The Great Lost Kinks Album is a compilation album by the English rock band the Kinks. Released in the United States in January1973, it features material recorded by the group between 1966 and 1970 that had mostly gone unreleased. The compilation served to satisfy Reprise Records after executives determined that the Kinks contractually owed them one more album, despite the band's departure from the label in 1971. The Great Lost Kinks Album offered the debut of many previously unreleased tracks, while others had only been released as non-album singles. Most of its songs date to the sessions for the 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society and were delivered by Ray Davies to Reprise in July1969 out of a contractual obligation. Musician John Mendelsohn wrote liner notes for the album which extensively derided Davies' contemporary songwriting in comparison to his late 1960s work. Both contemporary and retrospective critics have generally described the compilation as uneven. Several suggested that its joining of strong and weak tracks meant it would only appeal to devoted Kinks fans. The album's sales were driven by fans of the band's late 1960s work, peaking at on [[Billboard 200|''Billboards Top LP's & Tape]] chart, additionally reaching and on Cash Box and Record World charts, respectively. The Kinks had no involvement in the album's preparation and Davies only learned of its existence after its release. He initiated legal action against Reprise over the album, resulting in its 1975 deletion from the label's catalogue, though it remained popular among Kinks fans into the 2000s for its inclusion of rare and otherwise unobtainable tracks. Several of its songs were later made available as bonus tracks on the 2004 CD reissue of Village Green. Background On 2 July 1969, Ray Davies and manager Robert Wace delivered numerous tracks to Reprise Records's offices. Most of them were for the Kinks' 1969 studio album, Arthur, as well as a potential Dave Davies solo album. They delivered an extra reel of twelve songs, marked as "spare tracks" and not assigned a master tape number, indicating they were likely not planned for an immediate release. Author Doug Hinman suggests the additional songs' delivery was likely due to a contractual obligation that the Kinks provide the label a set number of songs over a scheduled period. Ray Davies later expressed he was hesitant to deliver them because he did not feel they were