This stone-cold classic, one of the best albums of the mid-1960s, is when The Kinks started to match The Beatles in terms of songwriting, production and just flat-out creativity. A good portion of the record spotlights the kind of rowdy rave-ups that define the band's first two long players. The real gems are all the uniquely English ballads and cheeky ditties that young Ray Davies was starting to compose. These include "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," "I'm on an Island" and "Sitting on My Sofa," an ode to modern male slackerdom that predates Green Day's "Longview" by four decades.