As more and more of rock's iconic albums begin hitting their half-century birthdays, one can begin to wonder if, perhaps, they all need comprehensive re-evaluations. This expansive reissue is the third such 50th anniversary release of the Kinks' marvelous peak-period albums, and it definitely feels the most exhaustive. It also feels the most exhausting. The original Lola album was the brawniest and loosest of the three concept albums the Kinks released between 1968 and 1970, with its near-vaporous storyline about the music business feeling like something the band noticed after compiling an exceptionally strong selection of songs. It's hard to figure out exactly how cuts like "Apeman," "Lola," "Strangers," and "Rats" fit together because, well, they really don't. However they still stand as some of the Kinks' best songs: muscular, wry, and catchy despite their complexity. Nearly doubling the original album's 13-song tracklist seems like a stretch, and that's exactly what this doorstop of a release feels like. While previous anniversary editions were neatly organized—stereo album here, mono album there, all the single edits, some outtakes, BBC sessions, and maybe a live show to round things out—this collection is literally a "kitchen sink" affair (nine of the tracks on the even more expansive physical box set are Ray and Dave Davies supposedly discussing the album's songs in Ray's kitchen). The insights are minimal, but some of the additional material, like a sublime alternate version of "This Time Tomorrow" is exceptional. While one certainly understands the vault-clearing instinct at hand here, this edition could easily have risen to the level of its predecessors with a bit of judicious editing. But as it is, it's maddening, peculiar, and particular, in a way that, perhaps, Kinks fans are quite accustomed to at this point. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz