november 06, 2022

Earth, Wind & Fire - Faces (2LP) (1980) - €20,00

posted by ad-vinylrecords


Faces is the tenth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire released on October 14, 1980, on ARC/Columbia Records. The album reached number 10 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, 
Faces was partly recorded in the Caribbean island of Montserrat and produced by EWF leader Maurice White.
Artists such as Fred Wesley and Toto's Steve Lukather guested on the album.

Faces is the first E, W & F album that doesn't really shift things up to a significant degree, or at least doesn't focus on any specific new direction (very crudely, you could say that All n All was their "Latin" album and I Am was their "disco" album, for example). 
What Faces does is consolidate all the group's strands - the funk (e.g. 'Let me Talk', 'Pride'), the joyous "roller-pop" ('Turn It Into Something Good', 'Sparkle'...), the widescreen ballads ('You', 'You Went Away') and even a streamlined, rather spectacular return to jazz-fusion ('Faces').

The double album format (well, as was) is not used to experiment per se, nor is it used for filler - there's shockingly little filibustering here (take that, Chicago) - but a fair amount is instead given over to illuminating the contributions of less-exposed group members and collaborators. 
While fitting neatly into the overall tapestry, this approach is characterised by the Maurice-free weepy 'You Went Away' and the Doobie Brothers-esque 'Back on the Road', a cowrite with guitarist Al McKay which both pokes more emphatically rock-wards than previously whilst acting as a showcase for McKay's lyrical jazz-rock soloing. 
While it would be difficult to call either song inspired, exactly, both are undeniably solid, highly enjoyable and - excepting one or two subjective picks - that's how this generous album plays out as a whole. 
The group seem somehow to have surpassed themselves in performance terms, too: White and Bailey hold the fort; McKay's fluid guitar flourishes invest the record with a character it otherwise might lack (he seems to be auditioning for Steely Dan and I'm frankly alarmed he didn't get the gig); whilst the Phenix Horns seem on a superhuman rampage (and no, I'm not talking about the varispeeded intro).


Side one
1.   Let Me Talk   (4:09)
2.   Turn It Into Something Good   (4:10)
3.   Pride   (4:11)
4.   You   (5:10)

Side two
1.   Sparkle   (3:50)
2.   Back on the Road   (3:33)
3.   Song in My Heart   (4:17)
4.   You Went Away   (4:24)

Side three
1.   And Love Goes On   (4:05)
2.   Sailaway   (4:37)
3.   Take It to the Sky   (3:50)
4.   Win or Lose   (3:53)

Side four
1.   Share Your Love   (3:17)
2.   In Time   (4:13)
3.   Faces   (8:02)


 Companies
Credits

Notes
Release:  1980
Format:  2LP
Genre:  Soul, Funk
Label:  Columbia Records
Catalog#  CBS 88498

Vinyl:  Excellent
Cover:  Excellent (Gatefold)

Prijs: €20,00

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