Review for The Kinks: Biography Channel

I'm a big fan of 'The Kinks'. Despite the fact that their considerable longevity (they only recently called it a day) has resulted in a patchy and inconsistent back catalogue, the fact remains that amongst the not so great can be found countless gems. 'Waterloo Sunset', for example, could arguably be the most beautiful single of all-time, and remains a timeless classic, sounding as fresh today as it did on release.


Anyone who has had an interest in The Kinks over the years will undoubtedly know of the fiery relationship between principle song-writer and singer, Ray Davies, and his guitar playing brother Dave. Like fire and ice, the tensions between the two undoubtedly contributed to the uniqueness of their early sound ('You Really Got Me') in much the same way as (in my opinion) the less original Oasis brothers.


Always outsiders, The Kinks cut a curious path, confounding fans and critics and refusing to be put in a box. Their early hits made them as big as The Beatles, though they failed to maximize opportunities in the USA, and with no follow-up tour for some five years, they became all but forgotten. With tracks capturing the atmosphere of London in the 60's ('A Dedicated Follower of Fashion') they were increasingly difficult to pigeon-hole and market.


This release from the Bio channel is something of a disappointment on many levels for fans of the band, as it is nothing more than the most cursory overviews, peppered with interviews with the band (and Dave Davies in particular) and condensing the best part of 50 years into a very measly 40 minutes.


Criminally it includes only the tiniest selection of Kinks tracks ('You Really Got Me', 'Waterloo Sunset' and 'Lola') presumably as a result of lack of budget.


It's all put together nicely, as you would expect, but has very little to justify the expense of a single DVD. Fans of the band will discover nothing new, and newcomers will find the piece so cursory that it's difficult to know who would consider the disc of value. It's more of an introduction to the band, and who will pay £10.00+ for that?



'Kinks' completists may buy it for the sake of having exclusive interviews but for me, this would have been far more acceptable as one episode on a box-set profiling other rock acts too.


Picture quality is fine throughout and there is so little here in the way of archive footage that this doesn't create any quality issues. Photos are nicely presented, and the audio if fine. There are no extra features - and not even any way to play the very few (and always incomplete) performance pieces either. One to be avoided I'm afraid.