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This boxset, consisting of four Faces albums released between 1970 and 1975 - plus a bonus LP of previously unreleased and alternate tracks - is absolutely stunning! Every album in this set sounds incredible, so much so that this box contains five of the best sounding records in my rather large vinyl collection. It’s really that good and the packaging is superb, too - exact replicas of the original LPs, right down to the “smiling face” cover of Ooh La La. The vinyl is dead quiet and the source for this collection was the original analogue masters. Superb in every way!
The Faces – who it is said were good boys while they were asleep – have always been one of my favourite bands. Coming together in 1969 and featuring former Jeff Beck Group members Ron Wood and Rod Stewart, they rocked and rolled like nobody else. Pure abandon. Wood’s distinctive guitar must have sounded like a breath of fresh air at a time when almost everything else was tuning out and turning on. The group regularly toured Britain, Europe and the States during this period and were among the top-grossing live acts of the time.
This set contains some of The Faces’ most successful songs (Had Me a Real Good Time, Stay With Me and Pool Hall Richard), but Rod Stewart’s solo career was taking off at the same time and the group soon became overshadowed by his success. Disillusioned, bassist Ronnie Lane left the band in 1973 and was replaced by Tetsu Yamauchi, who had previously replaced Andy Fraser in Free, another great band of the era that imploded.
The following year a live album, Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners, was released to a hailstorm of nasty criticism from reviewers, who complained that it was “poorly recorded”. But it’s really a great album, and although it does sound a bit rough it certainly captures the spirit of the band and I wish they’d included it in this box. In 1975 Wood began working with the Rolling Stones, which foreshadowed the band’s breakup shortly after.
Every track in this boxset is killer. And everything sounds amazing. Seriously, this one outstanding-in-every-way box set. The sad part is we probably won’t see anything like The Faces again, not in this modern age of pre-packaged “entertainment” that’s force fed to us via TV shows such as American Idol and The Voice, where everything sounds as though it was recorded on the same computer.
Only 7,500 copies of this box set were pressed, so you should grab one while you can. It's also available on CD, although I don't know if that's a limited edition or not. And, yes, it's …
This boxset, consisting of four Faces albums released between 1970 and 1975 - plus a bonus LP of previously unreleased and alternate tracks - is absolutely stunning! Every album in this set sounds incredible, so much so that this box contains five of the best sounding records in my rather large vinyl collection. It’s really that good and the packaging is superb, too - exact replicas of the original LPs, right down to the “smiling face” cover of Ooh La La. The vinyl is dead quiet and the source for this collection was the original analogue masters. Superb in every way!
The Faces – who it is said were good boys while they were asleep – have always been one of my favourite bands. Coming together in 1969 and featuring former Jeff Beck Group members Ron Wood and Rod Stewart, they rocked and rolled like nobody else. Pure abandon. Wood’s distinctive guitar must have sounded like a breath of fresh air at a time when almost everything else was tuning out and turning on. The group regularly toured Britain, Europe and the States during this period and were among the top-grossing live acts of the time.
This set contains some of The Faces’ most successful songs (Had Me a Real Good Time, Stay With Me and Pool Hall Richard), but Rod Stewart’s solo career was taking off at the same time and the group soon became overshadowed by his success. Disillusioned, bassist Ronnie Lane left the band in 1973 and was replaced by Tetsu Yamauchi, who had previously replaced Andy Fraser in Free, another great band of the era that imploded.
The following year a live album, Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners, was released to a hailstorm of nasty criticism from reviewers, who complained that it was “poorly recorded”. But it’s really a great album, and although it does sound a bit rough it certainly captures the spirit of the band and I wish they’d included it in this box. In 1975 Wood began working with the Rolling Stones, which foreshadowed the band’s breakup shortly after.
Every track in this boxset is killer. And everything sounds amazing. Seriously, this one outstanding-in-every-way box set. The sad part is we probably won’t see anything like The Faces again, not in this modern age of pre-packaged “entertainment” that’s force fed to us via TV shows such as American Idol and The Voice, where everything sounds as though it was recorded on the same computer.
Only 7,500 copies of this box set were pressed, so you should grab one while you can. It's also available on CD, although I don't know if that's a limited edition or not. And, yes, it's …
BONUS TRACK
Speaking of his old band The Faces in Rod: The Autobiography, Rod Stewart recalls how "we were young and foolish and nobody bothered with the details because we were all rich beyond our dreams. No one was giving a thought to the fact that it could all go tits up at some stage. And lo and behold, it all went tits up."
The problems, he explained, were mostly related to the success he was having with his solo records. It rubbed the rest of Faces the wrong way and resulted in Ronnie Lane leaving the band in 1973. "Nobody thought he was serious at first," Stewart said. And just as the band was beginning to come to terms with that blow another one came along.
"The thing that triggered my exit was the long-expected decision of Woody to take a job with the Rolling Stones, the band, let's face it, that he was born to be in," Stewart said. "That, for me, was the killer blow."
After finishing his first tour with the Rolling Stones in the summer of '75, Ronnie Wood rejoined the Faces for their final concerts in the fall of that year, although nothing official to that effect was ever stated publicly. But a little while later, in in December, Woody made his clean break from The Faces and then Stewart left and the band came to an end.
As box sets go, this one is damned near perfect. One can only imagine what would have come next from such a band as this.
Speaking of his old band The Faces in Rod: The Autobiography, Rod Stewart recalls how "we were young and foolish and nobody bothered with the details because we were all rich beyond our dreams. No one was giving a thought to the fact that it could all go tits up at some stage. And lo and behold, it all went tits up."
The problems, he explained, were mostly related to the success he was having with his solo records. It rubbed the rest of Faces the wrong way and resulted in Ronnie Lane leaving the band in 1973. "Nobody thought he was serious at first," Stewart said. And just as the band was beginning to come to terms with that blow another one came along.
"The thing that triggered my exit was the long-expected decision of Woody to take a job with the Rolling Stones, the band, let's face it, that he was born to be in," Stewart said. "That, for me, was the killer blow."
After finishing his first tour with the Rolling Stones in the summer of '75, Ronnie Wood rejoined the Faces for their final concerts in the fall of that year, although nothing official to that effect was ever stated publicly. But a little while later, in in December, Woody made his clean break from The Faces and then Stewart left and the band came to an end.
As box sets go, this one is damned near perfect. One can only imagine what would have come next from such a band as this.
