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

Faces

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 17, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 17, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000JNJ1
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,056 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Best known for their alumni (Rod Stewart, the Stones' Ron Wood, the Who's Kenny Jones), the Faces' brief early '70s run was as musically rewarding as it was boozy and sideshow spectacular. A revamped, bluesier edition of '60s English pop notables the Small Faces, the Faces established a rollicking musical identity that threatened to overshadow the Stones at their own game. Though the group dissolved under the pressures of Stewart's burgeoning solo career and Wood's recruitment into comfortable career Stonedom, the Faces were about much more than just individual talents. The folksy vulnerability of the late bassist, songwriter, and vocalist Ronnie Lane (well-represented here by "Debris" and "Ooh La La") kept the lads close to roots both geographical and class, while keyboardist Ian McLagen alternated between barrelhouse-boogie and Hammond B-3 soulfulness and Jones loosely locked into irresistible grooves. They could pillage Motown ("Three Button Hand Me Down") and Chuck Berry ("Cindy Incidentally") for riffs, and turn from countrified blues ("Sweet Lady Mary") to the breakneck boogie of "Too Bad" in a heartbeat. They may have been cheated of hits, but the Faces' music remains warm, heartfelt, and enthusiastic--a legacy that's aged much better than the cheap hootch they once drowned themselves in. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top Notch Collection from an Underrated Band, February 19, 2000

By	Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The World's Greatest Bar Band, November 4, 2001

By	J. Carroll "Jack" (Island Heights,NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When Rod & Woody ROCKED...a must have, August 20, 1999

By	Thomas Downey "tommytoony" (Roseville, MI USA) - See all my reviews

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.