Face to Face (The Kinks album)

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Face to Face

Studio album by The Kinks
Released	28 October 1966
Recorded	23 October 1965 – 21 April 1966
Genre	Rock, Pop, British Invasion
Length	59:33
Label	Pye Records (UK) Reprise Records (US)
Producer(s)	Shel Talmy
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone
The Kinks chronology
The Kink Kontroversy (1965)	Face to Face (1966)	Something Else by the Kinks (1967) ---- The Live Kinks (1966) (US)

Face to Face is an album released by The Kinks in 1966 on Reprise Records in the United States and Pye Records in the United Kingdom. A major artistic breakthrough for Kinks' songwriter Ray Davies, the LP represents the first full flowering of Davies' use of narrative, observation, and wry social commentary in his songs. It heralded The Kinks' move away from the hard-driving rock and roll style of 1964-65, which had catapulted the group to international stardom. It was also the first Kinks album recorded over several months, rather than in one concentrated session.

Davies, who had suffered a nervous breakdown just prior to the major recording sessions for the album, seemed to be responding to the overwhelming pressures on him by escaping into stories of the bittersweet existence of ordinary suburban people, their failings, and frustrations. The new style of writing began gradually the previous year with compositions such as "A Well Respected Man" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", and came to full fruition in May 1966 with the hit single "Sunny Afternoon", which reached Number 1 in the UK. This song's great popularity proved to Davies and the Kinks' managers that the group could find success with this style of songwriting. The new album would follow this pattern, as would the group's recorded output for the next five years. The 1966-1971 period inaugurated by this album would later be called Davies' and the Kinks' "golden age".

The album's songs are rife with Davies' sardonic wit, skewering the vapid Don Juan of "Dandy" (which became a hit for Herman's Hermits) and the self-absorption and hypocrisy of the wealthy elite on "House in the Country" and "Most Exclusive Residence for Sale". Davies' humanity is also on display in tracks such as "Rosie, Won't You Please Come Home", an unusual 1960s pop song that sided with the plight of parents against the cruelty of a rebellious child (a true harbinger of the Kinks' growing affinity for unfashionable but timeless themes). Other highlights include "Sunny Afternoon", the world-weary "Too Much on My Mind", the foreboding "Rainy Day in June", and the Eastern-tinged, enigmatic "Fancy".

Some rock historians have credited the album as arguably one of the first concept albums in rock/pop, with the loose common theme of social observation. In its original inception, Davies had attempted to bridge the songs together with sound effects, but was forced to revert to the more standard album format by Pye Records before the album's release. Some of these effects remain, in "Party Line", "Holiday in Waikiki", "Rainy Day in June", and other songs not included in the final album ("End of the Season", "Big Black Smoke"). Contractual issues held up the release of the album for several months after final recording, and Davies was also in conflict with Pye over the final album cover art, whose psychedelic theme he later felt was inappropriate. Although one of the more important albums of its era, it is also probably the most dated of the Kinks' major albums, especially in its production and mixing.

The album was released in a particularly tumultuous year for the band, with personnel problems (bassist Pete Quaife was injured, resigned, and later rejoined the band), legal and contractual battles, and an ongoing hectic touring schedule. The album was critically well received, but did not sell particularly well at the time of its release (especially in the US), and was out of print for many years. Reissues since 1998 have included bonus tracks of songs released contemporaneously as singles (most notably "Dead End Street") and two unreleased tracks.

1 Track listing
- 1.1 Bonus tracks
2 Song and Album Notes
3 Personnel

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Ray Davies

"Party Line" – 2:35
"Rosie Won't You Please Come Home" – 2:34
"Dandy" – 2:12
"Too Much on My Mind" – 2:28
"Session Man" – 2:14
"Rainy Day in June" – 3:10
"A House in the Country" – 3:03
"Holiday in Waikiki" – 2:52
"Most Exclusive Residence for Sale" – 2:48
"Fancy" – 2:30
"Little Miss Queen of Darkness" – 3:16
"You're Lookin' Fine" – 2:46
"Sunny Afternoon" – 3:36
"I'll Remember" – 2:27

[edit] Bonus tracks

"I'm Not Like Everybody Else" – 3:29
"Dead End Street" – 3:23
"Big Black Smoke" – 2:36
"Mr. Pleasant" – 3:01
"This Is Where I Belong" – 2:25
"Mr. Reporter" – 3:58
"Little Women" – 2:10

[edit] Song and Album Notes

At least one CD re-release of the album begins with "Holiday in Waikiki" and proceeds in order to "I'll Remember" which is then followed by "Party Line", from which the tracks continue in order, ending with "A House in the Country".

The version of "Mr. Reporter", released as a bonus track on the 1998 Castle CD re-issue of the album, was actually recorded in 1969. An officially unreleased recording, featuring Ray Davies on lead vocals (as opposed to Dave Davies as on the issued version) was recorded in early 1966 and apparently intended for the album or an unissued EP. Other unreleased songs from the Face to Face sessions (which were most likely eliminated from the running order when Pye Records requested a more standard album) reportedly include "Fallen Idol", a song about the rise and fall of a pop star, "A Girl Who Goes to Discoteques", and "Lilacs and Daffodils", the latter of which is apparently sung by drummer Mick Avory. It is unclear whether any of the above mentioned tracks will ever be released officially.