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(Joseph Spaulding's review)
The Small Faces self-titled debut is a garage band classic much like the Who's and the Kinks'. However they had two things going for them in 65 that neither of those bands had and that is they were not produced by Shel Talmy and they had a great lead singer. Steve Marriott (R.I.P.) was a fantastic R&B singer and a force to be reckoned with. Listen to his cover of 'Shake' and you'll see what I'm talking about. The rest of the band kicks pretty hard too, not as well as the three members of the Who but then again who could? But listening to this I can see why The Who chose Kenny Jones to replace Keith Moon, just listen to 'Come On Children' you'll see the man had a lot of talent.
Some other great songs here are 'Sorry She's Mine' 'You'd Better Believe It' and 'What'cha Gonna Do About It' a live favorite that really holds its own on this album every thing sounds perfect, its their 'My Generation'. Something all you Zeppelin fans out there should know is the Small Faces cover of 'You Need Loving' the basis of Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love'. However there is a small amount of filler like "E Too D' and the instrumental 'Own Up Time' but the overall effect is pretty good. The recent release features some bonus cuts from a French EP but the sound quality is pretty low so it doesn't add much to the album.
Nope, this isn't There Are But Four Small Faces as stated in the 'Coming Soon' list on the site. I must say I was a moron for not knowing which Small Faces album I had (I guess I never actually looked at the title of the album on the case - I just assumed it was There Are But Four Small Faces since I knew of that album title). Instead this is actually the Small Faces self-titled debut album I'm reviewing - for not knowing the title, I still swear that I have listened to this album a few times before reviewing it. Honest! I guess since it was stuck in my album collection for a few years without being touched, I just forgot the title to it.
Getting to the album though, it is basically a rough collection of mod-Rock R 'n' B numbers. To get an idea what the album sounds like, it's pretty much what the Who was doing at the same time (circa The Who Sings My Generation and various singles), albeit a slightly heavier rhythm section and less harmonies. The Small Faces were actually rivals of the Who during the developing mod rock scene pre-1965, but eventually, due to less songwriting talent (obviously), a harder time at creating memorable melodies, or existent melodies at all; it is obvious that the Who already had them beat in this department, and less distinguishable personalities overall, the Who won out. Lead vocalist Steve Marriott sure makes the tracks rock out with his supreme 'macho' singing on heavy numbers like the opener "Shake", "Don't Stop What You're Doing", and others, but he can't actually save all the tunes from being more than what they are: excitingly played, but generic and monotonous-sounding songs.
You can't deny the pure energy and power put into these tunes, which probably sounded pretty brutal in-concert at the time, but generally they just aren't all-together that good. The overlong "Come On Children", instrumentals like "Own Up Time", and normal R 'n' B pop rockers like "It's Too Late", "You Better Believe It", "Sorry She's Mine", and "One Night Stand" get by performance-wise, but for the most part, are samey-soundy and mediocre at heart. Well, "You Better Believe It" is one of the better ones though. Still, it is a fairly typical debut from a band that is still in its' primitive stages - they would learn quite a bit in making a real worthwhile and diverse record. That doesn't mean the record doesn't boast at least two or three strong numbers to keep it afloat however. "What'cha Gonna Do About It" is a 'minor classic' with its' tough organ-driven sound and gutsy 'Daltreyish' vocals, "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" is simply memorable, and "E Too D" a very healthy rave-up rocker. An invigorating, clumsy, and monotonous set of songs from these four small fries (OK, one of em had to ruin the name of the band by being average height).
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(reviewed by Joseph Spaulding)
After leaving Decca for Immediate, Decca released this cash in. In that sentence I have just described this album, a simple cash in - and it sounds like it too. The overall sound is fairly poor and only a handful of songs are great. The album is made up of studio outtakes of live favorites and singles that were released between the last album and this one. For the most part it's a major disappointment after the last one.
The real low points on this album occur with an unimpressive cover of 'You Really Got A Hold On Me' but it is better than the Beatles version. 'Baby Don't You Do It' is not fantastic either and 'That Man' is a psychedelic disaster. There are some gems here though they are just hidden they are just hidden like 'Runaway' and 'All Or Nothing' which was their best song to date and their first hit single I think. The biggest offense on the album is however the fact that 'What'cha Gonna Do About It' and 'Sha La La La Lee' are the exact same versions that were on Small Faces. I guess they ran out of material. A major disappointment: if you can find the Decca Anthology get that instead.
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(reviewed by Joseph Spaulding)
After releasing two albums of mod R&B the Small Faces went into a new psychedelic pop phase that would last them into the end of their career. It all starts here with their debut at Immediate Small Faces (in America it was released as There Are But Four Small Faces). Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane (one of the greatest song-writing duos of the sixties) pull out some prime pop and the band is in its prime musically leading to a fantastic album.
Of course there are a few shortcomings - mainly the songs are way too short. 'Feeling Lonely' is only a minute thirty, and the instrumental 'Happy Boys Happy' is not very great, but aside from that, however most of the album sparkles along rather nicely. There are some classics here like 'Things Are Going To Get Better' 'My Way Of Giving' and 'Eddie's Dreaming', the latter having some great bongos on it care of Kenny Jones and some funny lyrics like "I'm eating a banana/ My friends sit around/I'll tell them my stories/they won't make a sound", I guess you have to be there but it is very enjoyable. However the album does not leave me overall satisfied, so I can only give a strong 9 but not a perfect ten.
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(reviewed by Joseph Spaulding)
How can I put this simply, side one of this album, or should I say masterpiece, are some of the greatest pop songs I have ever heard. They all flow so heavenly and beautifully: songs like 'Afterglow', 'Song Of A Baker', 'Rene', 'Lazy Sunday' and 'Long Ago And Worlds Apart' are simply stunning. How any one could live without this album is beyond me. 'Afterglow' and 'Long Ago And Worlds Apart' are great love songs, the latter was written by Keyboardist Ian McLagan, which showed he could write some powerful stuff and should have written more (can anybody say George Harrison?). 'Rene' is a song about a whore that goes of into a psychedelic jam that is oh so yummy and then 'Lazy Sunday' closes the album and Steve Marriott sings it with a hilarious over the top cockney accent, ending a fantastic album. A ten and no less.
Wait what's this? There's another side? Oh well, let's have a listen. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CRAP!!! Actually it isn't that bad, you see the second side is a rock opera and some filler bogs it down, mainly 'Hungry Intruder' and 'Happy Days Toy Town' which are not bad but they could have done better. However the biggest problem of this rock opera is the narration of the story by Stanley Urwin that can get on your nerves if you are not prepared. But songs like 'Happiness Stan', 'Rollin' Over' and 'Mad John' save it from being a complete disaster and the filler songs are still listenable so I'll give it a ten but a weak ten.
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(reviewed by Joseph Spaulding)
Yet another contractual obligation album. However, unlike From The Beginning this is in no way a waste. You see Steve Marriott had been having fights with Immediate, his record company, and then they released 'Lazy Sunday' as a single, which made him mad because he felt it worked better as part of the album. Then when the single 'The Universal', a song that he was very proud of, flopped he got mad and left the group. So with the Small Faces gone Immediate grabbed their singles and some outtakes plus a few live songs and released this. Unlike From The Beginning most of the songs here are fantastic and the production is great.
The songs range from the beginning of their stay with Immediate with songs like 'I Can't Make It' and 'Here Comes The Nice', which is most likely the best drug dealer song ever, to the end with singles like 'Tin Solider' which is one their best songs of all time. Also here is the only hit they had in the US, 'Itchycoo Park'. Elsewhere we find an emotional studio version of 'Every Little Bit Hurts' but it's topped by the blistering live version. As for the other live songs the band is drowned out by the screaming girls but when you can actually hear the band you find out they were a solid live band and could put on a great show. The only problem with this album is that they have 'Lazy Sunday' and 'Afterglow' which are available on Ogden's Nut Gone Flake so I wish they had put on some B-sides like 'I'm Only Dreaming', but all in all this album is definitely worth your time.
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(reviewed by Joseph Spaulding)
A Nod's As Good As A Wink was the Faces third and breakthrough album. They had by now mastered their own brand of blues based rock and created this little drunken masterpiece. Well, masterpiece is a little strong - I'll save that for their next album. However this one does have its strong points that make it worth getting. It sort of reminds me of a drunken night with the boys with its ups and down, with fast rockers and slow ballads.
Some of the lovely ballads on here "Love Lives Here' and Lane's contribution 'Debris' which is one of his best folk ballads. Then there are the sloppy songs 'Last Orders Please' and 'You're So Rude' which are nice, but Lane sounds real drunk singing - with the way the lived maybe he is. There is also their only hit 'Stay With Me' which deserved to be a hit seeing as it is one of their catchiest songs and catchy songs were not easy for the Faces, keep that in mind playing this. They also cover Chuck Berry's 'Memphis Tennessee', but Rod's vocals sound forced and insincere, and it rambles on so I don't particularly care for it. However the album is worth at least a couple listens, and it keeps getting better each time I play it, so pick up a copy.
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