The Zombies: Zombies Heaven (Big Beat) The greatest box set of all time, hands down, with exceptional liner notes and sonics. This collection from Big Beat, a British label that only releases the finest recordings, does justice to a band with two great songwriters. The members were multi-instrumentalists, with some classically trained with astounding chops. The band was composed of exceptional singers. They infused many influences, including jazz, R & B and keyboard based standard pop. They were the only band of the time that truly could approach The Beatles in terms of raw talent. (Yeh, yeh, hit me with the e-mail...that is my opinion and I am sticking to it) Complex but supremely melodic, The Zombies composed movements in a three minute format and squuezed as much melody as possible out of whatever key they were writing in. I consider them to be the first progressive rock band where they used the mellotron to great effect on Odessey and Oracle, a recording on par with The Beatles best work. (Again, go ahead and e-mail me - it's just my opinion). Their lyrics were honest, poignant, moving, simple and from the heart. If you listen to nothing but The Beatles, get this, you won't be disappointed. If you listen to music, you won't be disappointed.

The Kinks: Kinda Kinks, You Really Got Me, Kinks-Size, Something Else, The Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the..., Muswell Hillbillies How can one put The Kinks place in popular music in perspective? Early, they were a singles band and Ray Davies, to me, was to British rock what Dylan was to American music. A social commentator, a master story teller and an artist capable of supreme lyrical imagery, irony and acerbic wit, Ray Davies raised the bar as it related to the 3 minute pop song format both as a lyricist and a the creator of simple barre chord patterns as hooks and riffs in and of themselves. Their best work is "Village Green..." which is consistent in theme, allowing the songs to play off of one another like movements in a symphony. The recording to me is as much a celebration of British culture and life as anything I have ever heard or read. A masterpiece. Some consider Something Else a classic with the standout tracks, "Waterloo Sunset" and "David Watts". I don't disagree. Others anoint Muswell Hillbillies as their best work, calling it the first alt. country recording ever made. For my money, a good best of collection like The Kinks Kronikles and "Village..." are in the must have category. Again, a hugely influential band and Davies changed lives with his work.

The Pretty Things: S. F. Sorrow (Original Master) (1968): Historically, this album is defined by the fact that it’s the first ‘rock opera’, preceding The Who’s Tommy by a year. Musically, the conceptual nature of the work is not nearly as important as its status as one of the quintessential psychedelic rock albums. No band swung so drastically from primal R & B to true LSD-inspired freak out. The album is littered with classic songs, like “Baron Saturday”, with guitarist Dick Taylor’s sinister vocal and an echoey mesmerizing percussion mid-section which morphs into flutes and ringing guitars. “Bracelets of Fingers” features hippie choral vocals and vague Eastern overtones along with tons of studio tricks. “She Says Good Morning” and “Balloon Burning” are vintage hard edged rock numbers, with Taylor bending notes on his guitar in definitive fashion. Let’s not short shrift vocalist Phil May, who conceived this effort. His vocals are superlative, and he gets a big star turn on the gigantic ballad “Loneliest Person”. There may be other bands who came up with some of these tricks first (like months before), but no one else pulled them all together and did them better than the Pretties. – Mike Bennett

The Dave Clark Five: s/t This debut was important where it included the hits "Glad All Over," "Do You Love Me," and "Bits and Pieces." The Five had a huge radio sound, and they really distinguished themselves from the slew of Beatles imitators of the era.

The Yardbirds: Ultimate If for nothing else, this band spawned the careers of guitar heroes, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Rooted in the blues like their contemporaries The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things, this is where improvising on the electric guitar off of the blues scale took firm root in popular music that followed. Most of their recordings absolutely blow in terms of quality, and this Rhino collection finally brings their work together in a listenable form. A hugely influential and important set of recordings.

The Small Faces: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake One of the greatest psychedelic recordings of the '60s on an underground par with S.F. Sorrow and, on the American side, Donovan's Sunshine Superman, The Small Faces influenced fashion as "mods" and music of their time. The Small Faces were astounding musicians and maybe the best looking band of all time. Again, an important recording in the big picture.

The Hollies: Evolution This recording has a psychedelic, minor chord, eerie vibe with the virtuosity of some of the lesser of The Zombies early recordings. But read this - no one and I mean no one - bettered The Zombies. I am a fan of all of The Hollies hits like "Bus Stop", but songs like "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" and "Rain on the Window" absolutely slay you with remarkable vocals, keen arrangements and quality songcraft. Evolution is their best work.

The Creation: We Are Paintermen (1966) If you have the great Nuggets II box set, you have heard the single "Making Time" off of this debut, an album that matches in part the intensity of The Who's My Generation debut album. Masterful innovators in the use of feedback and a band that just wrote great songs, The Creation, like the Action, were as respected among their peers as The Small Faces and The Who. Shel Talmy, the producer of The Who and The Creation, still wonders why he couldn't break this band.

The Action: Action Packed "I'll Keep on Holding On" which appears on the Nuggets II set is as good as blue-eyed soul gets. This mod band was a major influence on Phil Collins (Phil, what happened?) and other artists of the day. You could skip this and just get the Nuggets II box for the one absolutely killer track.

Note: The Who, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are not mentioned because the subject matter is so immense of a topic that a brief mention will not do them justice. Suffice it to say that any of their releases are highly recommended. I hesitated to mention The Kinks because of their importance as well, but there may be the odd person who may not be aware of their massive significance as rock recording artists.