Audio CD review:
Faces - The Definitive Rock Collection

Faces - The Definitive Rock Collection

Band: Faces Title: The Definitive Rock Collection Rating: Release Date: 2007-01-23 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Wicked Messenger - Faces, Dylan, Bob 2: Shake, Shudder 3: Around the Plynth 4: Flying 5: Pineapple and the Monkey 6: Three Button Hand Me Down - Faces, Stewart, Rod 7: Bad 'n' Ruin - Faces, Stewart, Rod 8: Sweet Lady Mary 9: Had Me a Real Good Time 10: (I Know) I'm Losing You - Faces, Whitfield, Norman 11: Maybe I'm Amazed - Faces, McCartney, Paul 12: Miss Judy's Farm 13: You're So Rude - Faces, McLagan, Ian 14: Love Lives Here - Faces, Stewart, Rod 15: Last Orders Please - Faces, Lane, Ronnie 16: Stay with Me 17: Debris - Faces, Lane, Ronnie 18: Memphis, Tennessee - Faces, Berry, Chuck 19: Too Bad 20: Silicone Grown 21: Cindy Incidentally 22: My Fault 23: Glad and Sorry - Faces, Lane, Ronnie 24: Borstal Boys 25: Just Another Honky - Faces, Lane, Ronnie 26: Ooh La La 27: Jodie 28: Pool Hall Richard - Faces, Stewart, Rod 29: You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything - Faces, Jones, Kenney 30: Open to Ideas

An Awesome Kinks Collection A well rounded collection of The Kinks best music. If you like The Kinks, but don't want to pay for all of the albums, this is an excellent choice. I purchased this CD mainly for my fave Kinks song, "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman". As I listened to the various tracks, I found myself thinking, "Oh yea, I remember that song, and that song, and that song. . . " This collection is definitely worth the price of admission. Rod Stewart Can Bore You in Five Songs? Challenge me. I say Stewart can bore me in four songs. Maybe he can bore you in three? Two? One? The highlights really have to be the few Ronnie Lane pieces and Ooh La La. Oh yea, there is Losing You, Maybe I'm Amazed, and Stay with Me. Stewart handles those well. But overall, Stewart's voice is just too damn irritating to enjoy for long. Rockin' Rod and Company: ****1/2 Not that the Faces were ever on the bar-band circuit - to a man they already had respectable credentials. It's hard to believe that the man who now sings warmed-over Tin Pan Alley standards was once the front man for what may have been the best rock n' roll bar band (or more appropriately, pub band) ever. But it's their sound that's endearing - that rough-hewn, loosey-goosey, freewheeling style that made them such a working-man's band. As the Small Faces, they were a psychedelic band on the verge of dissolution after Steve Marriott left them, but with the recruiting of Ronny Wood and Rod Stewart in 1969, they roared back with a vengeance and a new style. They were the Rolling Stones without the aloof arrogance and flashy showmanship, and fans loved them for that down-to-earth sensibility. Led by Rod Stewart's raspy tenor, they produced four studio albums, and they were a hugely popular live act, even rivaling the Stones on tour at one time. This two-disc set is an economical and well-collected alternative to the box set, "Five Guys Walk into a Bar. . . ", though it doesn't include any live tracks or previously-unavailable outtakes like its bigger cousin. It does, however, include eight tracks not on the box set, including the original studio versions of "Shake, Shudder" and "My Fault"; the Dylan cover "Wicked Messenger"; the inexplicably-omitted, incredible cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis" (credited here as "Memphis, Tennessee"); and two Stewart solo tracks that featured the Faces on backup, "(I Know I'm) Losing You" (the studio version), and "Jodie". Once Rod's solo career took off, of course, the band's days were numbered. But the other members - Wood, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLaglen and Kenney Jones - also went on to fair success on their own, especially Wood and Jones, who joined the Stones and The Who, respectively. This collection is an excellent overview of the band's short but memorable career. . A Concise Collection of Faces' Essentials During their all too brief career, the Faces released only four studio albums and they are all thoroughly represented on this two-disc 30-track collection. There was a time in the early Seventies when the Faces gave the Rolling Stones a run for their money as the World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band. [Thankfully there are no tracks from 1974's lackluster live album COAST TO COAST. ] THE DEFINITIVE ROCK COLLECTION duplicates all 19 tracks from 1999's THE BEST OF FACES and adds additional album tracks. Among the new additions are the instrumental "Pineapple and the Monkey" from FIRST STEP that features some amazing slide work from Ron Wood. "Maybe I'm Amazed," from LONG PLAYER, takes McCartney's ballad and turns it into a gut-wrenching plea. Also included is "Jodie," an outtake from the OOH LA LA sessions, along with two non-album singles, "Pool Hall Richard" and "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing, or Anything," both recorded after Ronnie Lane had left the band. If you're a true Faces fanatic, you should settle for nothing less than 2004's essential 4-disc FIVE GUYS WALK INTO A BAR. . . , which duplicates everything found here. But if you're on a budget and want more than the basics, THE DEFINITIVE ROCK COLLECTION is a superb collection. . You can see a complete list of all Faces discography, or go back to the Faces tabs