The Brothers Davies—better known as the Kinks—have survived a decade and a half of the rock wars. As Ray puts it in "A Rock and Roll Fantasy," "it's a miracle we're still here." Last year's Sleepwalker was the debut on their third label, Arista, and made the biggest impression in the charts of any Kinks LP yet. Considering the brilliance of their recorded output, it's about time [the Kinks had a commercial success].

On the evidence of Misfits, perhaps Ray Davies thinks so too, and decided to hasten the band's attainment of the commercial success they so richly deserve by doing what he could to homogenize the music for mass acceptance. Or maybe, after having worked on the album so long …, his judgement in selecting the best tracks was impaired. Whatever the reason (and don't tell me it's because they're old farts), Misfits is the first...