Customer Reviews

Long Player

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the album where the Faces came into their own as a band. After the breakup of the Small Faces and the recording of the Faces' debut "First Step" in 1970, Rons Lane and Wood, Kenny Jones, Ian McLagan and frontman Rod Stewart emerged with the first of the two best albums of their all too short career--the other being the equally excellent "A Nod Is as Good as a Wink..."

While there's plenty here for fans of Rod the Mod to enjoy [including a stunning live version of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed," which had to leave Sir Paul slack-jawed after hearing it!], the real treasures are Ronnie Lane's contributions: the folkish "Richmond" and the ballad "Tell Everyone," the very type of songs Lane would make a career out of after leaving the Faces only two years after this 1971 release.

If you recently bought Best of the Faces: Good Boys When They're Asleep and want more, this is your next stop. Then get "A Nod Is As Good As a Wink." And then shake your head that there are so few artists out there today who can match the ballsy rock 'n' roll of the Faces.

The warmth and self-depricating humor of A NOD'S AS GOOD AS A WINK TO A BLIND HORSE has always made it my favorite Faces LP, but the swagger and jammy feeling of LONG PLAYER puts it close to the top of the list as well.

On LONG PLAYER the Faces sound more bluesy, more British (as opposed to the Irish tilt of A NOD'S AS GOOD AS A WINK...) and at times more like Rod Stewart's handpicked touring band. Ronnie Lane stands out with a couple of great tunes, a shared vocal with Rod on a great cover of McCartney's classic "Maybe I'm Amazed," and his always wonderful bass, the spine of all Faces records.

This was back in the days when Rod Stewart still had some soul and could sing English Folk, Rock, R&B and Pub tunes all on the same album without missing a step. He's in fine form here, as he was on most Faces records, all his Jeff Beck stuff and all of his own stuff right up to FOOT LOOSE & FANCY FREE. He couldn't pull off a fun-time gem like "Had Me A Real Good Time" today to save his life; it remains one of my all-time favorite Faces tunes.

You can't go wrong with any FACES LP, and LONG PLAYER is definitely in the upper tier.

The Faces' second album from 1971 is better than their somewhat unfocused debut album, and almost on par with 1972's "A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse".

It's a little bit of a mixed bag, with two live numbers, some hard rock, and a couple of tender ballads. Rod Stewart sings one of them, the charming "Tell Everyone", and Ronnie Lane takes a lead vocal on the other, the country-ish "Richmond", but both of them are penned by Lane, the band's excellent "ballad writer".

A live rendition of Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good" is good but much too long at almost nine minutes, but the other live number, a gritty take on Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" is really great, as is the folkish "Sweet Lady Mary" and the delightful, tough rocker "Had Me A Real Good Time".

"Long Player" is a bit of a sloppy affair, and it does have a couple of weak moments, but it still captures what the Faces were all about, from the opening riff-rocker "Bad 'N' Ruin" to the closing instrumental, Ronnie Wood's rendition of Sir Henry Wood's "Jerusalem".

3 3/4 stars. Nice.

I remember seeing this album in the bargain bin in the early 1990's and seeing Ron Wood, I thought it might be good, but was perplexed as to what the hell Rod Stewart was doing there. When I played "Bad N Ruin," I was blown away. It is easily one of the greatest hard rock/rock n roll songs of all time. I then ventured into more Rod Stewart and Faces albums from 1969-1972. Yes, he was that good. Yes, he sucks now. But, to his credit, he did leave a lot of great music in those brief four years (four Faces albums and four solo albums). I recommend getting all eight (and Jeff Beck's truth). Had they continued in this style, I am fully confident they would have eclipsed the mighty Stones.

The Faces were sloppy. The party obviously followed them off stage and into the recording studio. Thank God.

"Long Player" may not be their best album, but who cares. Bluesy licks? Got it. Hammond organ? Got it? Rod Stewart back when he was ROD F'N STEWART? Got it. Ronnie Wood before he was a marginalized sidekick? Got it.

Buy. Listen. Enjoy.

After their first album went mostly unnoticed by critics and public alike, Faces began to tour heavily and their popularity soared. This is when they went into the studio to record their second album, Long Player. An uneven affair but it's got its charm.

The first track, Bad'n'Ruin, is a midtempo rocker, not as loud as the ones that open their next (and last) two albums. It's a good song with some room for Kenny Jones, Ian McLagan and Ronnie Wood to show off.

Tell Everyone is one of the best ballads ever, written by Lane though it's Rod Stewart who sings it. Over a simple drum beat and piano and soft guitar Rod sings a lyric about love and waking up with your loved one beside you.. While not a very original lyric, the musical landscape actually makes it a gorgeous song.

Sweet Lady Mary is a country/folk song, similar to some stuff to be found in Stewart's discography back then. Kenny Jones doesn't play on this one. The music here is Hammond organ, acoustic guitar and pedal steel guitar. Rod sings it one more time.

Richmond is an acoustic blues song, only feauting its writer - Ronnie Lane. Another gorgeous song. One wonders where all these people would have been were it not for the great bluesmen.

Maybe I'm Amazed is a Paul McCartney song, recorded live in New York, that puts the original to shame. Here Lane and Stewart share lead vocals.

Had Me A Real Good Time is another of the few rockers to grace this album. I dig it but feels uncomplete despite its almost 6 minutes running time. A guitar solo would sure have helped. Instead we have the only appearance of a horn section in a Faces album, something we can all be grateful for.

On The Beach is the only turkey on the cd. The vocals are barely audible and if this made the album it shows the band were not on top of their creativity. I guess nobody would miss this song if it wasn't included.

The other live cut is a rousing cover of Big Bill Broonzy's I Feel So Good. Good version, with plenty of room for McLagan and Wood's solos. I enjoy the audience participation, directed by Rod Stewart.

The closing track, an instrumental version of Jerusalem, is another solo effort, this time by Ronnie Wood. A nice performance.

In a nutshell: a somewhat uneven album but enjoyable, as usual with Faces.

This is the Faces at their rawest. It's a album that was meant to be seen more than listened to. I had the privilege of seeing them live during this period. This was like watching a good ole bar band getting it on. They sang & drank Matus (wine) on stage & just appeared to have a great time which in turn made us feel great too. Yes it's a wee bit sloppy, but it's honest rock'n roll. Feel So Good just makes one want to get off one's arse and boogie.

Warner Japan extends its near-perfect track record of providing state-of-the-art remastering while remaining true to the dynamic range of the original recording. None of these remasters are available in the U.S., which remains almost criminal, thanks to WMG USA.

These mini-sleeve remasters are now the defacto best-in-class audio version of each album. The mastering supercedes all other worldwide releases, and is superior even to the Rhino box. There is enhanced clarity in each disc, especially in the percussion.

Except for Nod, which was just a single-fold standard jacket, each `sleeve also has the original custom-designed LP covers, with all the gatefolds and die-cuts, right down to the real thread stitching on Long Player. Nod does have the original fold-out poster, too, miniaturized to perfection.

Warner Japan seldom, if ever, represses mini-sleeves, and often the `sleeve remasters are only ever available on those editions. So, if you're a fan of these albums, and you want the best audio, get yours before they're gone.

WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD?

Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.

Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 135MM X 135MM cardboard precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, anything contained in the original LP, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and/or die cuts, are precisely replicated and included. An English-language lyric sheet is always included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.

Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2/K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often (but not always) be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.

Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "obi" ("oh-bee"), a removable Japan-language promotional strip. The obi lists the Japan street date of that particular release, the catalog number, the mastering info, and often the original album's release date. Bonus tracks are only listed on the obi, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork. The obi's are collectable, and should not be discarded.

All mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, but re-pressings/re-issues are becoming more common (again, not always). The enthusiasm of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding fake mini-sleeves manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, a total waste of money, and should be avoided at all costs.

In this album you generally confront pieces of songs not as slow as blues rock and not as fast as RnR. This album is mature. They sound slower in this album relative to their ''OOH LA LA''album.Stewart opens the stage with 'Bad 'n' Ruin'. A rocker.Listen to this song and see what rock music is. In 'Sweet Lady Mary', you hear no drums, just vocals and the electric guitar 'Sweet Lady Mary' is an example of folk rock number. 'Maybe I'm Amazed' is the magnificient Paul McCartney cover. I do not have the original, but the cover is very well sung by Stewart. I should say as ''FACES'', everyone does his part very well. It is known that they have had great impact on the later coming punk groups' playing styles. 'Had Me A Real Good Time' seems to be a rock and roll piece. It makes you dance, it is catchy, rhythmic. A saxophone is used in this one(towards the end). Usage of saxophone takes this to the jazzy side. For my part i do not prefer anything other than the guitars(all), the bass guitars and the drum(s). Sometimes Not even the keyboard(one should listen to Bruce Springsteen's BORN TO RUN album-'night','backstreets' to feel keyboard along organ). 'I Feel So Good' is a bluesy Willie Broonzy cover. Let me tell you the story behind buying this album: One day i asked to my aunt's husband, Lutfi Can, to come with me down to the store and choose a rocker(he is in his 50's and he is a real rock listener) He chose this one, i was very new to rock those times(in 1998), i listened to the cd and said to myself:'This is horrible'. But time passed i listened over and over to get the appreciation. At the end, i was thanking God that i owned this album.

With this second offering by the Faces in Long Player, the band has hit its stride within the 9 tracks that are presented and provide a quirky balance within the group's eclecticisms and old fashioned good old rock and roll character. Long Player is a bit of an odd record that seems unconventional in its overall flow within the tracklisting. There's the opening 123 punch of Bad N Ruin which displays a funky archetypal Faces style, the slow majestic bluesy sparseness of Tell Everyone and a laid back cozy number in Sweet Lady Mary which displays the powerful chemistry of Rod and the band most convincingly. Ronnie Lane offers Richmond, a dyed in the wool bluesy/folk number which allows Ronnie Wood to show off his slide guitar prowess. Two numbers cut live from the Fillmore east are presented, the band's version of Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed, (a stage favorite) and the raucous, crowd pleaser I Feel So Good, which give an insight to how this band translates in live performances. Had Me a Real Good Time is another celebratory tune that provides a performance to back up its title reference; it is a song that could easily be one of the Faces' own autobiographical numbers, its that good!!

Towards the end of the record, another Lane tune, On the Beach, rears itself and it is a track that has a rough recording quality as it was done on Lane's own Revox 4 track recorder; apparently Lane and Wood tried to replicate this number in the studio proper, but weren't able to recapture the "first take" feel of the original and therefore, it is retained here for inclusion in the album. Wood provides the closing instrumental Jerusalem which is a sparse, simple slide acoustic number that gives a quiet and contemplative ending to the recording. Even though this recording seems a bit of hodge-podge in spots with overall recording continuity, it is also a bit innovative in certain respects as it breaks the rules of a conventional LP and the usual "standard" approaches by the Faces' contemporary artists and peers. It also provides an identity to a group whom was traditional in rock and roll performance yet also were a fun and exciting group to go see in concert, simultaneously. The next few Faces' records would see them peak on record a bit more properly, but I like Long Player's eclecticism and non-traditional approach as a collective recording. 4 stars