It’s been hip to slag the recent Kinks box set, Kinks In Mono (Sanctuary, 2011). Amidst not-near-the-point noodlings on the group’s apparently one-dimensional association with the village greens of traditional English culture (as if they’ve never heard “Who’ll Be The Next In Line” or “I’m Not Like Everybody Else”), these critics toss off the rationalization that surely every Kinks fan has the deluxe editions of the band’s catalogue, released earlier in the year by Universal — I mean, doesn’t everyone get promo copies? — and since those editions included mono versions of those LPs, why would anyone need them all in a box set?
Well, for starters, those deluxe editions were surprisingly difficult to track down, and so most Kinks fans actually do not own them, and therefore do not own these new mono remasters (and, for anyone wondering, The Kinks, like other British groups from the 60s — no, even more than other British groups from the 60s — are meant to be heard in the monaural).
Also additionally, this set contains a new mastering of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, fixing a couple of nagging issues from Sanctuary’s 2004 triple-disc edition of that landmark LP. And furthermore, there’s plenty of luxurious packaging, including a little hardcover book styled like a ‘zine, essayed by everyone’s kinkologist, Pete Doggett.
Anyway, I think I’ve made my point. At “only” ten discs in length, the set doesn’t include absolutely everything — which is a good thing in this age of wading through boxes of session tapes. Here you will find only the very top tier of rarities and alternate-mix curios (minus the “I Go To Sleep” demo, which, if you’re taking the time to account for, you already have). More importantly, there are only two missing tracks from among their official 60s output (both sides of the April, 1967 “Mister Pleasant”/”This Is Where I Belong” single). Even the “Drivin'”/”Mindless Child Of Motherhood” single and the four Dave Davies singles are present, as Sanctuary continues to soothe Kinks fans’ mishandled catalogue traumas of yesteryear.
