The original United States release, issued by Reprise Records on 25 November 1964, omits three tracks and is instead titled You Really Got Me.

[6] The album was re-released in 1998 in the UK on Castle Records with twelve bonus tracks.

[2] Consequence of Sound listed the album as a key example of proto-punk, observing "lean aggression" and a "jolting", "in-your-face" approach, and described their rendition of Chuck Berry's "Beautiful Delilah" as the first punk rock cover.

[5] The AllMusic review by Richie Unterberger assessed the album as lacking in consistency, commenting: "As R&B cover artists, the Kinks weren't nearly as adept as the Stones and Yardbirds; Ray Davies' original tunes were, "You Really Got Me" aside, perfunctory Mersey Beat-ish pastiches... [the] tunes that producer Shel Talmy penned for the group... were simply abominable.

"[2] Rock critic Mike Saunders of Rolling Stone had a more positive opinion of the Kinks' debut LP, described the album as one of their "successful rock and roll albums".