Marble Arch Years [Box set]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Marble Arch, a subsidiary label of Pye Records in the 1960s, was formed to target budget-priced compilation albums at financially strapped teens. Not that the artists themselves thoroughly endorsed such initiatives. While one of the CDs here, "Kinda Kinks," is a straight 1969 reissue of the band's second album (albeit with a more recent cover photo), the other two are pick-and-mix assortments of hits and filler. Happily, on "Well Respected Kinks," the emphasis is on the hits. Reaching No. 5 in the U.K. in 1966 and commercially outperforming the Kinks' "album proper," Face to Face, it clocks in at 24 nifty minutes of timelessly classic Kinks and includes "You've Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night." "Sunny Afternoon," meanwhile, is loaded with such famously sardonic vignettes as "Dedicated Follower of Fashion." Ironically, the fabulous sleeve pictures the decidedly un-psychedelic foursome posing in a rainbow-colored Buick. Each CD is housed in a miniature cardboard sleeve replicating the album's original artwork. --Kevin Maidment

Album Description
UK remastered reissue combines 'Well Respected Kinks' (1966), 'Sunny Afternoon' (1967) & 'Kinda Kinks' (1965) packaged together in a deluxe box. 2001.

Marble Arch Years [Box set]

Tracks:

A Well Respected Man
Where Have all the Good Times Gone
Till the End of the Day
Set Me Free
Tired of Waiting for You
All Day and All of the Night
I Gotta Move
Don't You Fret
Wait Till the Summer Comes Along
You Really Got Me

Tracks:

Sunny Afternoon
I Need You
See My Friends
Big Black Smoke
Louie Louie
Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Sittin' on My Sofa
Such a Shame
I'm Not Like Everybody Else
Deadend Street

Tracks:

Look for Me Baby
Got My Feet on the Ground
Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl
Naggin' Woman
Wonder Where My Baby Is
Tired of Waiting for You
Dancing in the Street
Don't Ever Change
Come On Now
So Long
You Shouldn't Be Sad
Something Better Beginning

Amazon.com

Marble Arch, a subsidiary label of Pye Records in the 1960s, was formed to target budget-priced compilation albums at financially strapped teens. Not that the artists themselves thoroughly endorsed such initiatives. While one of the CDs here, "Kinda Kinks," is a straight 1969 reissue of the band's second album (albeit with a more recent cover photo), the other two are pick-and-mix assortments of hits and filler. Happily, on "Well Respected Kinks," the emphasis is on the hits. Reaching No. 5 in the U.K. in 1966 and commercially outperforming the Kinks' "album proper," Face to Face, it clocks in at 24 nifty minutes of timelessly classic Kinks and includes "You've Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night." "Sunny Afternoon," meanwhile, is loaded with such famously sardonic vignettes as "Dedicated Follower of Fashion." Ironically, the fabulous sleeve pictures the decidedly un-psychedelic foursome posing in a rainbow-colored Buick. Each CD is housed in a miniature cardboard sleeve replicating the album's original artwork. --Kevin Maidment

Album Description

UK remastered reissue combines 'Well Respected Kinks' (1966), 'Sunny Afternoon' (1967) & 'Kinda Kinks' (1965) packaged together in a deluxe box. 2001.

Customer Reviews:

Kinda Kinks Kinda Great.......2004-06-09

These 3 CDs each contain approximately just 25 minutes of music; but what music - blistering rock blasts such as Till The End of the Day and You Really Got Me; wonderful character sketches such as A Well Respected Man and Dedicated Follower Of Fashion; and precise and (often) witty vignettes such as Sunny Afternoon and Deadend Street. The songs show just what a great songwriter Ray Davies was, both musically and lyrically. At just under three minutes (no pop song should be over that), every song has a great melody that lingers forever in your mind - and that is true whether it is the deceptively lazy Sunny Afternoon or the prototype punk of All Day And All Of The Night. His lyrics are exercises in economy, precision, observation and wit. Anyone attempting to become a songwriter will learn something from listening to Ray Davies. He is truly one of the great songwriters.

Credit must also go to the band. They have a wonderfully tight and together rhythm section from Mick Avory and Pete Quaife; but it is Dave Davies, brother of Ray, who excels. He lays down some of the most menacing and brooding riffs since Link Wray - and I do not make such comparisons lightly. Just listen to Sittin' On The Sofa to see what I mean. The band perfectly complement Ray's excellent voice. This is what all rock music should aspire to be.

This is a wonderfully packaged selection- I especially love the fold out Kinks Pop Chronicle! This may not contain every single one of their sixties classics, - get The Ultimate Collection for that- but it has a good selection of them and it is the rarities such as Sittin' On The Sofa, Naggin' Woman, and Louie Louie that makes this such a find.

Every single track in this collection is an aural delight. I might add that in this image conscious age of ours, The Kinks were the best-dressed band in the land - and in the swinging 60s, that was quite something! Undoubtedly, James Barry had something to do with that -and you will have to read the Kinks Pop Chronicle to understand what I am talking about.

Marble Arch Years
Average customer rating:
Marble Arch Years
Kinks
Manufacturer: Castle Music (windsong)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0002B6MJ0
Release Date: 2001-09-11

Blues Chicago Years
Average customer rating:
Blues Chicago Years
Blues Chicago Years
Manufacturer: Marble Arch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music
CDs $7 - $10 | Blues General | Blues | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
All Bargain Titles | Blues General | Blues | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
ASIN: B0000010BG

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