10 Perfect 1960s Rock Albums With No Bad Songs

10. The Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks

The Kinks already have their legacy secure off of the grit and growl of something like You Really Got Me. Since Van Halen and every other garage rock band in the world have covered it, Ray Davies had already made the first proto punk song and showed how rock could get nasty. That's not who he was as a songwriter though. Ray wanted to paint a picture in your mind.

Coming off of songs like Waterloo Sunset, the Village Green Preservation Society is one of the most lush sounding albums that the Summer of Love ever produced. At a time when every band and their mother was trying to make an album with some Eastern influence or turning the amps up to 11, these were well thought out pop songs complete with string arrangements that harkened back to the time before rock and roll even existed.

When you look back at the kind of upbringing that Davies had grown up in though, it's a far cry from the lush soundscapes that he sings about on this record. And that's when it hits you. Ray wasn't trying to act as the snobby Brit in the middle of the hippy movement. These songs were meant to showcase the kind of Britain that he dreamed about and was slipping away right before his eyes.