Customer Reviews

Ultimate Collection

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Licensing restrictions have prevented the abundance of Small Faces compilations that are truly comprehensive, covering both their Decca years (1965-67) and their sessions for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immdediate label (1967-69). Not only does this collection give 25 tracks apiece to each period, but it has the unusual honor of being sanctioned by the surviving Small Faces. The packaging is nicely done, and the sound quality is bold. Thus, this is both an excellent summary and an excellent introduction to a band that was one of the best and most innovative of its time.

Disc One, "The Decca Sessions," proves the Small Faces to be a truly amazing Mod band. Their love of American soul music is obvious, but they were not a soul band, they were a rock band. As a result, their performances and songs created a hybrid of soul and rock, often within the context of a tight pop song format (though somtimes they just jammed for a few minutes). These records were hard, loud, and fast, but they weren't just done for thrills. Steve Marriott was an incredible vocalist who sounded like a nice British boy one minute and an American soul merchant the next. His throaty, shouting style was supplemented by similarly tough backing vocals from bassist Ronnie Lane and keyboardist Jimmy Winston, replaced by Ian McLagan (an excellent keyboardist) after the first two singles. Topping off the sound was Marriott's violent guitar work and the no-nonsense drumming of Kenney Jones (later to replace the deceased Keith Moon in the Who). The best representations of this style are "What'cha Gonna Do About It" (not the Doris Troy song), "Sorry She's Mine," "Own Up Time" and their UK #1 "All Or Nothing," which was about 20 years ahead of its time when it came out in 1966. By the end of their Decca days, they were turning in hot Mod-psych-rock like "My Mind's Eye" and "Patterns."

Disc Two, "The Immediate Sessions," is more varied. There were blatant odes to drug use like "Here Come The Nice" and "Itchycoo Park," sadly their only major US hit. They managed a few decent psych tracks like "Up The Wooden Hills" and "Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake," and even tried jokey music hall-influenced stuff like "Lazy Sunday." "The Autumn Stone" is a lovely folkish ballad. Most impressive, however, is the hard rock found on tracks like "Tin Soldier," "Rollin' Over," and "Afterglow (Of Your Love)." Here, Marriott matched his tough, soulful vocal style to his and Lane's soaring songs and the band's in-your-face instrumental stylings to create something truly transcendent. "Afterglow" in particular is one of the most beautiful hard rock records ever made.

In short: get this compilation.