One of the many things that set the Kinks apart from their peers in the British Invasion era is that they made what became their most celebrated work after their initial fame had faded, particularly in America. Raw, guitar-fueled singles like "You Really Got Me" and "All Day of the Night" first made their name, but Ray Davies' more contemplative, character-driven songs of British life that flowered on Something Else by the Kinks (1967) and The Village Green Preservation Society (1968) initially came and went with little notice in the United States. It wasn't until the Kinks embraced a more direct sound with 1979's Low Budget and 1981's Give the People What They Want that they were full-fledged stars in America again, while critics came to venerate their late-'60s material. Between this and the fact that for years much of their catalog was handled by three different labels stateside, most Kinks compilations have focused on hits or esoterica from specific eras, and few have attempted to capture the full ebb and flow of their repertoire. 2023's The Journey, Pt. 1 is the first in a series of anthologies that intends to chart the creative evolution of the Kinks. Featuring 30 songs on LP and 36 in digital formats, The Journey, Pt. 1 is divided into four chapters: "Songs about becoming a man, the search for adventure, finding an identity and a girl," "Songs of ambition achieved, the bitter taste of success, loss of friends, the past comes back and bites you in the back-side," "Days and nights of a lost soul, songs of regret and reflection of happier times," and "A new start, a new love, but have you really changed? Still haunted by the quest and the girl." Given the wordy specificity of Ray Davies' chapter titles, The Journey, Pt. 1 isn't afraid to look deep into the emotional arc of their recordings, and while there are three tunes from 1975's Schoolboys in Disgrace and 1972's lovely "Celluloid Heroes," for the most part this sticks to the Kinks' recordings of the '60s, with a sequence that favors theme over chronology. For serious fans, The Journey, Pt. 1 will hold few surprises, but the sequence is more intelligent and artful than the vast majority of reissues mining their catalog, and Ray Davies, Dave Davies, and Mick Avory offer their thoughts on the songs in the liner notes, though no one shares more than a short paragraph, and with rare exceptions Dave and Mick can't be bothered to cough up more than a sentence. The remastered audio is fine, and the singles generally appear in mono while the album tracks are in stereo, delivering them in their preferred form. For those looking for a guidebook to the Kinks' large, diverse, and deeply satisfying catalog, The Journey, Pt. 1 is a fine starter, and while Kinks cultists will already own nearly all of this, the presentation is pleasing and answers any questions about why this band still matters. ~ Mark Deming