 5-single box set. Alas, Psychobabble has only received a single CD
containing a new remaster of the core album for review purposes. This remaster
is very similar to the great sounding one from the triple-disc edition of Village Green released in 2004 with only
slight, occasional differences. For example, the new master of “The Village Green
Preservation Society” is noticeably louder and brighter than the old one,
though you’d be hard pressed to discern any differences in most of the other
tracks. As a whole, it’s a draw.
