What is the best album by The Kinks?

Ray Davies gave us pastoral English social satire, swaggering hard rock, and music-hall eccentricity — sometimes on the same album. Which Kinks record do you keep coming back to?

1. 1
   The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

   The Kinks' 1968 pastoral concept album, a bittersweet love letter to a vanishing England now regarded as one of rock's greatest.
2. 2
   Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

   A 1969 rock opera tracing one family's story against the backdrop of Britain's fading imperial glory, often cited as their most ambitious work.
3. 3
   Something Else by the Kinks

   A 1967 album blending sharp social observation with pop craft, featuring the transcendent 'Waterloo Sunset'.
4. 4
   Muswell Hillbillies

   The Kinks' 1971 cult classic, a sad and funny portrait of ordinary London life filtered through country, music hall, and barroom folk.
5. 5
   Face to Face

   A 1966 album marking Ray Davies' shift toward character-driven narrative songwriting that would define the band's golden era.
6. 6
   Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

   A 1970 satirical album skewering the music industry featuring the iconic hits 'Lola' and 'Apeman'.
7. 7
   The Kink Kontroversy

   A 1965 hard-rocking album that captured the band's early raw energy at its most powerful and aggressive.
8. 8
   Low Budget

   The Kinks' 1979 comeback album blending hard rock with satirical commentary on economic hardship, their biggest US chart success.
9. 9
   Sleepwalker

   A 1977 album marking The Kinks' American rock revival, showcasing a tighter and more commercial sound that reached the US top 30.
10. 10
    State of Confusion

    A 1983 album featuring the top-20 hit 'Come Dancing', a nostalgic and melodic pop-rock success showcasing Davies' storytelling at its most accessible.
11. 11
    Kinda Kinks

    The Kinks' urgent 1965 sophomore album capturing their raw, blues-infused British Invasion energy at its most unfiltered.