Where should I start with them?

It appears they're yet another of those bands that had different versions of albums for the UK and US markets. And, are there any good deluxe editions or enhanced versions? In most instances, I pick up those ones first.

All the remasters have extra tracks. I need them all. I have none.
Get Face To Face or Something Else or anything from 1965 to 1972 and you'll be happy.

Really NO bad place to start. But if you don't want to feck around, go straight to the genius that is Village Green.........

Get the "Shangri La" tribute album, then explore the originals from there.

Hmmm, as much as I love the Kinks, I'd say they definitely put out some dreck, especially late in their career. And even some stuff from the early 70s isn't all that hot (A Soap Opera comes to mind).

I do agree that Village Green Preservation Society is genius, though, and a good starting point. If you're looking for the earlier, rock sound, pick up a greatest hit collection for that era. For the heyday (pop era) though, Face to Face through Muswell Hillbillies are all gold.

Now, getting your hands on the remasters/reissues may be a challenge. There are various versions off different labels, some of which have bonus tracks, some of which don't, some of which will have a non-U.S. tracklist, and some have a U.S. track list. It's all very confusing and most are OOP. If you can find the Castle remasters of the mid- to late-60s albums, that's where I'd go. They all have bonus tracks.

Yeah, my favorite is Village Green, but you could also start with Something Else (where I started), Arthur, or Lola.

As far as the US vs. UK versions...

The remastering on the more recent UK reissues (the US versions are old, mostly made in the late 80s - early 90s, I think) has been called into question by some people, but I think I prefer the sound on them to the US versions. The UK version of Something Else, for instance is in mono (like the original record) while older, easier to find US one is in stereo. However, the UK one contains a bunch of bonus tracks, many of which are from The Great Lost Kinks Album which I don't think you can find on CD. A lot of those tracks are really good. The problem is actually finding copies of the UK versions here in the states, and then often having to pay around $20 for them, at least in my experience.

As far as which version of Village Green to buy... I dunno. I bought the 3-disc thing which is neat, but more than a little bloated. I'm 100% in favor of putting the mono and stereo versions on two seperate discs (there's another, earlier UK edition that compiles them onto one), but the third disc of bonus tracks is really weak. It only contains about four or five worthwhile songs. The most important additions, "Days" and "Mr. Songbird", are contained on the album discs, and they are also included on the older 1-disc UK version of the album. Also, as far as I can tell, NO version of this album is really going to *sound* great. It was the first one that Ray Davies produced himself, I think, and I really can't tell much improvement in my 3-disc over the old US Reprise version.

I would say it also depends on what you typically like. As someone who likes more straight ahead rock, I was definitely drawn to Muswell and Lola vs. Powerman and the Money Go Round, and it took me longer to realize how good stuff like Something Else and Village Green are.

np: The Village Green Preservation Society

Village Green is the tops... but the Kink Kronikles is a pretty good place to go as well.

::SLAP!!::

Kink Kronikles is fatnastik (get it)

it's really really solid, and i think has a bunch of songs that aren't on albums so you dont' feel like you are buying a greatest hits and wussing out.

these are all solid:

Arthur
something else
village green
lola

i'd go with village green also.

we posted an article on it and also a kink's buyers guide a few months back...

http://www.prefixmag.com/features.php?p ... ture_Essay

http://www.prefixmag.com/features.php?p ... yers_Guide

That's REAL!

I should've specified early on.

I don't buy Greatest Hits or Best Ofs or compilations. I'm looking to pick up the proper albums and the best version of those albums.

It sounds like the general consensus is that I should pick up Village Green P.S. first, though? Probably the 3-disc version because I'm a completist?

Yeah, get the 3-disc version. It's really not too expensive if you shop around online. You can get new copies of a few of the other albums for $7.99 at AllDirect.com (a GREAT store, when the items are in stock).