The Kinks were an English pop/rock group formed in 1963, and categorised as a British Invasion band, along with the other members of the so-called Big Four (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who). Despite being less commercially successful than these three contemporaries, mostly because of an untimely four-year ban from the United States in the mid-to-late 1960s, the Kinks are cited among them as one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time.
The band's early hard-driving singles set a standard in the mid-1960s for rock & roll, while albums such as Face to Face, Something Else, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur and Muswell Hillbillies are highly regarded by fans, critics, and peers, and are considered amongst the most influential recordings of the era.