There's been a lot of talk about "dinosaurs" these past few years. It's gotten to the point where many longtime rock fans … might reluctantly vote in favor of banishing some of their aging heroes to a remote cave. (p. 63)

The Kinks, however, are one "Sixties" act that has never had to face the dilemma of living up to (or living down) an identity forged from teen anthems … Following several rewrites of his first youthful power-popper, "You Really Got Me," Ray Davies grew up almost overnight. Most of the understated narratives he penned in the latter half of the Sixties are not only timeless but ageless…. Davies might well have soldiered on into the next century, writing and singing such wry and poignant ditties as "Waterloo Sunset," "Autumn Almanac" and "Days," and nobody would have ever called him a dinosaur.

Yet now that he's actually approaching that age when...