Customer Reviews

Face to Face

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"Face to Face" is usually considered to be the record where the Kinks suddenly developed their own uniquely-British identity. Indications of this move had certainly been evident on previous albums like "Kontroversy," but it's on Face to Face where the Davies 'n co finally find their niche.

The album, it goes without saying, is excellent, but something must be said for the quality of this particular reissue as well. When Castle re-released the Kinks albums in 1998, many were disappointed by the relatively tinny sound quality, made all the more unfortunate by the excellent selection of bonus material Castle appended to the albums. Well, these current releases by Castle/Sanctuary--despite being ostensibly "collector's items"--actually go a long way towards writing some of those wrongs. While the bonus tracks are MIA, what we have here is an immaculately packaged, excellently remastered piece of work.

Heck, not only does it sound better than the '98 disc, it uses the stereo mix as well (the '98 CD is in mono)! While the stereo is primitive, and is mostly used for "effects" like the water noises on Holiday in Waikiki, it really does serve to open up the sound, making it slightly less claustrophobic.

In summary, this disc works on an excellent number of levels; it's relatively cheap, so it's a great introduction to the "golden period" of the Kinks, and yet it also functions as a collector's item, providing a very nice upgraded package for someone who already has the album in some other form.

Face to Face is nice album that introduces the kinks into their golden period of rock music. The songs that make Face to Face so strong are: Dandy, Rosie Please Come Home, Party Line, Rainy Day in June, Fancy, Holiday in Waikiki and Queen of Darkness. It does seem Ray enjoys mocking the rich, songs like House in the Country and Real Estate song are tracks that kinda drag out those themes too much. You can see a split between the brothers on this album also. Dave seems to be still stuck in 65' while his brother Ray pushes onto 66' with his more envolved numbers. But isn't it always like that ?