Small Faces [1967] (studio album) by Small Faces

From mdbaxter 06/13/2020 17:25

Decent album overall with some good performances, especially that of Marriott. A little bland at points. I think the American counterpart of this album has a better track listing.

This is the best Small faces album. This, yet another self titled album, doesn't have the irritating embarrassing Stanley Unwin monologues and that makes this album superior in my opinion. The songs are fine, some filler, but taken as a whole it's a much tighter and consistent record, with a couple of nice instrumentals too. Good record.

The Small Faces' first album for Immediate is really an overlooked classic. The album, consists of entirely new original songs. Bubbling fantasy and playing pleasure is what characterizes the album and it obvious that the band took and enjoyed the freedom given to them by Immediate to further develop their musical expression.

Unlike their first album (released on Decca in 1966), this is a real album and not just a collection of singles, supplemented with an appropriate number of outtakes and b-sides. This is really nice songwriting, and though it hardly contains overlooked potential hit singles the album has many strong numbers of which several easily could be called classics. The song "My Way of Giving" probably in a more commercial cover version could have reached charts. "Green Circles" is the an early example of Small Faces psychedelia - and a fine example that Immediate's confidence in the band immediately gave bonus in the form of inspired songwriting. An alternative version of this number is found among the bonus-tracks and is known as one of the very first songs the group recorded after leaving Decca. This rare version is in many ways more interesting than the regular version.

Overall, the album without weak tracks, but a few more than those already mentioned, however, do stand out. Although "Become Like You" and "Feeling Lonely" are short tracks, they are both songs you just have to hear again and again - a little bit like "Mad John" from "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake". "Happy Boys Happy" is a short instrumental, which in full lives up to its optimistic title.

"Talk to You" is classic Small Faces "and could well have been recorded simultaneously with a song like" All or Nothing". "Show Me the Way" shows with the band in a more subdued version with Ronnie Lane as lead singer and classical-inspired keyboard accompaniment.

The first Immediate album released in the United States was entitled "There are But Small Faces." This album was also very strong in a more conventional way containing three big single-hits along with two unusually strong b-sides "I'm Only Dreaming" and "I Feel Much Better". "There are But Small Faces", however, miss seven titles from "The Small Faces"album and contains only 12 titles.

This release contains all tracks from "There are But Small Faces" and has several interesting bonus tracks. Among these the outtake
"Don't Burst my Bubble", the single "I Can't Make it" and alternate versions of several album tracks.

Both mono and stereo versions of the original album are to be found here - and although the differences are not very significant both versions interesting. Also most bonus tracks are found in both mono and stereo versions.

A fine booklet with interesting facts and fine photos follows with the 2 CDs release.

"Groovy" without P.P. Arnold's vocals is found on some re-issues, but it would of course be optimal to hear Marriott on the vocals, but such a version probably does not exist.