The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is the sixth studio album by the English rock group the Kinks, released in November 1968. It was the last album by the original quartet (Ray Davies, Dave Davies, Pete Quaife, Mick Avory), as bassist Quaife left the group in early 1969. A collection of vignettes of English life, "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society" was assembled from songs written and recorded over the previous two years. Although the record is widely considered one of the most influential and important works by
The Kinks it "the best album of the year so far". The underground Boston paper "Fusion" published a review stating, "the Kinks continue, despite the odds, the bad press and their demonstrated lot, to come across. ... Their persistence is dignified, their virtues are stoic. The Kinks are forever, only for now in modern dress." The record did not escape criticism, however. In the student paper "California Tech", one writer commented that it was "schmaltz rock ... without imagination, poorly arranged and a poor copy of The Beatles". Although it sold only an estimated 100,000 copies worldwide on its initial release, it