Customer Reviews

The Best Of Faces: Good Boys When They're Asleep

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Faces never got the respect (or the audience) they deserved. Despite the fact that they cracked the U.S. Top Forty only once--"Stay with Me," No. 17 in 1972--over a brief three-year period in the early seventies they produced some of the most raucus, ballsy rock 'n' roll of the era.

Listen to bands like the Georgia Sattelites and the Black Crowes and you'll hear that they owe as much to the Faces as they do to the Rolling Stones.

This 19-track collection covers the Faces' entire four studio album career--nothing from the live Coast To Coast recorded after bassist Ronnie Lane left the band. You get three songs from First Step and Long Player, six from A Nod Is As Good As a Wink and four from Ooh La La. In addition you get "Pool Hall Richard" and "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything" (which was previously available only on the long out-of-print Snakes and Ladders: The Best of the Faces from 1976) and the previously unreleased "Open to Ideas."

Keep in mind, this is only a compilation and as such some of your favorite tracks are going to be missing. [Personally, I would have liked to have had "Around the Plynth" from First Step, and "Richmond" and "Maybe I'm Amazed" from Long Player.] What you do get is the entire range of the Faces' repertoire: classic rockers like "Stay with Me" and "Bad 'n' Ruin" and tender ballads like "Sweet Lady Mary" and "Debris."

Conflicting egos couldn't hold the band together. By 1973 Ronnie Lane left to form Slim Chance. Rod Stewart's solo career was taking off. Ron Wood would soon become Mick Taylor's replacement in the Rolling Stones. What is left behind is some terrific rock 'n' roll. Start with this well-chosen collection, but you'll want to go back and also get their other albums because after hearing these 19 songs, you'll be wanting more. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

What great talent! Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLaglin, and Kenny Jones, all talented performers, who created for a short while, the world's greatest bar band. Rocking hard and playing loosely this band just seemed to throw things together and hope for the best. Not just a back up band for Stewart, Faces created music for a Saturday night, out on the town, hitting the clubs, and having a real good time doing it. Listening to songs like "Cindy Incidentally," "Pool Hall Richard" and "Borstal Boys," you can hear the skill of the band, but Faces always seemed to be more about having fun. This collection is more complete than Snakes and Ladders and you will be hard pressed to find a band that better epitomizes the swagger of good old-fashioned rock and roll. There are many bands that have created more memorable music, but few that sound like they are having more fun.

Rod Stewart should have retired years ago...today he wouldn't know a good rock & roll song if it bit him. But back in the day, Rod was one of the best. This disc is the testement to Rod when he was the Mod.

But the Faces were far more than just Rod's backing band. Ron Wood slathered some mean guitar licks, the like he hasn't played since joining that other band. Ronnie Lane penned some sweet songs and (gasp) actually stole the mic from Rod a few times. The music is raw, edgy & loose; so loose it almost feels like it could fall apart at any second like 5 drunkards walking into a wall. But it holds together, and it rocks.

If you're a fan of the old Stones, Black Crowes, early Aerosmith, the Replacements or the like, you should own this. If you think Rod's heyday was the 80's, you should be beaten about the head & shoulders, given a bottle of bad whiskey & forced to listen to this. Sadly Rod hasn't sung like this in years, nor will he ever again. Your eyes will be opened.

All rock & roll should be this good.

What we have here are the standout tracks from one of the better UK bands that graced the world of rock.
As a unit the post Steve Marriott Faces were very cohesive in the studio with a unique recklessness that remained true to the spirit of rebellion while never being sloppy.
The gorgeous elegance of the ballads, the primal emotion of the rock and roll,the heartfelt blues were structured in the vein of looseness but always remained solid in their great musicianship..Their sound flowed not like many others..They sounded like musicians at play but great playing is what they created.
This CD is one great sampler, one excellent play list of tracks..The Stones comparison is not valid...Rod Stewart, upon leaving Jeff Beck sang with that continuous raspy swagger but not so much as the front man but as a member of the band,Ronnie Woods guitar playing is and was reckless abandon and remains a key element of greatness and was a great fit with his style of play and his persona to the Stones ,Ronnie Lane's voice bass playing and compositions that touch of UK nostalgia casts him into history as one great rock ballader,as the drummer Kenny Jones whose talent was recognized by The Who as he became their drummer after the death of Keith Moon..and the naturally good-time dance hall rock and funky wizardry of keyboardsist Ian McLagan glued the faces as one heck of a great band..The tracks cover their 5 studio albums,their Best Of CD and an unreleased track from 1975 that is unmistakable Faces.
The very loose and patchy Coast To Coast Live album is not represented but some great live cuts are found on their box set which is a must as well...

This compilation of the Faces gathers all their great hits and is the best single-disc compilation of theirs that you will find. I think they are a very underrated band, they were very good, they deserved more recognition. Being that I'm a Rod Stewart fan, I think this is just great, even on the songs where he doesn't sing lead. They're a little like the Rolling Stones, but harder-rocking, in my opinion. They were just a good, hard-rock band and definately all about fun. I definately recommend this to anyone who likes Rod Stewart, as well as those that like early hard rock.

The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars is because I share the same feelings that the band had toward Rod. At this same time he had awesome SOLO albums coming out. Can you imagine the Faces with Rods full creative attention? Oh well, whatever, its still great stuff lots of fun and I can still remember the concerts. Faces were the ultimate live band that would party along with you. Those of you that were fortunate enough to see them live will really appreciate this.

Jay Gatsby's right, Nick Carraway's wrong -- Rod Stewart may be on about his umpteenth career redirection (and by no means the worst one), Ron Wood may have long since rolled on, and Ronnie Lane may be dead at a sadly early age, but put Good Boys into your CD player and they are all back, carefree, rowdy, scruffy, and loud from more than thirty years ago. (And, by the way, a whole lot less sloppy than they were often accused of being. These guys may not have looked serious, but they were.) Once again they are getting whipped until dawn by Miss Judy; telling a tart to straighten her dress cause the folks have come home early; paying cab fare home and loaning out their best cologne; learning too late from poor old Granddad. Their Wicked Messenger take on Dylan doesn't hold up so well (especially considering the way Bob keeps reinventing that song just like he does with most of his others) and the last couple of songs here (You Can Make Me Dance and Open to Ideas) sound all Rod and no Faces -- a hint of what was to come. But for thirteen glorious cuts from Sweet Lady Mary through Ooh La La, it's like seeing the band raucously on stage again and leading their audience on a night of smirking and rocking fun. Just don't hit yourself with that microphone stand as you twirl it, Rod.

When the Faces were at their best, they could go toe to toe with anybody. The Stones, The Who, The Beatles - you name 'em.
But they also delivered strangely inconsistent albums, pure genius mixed with utter mediocrity, and they issued some of their best songs as singles and never put them on an LP.

So this collection should be a blessing. And it is to a certain extend, even if it isn't quite perfect.
Clocking in at 79 minutes 25 seconds, it takes full advantage of the CD medium, and the 19-page booklet is well-written and informative.

A couple of the compilers' choices are rather strange, but the goodness outnumbers the badness by sixteen to three or something along those lines. This is obviously not everything you could ever want to hear from the Faces, but the majority of the band's best and best-known songs are here, from Ronnie Lane's melancholy ballads over rowdy folk-rock to gritty rock n' roll, blues-rock and hard rock.
The Faces - Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and top-notch pianist/organ player Ian McLagan - only issued a small handful of albums in the early 70s, and they barely had a genuine hit single, but they were beloved by critics and audience alike, and of course Rod Stewart was never better than in the early 70s.

"Good Boys...When They're Asleep" isn't a perfect Faces compilation - as I said, the compilers at Rhino could have done a little better by the good boys. But with songs like the lovely ballad "Sweet Lady Mary", the gritty slow rocker "Three Button Hand Me Down", the melodic piano-driven "Cindy Incidentally", the swinging, swaggering "Had Me A Real Good Time", the bluesy hard rock of "Stay With Me", and the tough non-LP track "Pool Hall Richard" it's gotta be at least really, really good.

I always loved bands like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Zeppelin, or the Who, but avoided Rod Stewart because he kind of sucks nowadays. Then, I randomly picked up Jeff Beck's "Truth" and was introduced to early Rod Stewart and the Faces.

While I think the Faces rocked just as hard as the Stones or Who (except they sound like they are having much more fun), the early Rod Stewart lyrics are so honest and full of substance, I think if he had not sold out, he could have rivaled Bob Dylan as rock's greatest poet.

Thus, the best songs are those that combine Rod Stewart's honest lyrical side with straight forward rock -- Bad N' Ruin, Sweet Lady Mary, Three Button Hand Me Down. The drunker, philandering, almost sexist, blusy side seen in Too Bad, Stay with Me, Borstal Boys, and Had Me a Real Good Time are fun and exciting rock, but unfortunately foreshadow the Rod Stewart of the late 1970's (thank god Silicone Grown is left off this compilation).

A Faces compilation presents a problem. One CD (80 minutes) is not enough time to showcase all of the highlights, yet 2 CDs would make the collection more expensive (and less accessable) and may have made a "best of" rambling and directionless.

With that said, this CD is excellent and the best they could do. While some omissions are regrettable (espicially Maybe I'm Amazed and Memphis), others are forgiveable (like My Fault or Richmond).

This CD is a rarity in compliations. It includes the Faces most obviously best songs (Too Bad, Bad N' Ruin, Stay with Me, etc.) with others that showcase the range of talents for the band; others that will hopefully introduce this wonderful band and early Rod Stewart CDs to a new generation. If I had to put together a Faces greatest hits CD, this is, with one or two exceptions, *exactly* how I would have done it. Well done, Rhino!

PS -- As a side note, the Faces performed as a band on several Rod Stewart solo albums; I wish the songs could be on a Faces compilation.

You cant appreciate why Ronnie Wood is in the Stones or Kenny Jones is in the Who or maybe why Ian McLagan has played with both until you listen to the FACES !! "TO BAD" would be a fitting acolade if you never saw a live show!! This band ROCKED! and to really put it altogether is Ronnie Lane who penned some of the most moving songs the band has written. Check out OHH LALA if you want a taste. This band has real roots, some may even remember SMALL FACES. If you think BLACK CROWES rock then give them a spin this is the Real Deal!