Is it an album? An EP? Whatever it is, the cash must have been flowing when Kinks-Size released. Much like Kinkdom, an album released in the US but comprised of repackaged singles and already released material in the UK, Kinks-Size is merely a chance to pull more money from a new market. The Kinks needed it at this time, before their great artistic break that only a few other groups can say they managed. This flurry of hits and brilliant album projects came after the likes of Kinks-Size and Kinkdom lined their pockets. At least the latter was a fun listen. Kinks-Size is hinged on that playful title and nothing more, the band merely hopes the twenty minutes of material is enough to convince listeners of the group’s other works. It would be generous to call this a sampler given the material provided. This is just a bulk of their self-titled album, followed up with leftovers from Kinda Kinks, and not much else.
But shuffle the order here and throw that song out there, and it feels like a different project. To those who couldn’t get their hands on Kinks or Kinda Kinks then this is their way in. The Kinks’ work is hardly unavailable, even at the time the band had broken America and then been rejected for antics which are best left unspoken. Kinks-Size is as commercial as it gets for the group, and there is very little point in speaking on the quality of the songs listed. Not because the songs are no good, but because they do little for the listener already invested in the band. You’ll have heard these songs before, on another, proper release, rather than on Kinks-Size. View these songs in the context of a standalone album, then. What more do we get from the likes of Tired of Waiting for You with Kinks-Size as the album it features on? Very little, is what.
Breezy, light work from the band is a given but Kinks-Size struggles without the inclusion of heavy-hitting songs. You Really Got Me is absent and that just about sinks any chance of The Kinks reviving this album. It flatlines across a collection of blues rock fodder which the band would soon abandon on albums to follow just a few years after Kinks-Size released. This style of release would die a death, and rightly so, but at least the follow-up, Kinkdom, made it clearer what the band were doing with re-releasing their material. This being a release before that is no excuse, though. Where there’s a better tone and ample material on Kinkdom, there’s not all that much of interest on Kinks-Size. Songs like Revenge are hardly going to set the world on fire, let alone prompt someone to purchase a barebones album.
Still, it wasn’t much of a problem at the time of release. Kinks-Size served its purpose even though it hasn’t got one now. Such is the way of album releases and the cycle of how we access music. No reason to listen to this one unless you lack a shuffle button or are desperate to hear what two Kinda Kinks songs would sound like when paired with the self-titled debut. Thrilling stuff. Hardly a necessity but some will find great interest in hearing how that may turn out. Those who do find interest in that may also enjoy kicking rocks or poking at tin foil balls. Kinks-Size is as unnecessary now as it was then, and no amount of solid material can change the cash-grab feeling which underscores every decision on this album.
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The Kinks’ album Kinks-Size, was ONLY ever released in the U.S. and Canada.
Released in March 1965, Kinks-Size was a successful compilation that peaked at #13 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, becoming their second-highest charting album in the U.S. during the 1960s. Kinks-Size capitalized on the Kinks growing fame with single hits like “All Day and All of the Night” and “Tired of Waiting for You,” included with featured tracks from UK EPs and earlier sessions for the Kinks first album.
Just like The Beatles and other British bands who didn’t include single releases on their original albums, the US albums contained less songs than their UK counterparts, and EPs were non-existent in the US market. So the labels put together albums of the leftover songs to squeeze every available dollar from the American teens.