Face To Face
by The Kinks

One of the best albums of all time, the quality of the songs is just sublime... so far ahead of most 1966 albums. The Kinks actually had something to say here unlike 99% of their peers. Middle class life in England and the gap between rich and poor (A House In The Country, Sunny Afternoon), running away from home (Rosie Wont You Please Come Home), the opener song from this album deals with anonymity (Party Line) which is well ahead of its time. Look at where we are now, nobody knows you on the internet, just like the lyrics of Party Line predicted. "Is she big, is she small, is she a she at all" (preceding Lola, their biggest hit, a song about a transexual). The two songs Dandy and Fancy are about polygamy (Fancy: the music playing being an imitation of indian music - a novelty at the time, music and lyrics are from connected from that stand point, Dandy is a music hall style song of 2 minutes about Dave Davies and "that 2 girls are too many, 3 is a crowd and 4 you're dead"). The songs are connected through a certain theme, that being society in England and how it actually is, instead of what Ray Davies projects a fantasy of England (see: Village Green Preservation Society). Holiday In Waikiki is about winning a ticket to Hawaii, thus temporarily escaping the mundane middle class life and enjoying one self), Most Exclusive Residence For Sale is about the same guy who had a "House In The Country" who now loses his private property and has to pay off a mortgage (big problem in the 50s and 60s and after for that social class, the protagonist now being part of the middle class)
You don't have to read so much into the lyrics as all of this is really obvious.
Too Much On My Mind is about a mental breakdown that Ray Davies had earlier in 1966 (kind of reminds me of the many personal songs he wrote around that time, see: Two Sisters from another great album, Something Else).
I'll Remember and You're Looking Fine don't really fit in all that much like the 12 masterpieces on this album but they are alright, just average rock songs from 1966, nothing special, not too bad either, I certainly prefer them to a lot of songs featured in the album before this.
Rainy Day In June is a very atmospheric, unqiue song, using sound effects in a way not many other rock / pop bands did before (The Beatles and the Beach Boys did use sound effects too, the Kinks used them for multiple songs on the same album: Party Line, Holiday In Waikiki, Rainy Day In June. They also used effects for a single like the Beatles and Beach Boys did, Yellow Submarine, Caroline No, that Kinks single being Big Black Smoke)

All in all, I think Face To Face deserves to be so highly rated, being around the 890s in the overall ranking. Personally, I think it should be at least in the top 3 of 1966, but 8th place in 1966 isn't that bad. Evidently, more than enough people know about it, the instrumentation might be the reason why it's not as highly ranked in the Kinks discography like Arthur, Lola vs Powerman or even Something Else. All these albums have in common that the instrument playing is more enjoyable to the average listener and while Face To Face has good riffs and great basslines, the band who made it added more instruments for the following four albums and made the songs a bit deeper (not in a lyrical sense). In a way, Face To Face was the last garage rock album but at the same time the first operetta type concept album the Kinks did. (Edited)

"Face to Face" from 1966 was the album on which Ray Davies really distinguished himself as one of the great songwriters in British pop and rock. Both musically and lyrically the album is a highlight in the group's career.

Especially lyrically the album is a milestone. Davies here showed over an entire album, a rare talent to portray his contemporaries, both in person and in the more socially realistic - themes which he continued to work with over the next decades.

While the group developed artistically, they were still able to continually hold a grip of the charts with songs like "Sunny Afternoon," "Dead End Street", "Dandy" (Herman's Hermits) and "House in the Country" (Pretty Things) .

Compared to its predecessor, "Kinks Kontroversy", "Face to Face" is musically a much more complex album, where many different genres are touched upon. The songs are generally more melodic and the original raw sound is only in glimpses prevalent - songs like "You're Looking Fine", "Party Line" and "She's Got Everythingthing (b-side), however, could well have been" Kontroversy "songs.

The album contains several of Davies' both funny and sensitive character sketches. "Session Man" and "Dandy" fall under the more satirical section, while "Little Miss Queen of Darkness" shows Davies' more sensitive side - a very beautiful song.

Contemporary social realism is explored in "Most Exclusive Residence For Sale", "Holiday in Waikiki", "House In The Country", and of course "Sunny Afternoon" and "Dead End Street."

A very personal song is the beautiful "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home," written to Ray's sister Rosy. In "Fancy" the Kinks again ('See My Friends ")experiment with the oriental sounds and harmonies.

Among the bonus tracks are contemporary single tracks, several of which have previously been difficult to find. Here you'll find gems like "This Is Where I Belong" and "Big Black Smoke" - both in stereo and mono. Interesting that the stereo version of "This Is Where I Belong" has both count-in and a longer fade-out.

There are also interesting, alternative versions of the album's songs. Eg. "Fancy" with a very long fade-out.

Both stereo and mono versions of the album sound perfect. This must be the ultimate release of this timeless album. (Edited)

This is Ray developing his songwriting. Plenty of good tracks but a bit inconsistent. (Edited)

Finally after a run of excellent singles, The Kinks at last release an album that is up to the standard of those 45's. Face to face features some of Ray's best writing with songs such as, party line, dandy, and, fancy. Sunny afternoon, is an out and out Kinks classic, but as on earlier albums where there were always a couple of great tracks amongst a lot of filler, this time the great songs don't overshadow the lesser known songs. The only dud on the album is, you're looking fine, an awful and unmemorable track. Still, all in all, face to face is the first great Kinks record.

More advanced musicianship and intricate song writing compared to their earlier, garage rock style albums. There are still great guitar riffs throughout the album, but they are couched in more lush compositions that would foreshadow the grandoise concept albums they'd put out in the late 60s and 70s with varying degrees of success. I'm of the belief that The Kinks singles collections often surpass their albums (which is not my normal style), but this is the one I'd grab if you told me to pick one Kinks album for my collection.