A collection of classic Kinks songs revisited by Ray Davies, backed by a multi-layered vocal chorus, this album will probably divide Kinks fans: an outstanding tribute to Kinks, or just another effort to cash-in on the classics?

My personal opinion, after listening to “The Kinks Choral Collection” a few times, is that what Ray Davies has done with these tracks is truly amazing and new, and reminds us once more what a great songwriter he was and still is. We’re talking about songs that defined a generation, a collection of classics for Kinks fans and lovers of great music alike.

Surely some tracks work better than others in this particular chorus version: “Waterloo Sunset” and “Victoria” are brilliant, “You really got me” very interesting, may not appeal to everyone but I personally like it, “Shangri-La” is also a charming rendition, maybe dragging a little towards the end, byt Ray Davies did quite a good job out of “Working Man’s Cafe”. On the flipside though “See my friends”, is just too much unless you’re a genuine chorus lover.

The “Village Green Medley”, from the 1968 “Village Green Preservation Society” album, includes six tracks: “Village Green”, “Picture Book”, “Big Sky”, “Do you remember Walter?”,“Johnny Thunder” and the title track “Village Green Preservation Society”. Although the opener of this lot wasn’t my cup of tea and went straight on fast forward after the first listen, I must say the rest of them are quite catchy, which I wouldn’t have expected from a chorus version. I was particularly impressed with “Do you remember Walter?” and “Johnny Thunder”.

“The Kinks Choral Collection” ends on the notes of “All day and all of the night”, and what can you say about a classic of this magnitude? I can only re-assure Kinks fans again that Ray Davies has done a great job with re-inventing his songs. Nothing is ever as good as the original, sure, but if you liked the originals and are looking for a chill out CD for your collection, then this may be the right choice.