Reception
The album sold poorly in the UK, in part because it competed with budget-priced compilation albums of early Kinks hits from 1964–1966; also, Pye Records had released "Waterloo Sunset", "Death of a Clown" and other songs before the album appeared. Something Else also sold poorly in the US upon release in January 1968 where the group was still the subject of a US ban on live and television performances.
James Pomeroy in a March 1968 review in Rolling Stone felt it was the best album the Kinks had made to that point, praising the "humor, cynicism, perception and irony" where he felt the band are at their best. He picked out "David Watts" and "Waterloo Sunset" as the best tracks, and also praised the three contributions of Dave Davies.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine in a retrospective review for Allmusic felt that the "nostalgic and sentimental" songwriting are key, and that part of "the album's power lies in its calm music, since it provides an elegant support for Davies' character portraits and vignettes".
In 2003, Something Else was ranked #288 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Read more about this topic: Something Else By The Kinks
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