Consumer Guide Album

The Kinks: Celluloid Heroes [RCA Victor, 1976]
Them as wants an overview of Ray Davies's RCA period are referred to this upstanding compilation, with eight cuts from the first two RCA albums and four from the four others. Although such unlikely gems as "Have a Cuppa Tea" and "Look a Little on the Sunny Side" are overlooked for more obvious staples of the Kinks' road-band phase, none of the selections is bad. But they're all, well, obvious--devoid of Davies's saving grace, which is subtlety, eccentricity, some combination in there. Overview: the knack remains and the craft may actually have increased, but the gift has flown. B+