Album number 3 hears the Kinks crackling with much more vigor and momentum as the songwriting quality truly begins to take shape and Kontroversy is a much improved record compared to the previous "Kinda Kinks" set. Ray Davies' songwriting skills really open up on here with numbers like When I See that Girl of Mine, The World Keeps Going 'Round, You Can't Win and the legendary cut, Till the End of the Day, proving how quickly the band were evolving musically and gelling together into something a bit bigger than even perhaps, they realized at the time. The record opens with Kokomo Arnold's Milkcow Blues and features some blitzing guitar work courtesy of brother Dave, coupled with the solid rhythm backing from bassist Pete Quaife and drummer Mick Avory. I Am Free is written and sung by Dave and features a shuffle beat backed with a melodic and ponderous hook, offering a nice, raw vocal style set forth. Ring the Bells is acoustic guitar driven, backed by a strong piano melody accompanying with a great vocal submission from Ray, culminating in a solid number that gives the album a consistent feel of melodic strength and structure.

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Where Have All the Good Times Gone joins Till the End of the Day as one of the more significant numbers on this record and proves to be another notch in the ever growing belt of Ray's rapidly developing songwriting skill. Its ilk is of a laid-back groove with some great harmonies by the Davies' brothers on its hook-laden chorus. Dedicated Follower of Fashion was released as a single around the time of this release and although it wasn't included on the original album, the Sanctuary remaster from '01 features it as the first bonus cut and while it's a bit of a slice of novelty pop, it ultimately gave the Kinks a top 5 hit in their native England. Other album cuts in It's Too Late, What's in Store for Me and Gotta Get the First Plane Home, have a tendency to recall the overall feel of the lesser successful Kinda Kinks album before it, but are entertaining enough numbers to round out the record, providing a sustainable consistency. Kink Kontroversy is certainly the first solid Kinks record thus far in terms of songwriting quality and overall performance with only a few lesser numbers to pad out an otherwise turning point release for the band. It only gets better and better with each successive release within the following 5 years, thus entering their "golden era" of classic material.

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Rating Grade- B+