Village Green Preservation Society (Deluxe Edition)

"The first question that anyone confronted by this triple-CD version of Village Green Preservation Society might ask is, is it still possible to properly enjoy Village Green Preservation Society in a single-CD version, such as Castle Records' 1998 reissue? The answer is emphatically yes -- it's a great record, period, even without the whistles and bells, variant takes, and other enhancements present on this set. But limiting oneself to the single CD is a little like only ever seeing the theatrical version of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy -- there's a lot more well worth absorbing in the special editions, and in this case, much more than the 15 songs on the finished album; besides, anyone who bypasses this set misses their chance to hear the beguiling acoustic guitar-driven alternate mix of "Animal Farm" (one of five distinctly different versions here of the achingly catchy song), and the equally alluring acoustic- and electric-textured "Did You See His Name," which wasn't part of the album but dates from the same period. The next question is, how does a 15-song LP become a three-CD set? The simple answer is that Village Green Preservation Society wasn't ever just 15 songs -- there were at least 18 finished songs connected directly to the LP, as it was released in two different versions around the world, and there were more songs composed by Ray Davies and recorded with varying degrees of finality throughout that period (1967-68) in which Village Green Preservation Society evolved." – Bruce Eder allmusic.com