No, the Five Stars are not a Typo
Regardless of what some of the reviews below say, "Face Dances" is a great album. If the material on it dosen't appeal to some "die hard" fans, that's fine, it's just a matter of taste. What can't be seriously disputed is the quality of the songs and the musicianship. To say these songs are "garbage" is wrong, because they are not. "Face Dances" is a solid work that really dosen't have any weak material. "You Better You Bet," "Don't Let Go the Coat," and "Another Tricky Day" are as melodic and well constructed as as anything Pete Townshend has written and the rest of his songs here are definitely strong as well. "The Quiet One" and "You" are two of the best Entwistle songs the Who ever recorded. In regards to the musicianship on this release, it's as engaging and energetic as you would expect from the Who. On a few tracks, the guitars could be more up front, but that's a small complaint that's balanced out the "The Quiet One" and "You," which are two of the most raw and aggressive studio tracks the band ever recorded. The entire band sounds great throughout "Face Dances," including Kenny Jones, wose playing may be alittle more retrained than Keith Moon's brilliant almost out of control style, but the way he uses different tempos to accent the songs has a big effect on the way they come across. As a long time Who fan I'm not going to try and convince you "Face Dances" is as profound as "Tommy" or "Who's Next," because it's not, but it is a great Who release.
An Excellent Album!
After Keith Moon died in 1978, The Who found a replacement drummer, Kenney Jones. He was a good drummer, but not as good as Keith Moon. Face Dances, the first Who album after Keith Moon died, has a lot of good songs. "You Better You Bet" is the most well-known song from the album, and is a Who classic. "Don't Let Go The Coat" has good harmony. "Cache Cache" is probably my least favorite song from the album. "The Quiet One" is a great song written by John Entwistle. The live version of this song is even better. John's bass playing and Pete's guitar are awesome! "Did You Steal My Money?" is a fun song to listen to. "How Can You Do It Alone" is a great song. "Daily Records" is fun. "You" is another great song written by John Entwistle. Roger's vocals are great on this song. "Another Tricky Day" ends the album(besides the extra tracks). This song ends a very well made album by The Who. R.I.P. John!
this who album requires no apologies
Face Dances means a lot to a lot of people, here's why:1. the songwriting: superb
2. musicianship: amazing
3. timeliness: right on right now
4. production and aesthetics: stellar (thanks Jon Astley)
5. value: to some, priceless
i wish i could have the opportunity to work on a album of this magnitude someday.
...another tricky day...just another tricky day for The Who...they'll get through...
regards,
DP
more great Who material
This is one of the Who albums that many believe shouldn't have been made. It's true that the songs on here lack a bit of energy, especially compared to their early 70's records. But I can't help but think the songs on Face Dances are some of the Who's most well-written and memorable collection of songs.
Hearing Face Dances for the first time you can tell that, by this point in their career, the Who seem really exhausted. The songs that do have some energy feel more like the members of the Who are forcing themselves to rock out, to keep up with the times. The harder rocking songs just don't sound very convincing. However, I don't think the Who lost a step at all in terms of writing excellent music.
The main reason I love this album so much is because I think every song (excluding the bonus tracks) is written very carefully and every song is easy to remember and fun to listen to. Plus I have a lot of memories connected to all the songs, especially "You Better You Bet". Memories of when I was only a few years old and hearing that song on the radio as my mother drove us to Delaware to do some shopping. I feel like I'm back in the mid-80's once again whenever that song comes on. The rest of the songs give me the same memories.
But I think all the songs are excellent. Even "Another Tricky Day" which is most people's second favorite song (behind "You Better You Bet"). I couldn't get into that song for the longest time but now I think I finally hear what everyone else loves about it.
There are some moments that especially interest me such as in "How Can You Do It Alone" when the melody switches in another direction and the line "I need your help, so I can do it by myself" comes in, man that's great! I'm not sure what the lyrics are about, but that's a very good unexpected melody. The rest of the song is great too.
The rockers are all winners such as "Cache Cache", "The Quiet One", and "You". And even if a song doesn't rock very hard, you can count on hearing some great songwriting to make sure the song is a keeper. "Did You Steal My Money" has some cool vocals and "Daily Records" is yet another enjoyable song which very much sounds like the classic Who of the early 70's.
The bonus tracks are mostly okay except for "Is It In You" which doesn't do enough to keep me interested, but "I Like Nightmares" is extremely good. That song has excellent melodies all over the place. The two live tracks at the end are pretty weak though, but nothing bad.
It's a breath of fresh air to hear a hard rock band from the 60's and 70's release an 80's album that doesn't sound extremely predictable (I'm looking at you Aerosmith, Rainbow and Deep Purple). I wouldn't put this album ahead of Tommy, Quadrophenia, or Who Are You, but it's my fourth favorite Who album. Give it a chance.
The Who Enters Another Uncomfortable Maturity
The Who, especially Pete Townshend, had been unhealthy in dwelling on the fact that they were getting older ("older" being your 30s in rock and roll) since the mid 1970s on albums like "The Who By Numbers" and "Who Are You." In 1978, legendary madcap drummer Keith Moon died, an event that forever shattered the band, and two years later, "Face Dances" reveals a group in a state of uncomfortable maturity and a yearning for wisdom.
Other albums, such as "Who's Next" allowed for The Who's growing maturity to be seen, but in those days, it was still with youthful arrogance. This is what makes "Face Dances" so unique. The Who are found in a frantic daze of disillusionment, unleashing track after track of enthralling energy.
The sound within packs a solid punch, in a vaguely pop-oriented feel, such as that of 'Cache Cache' and the excellent Top 10 single 'You Better You Bet,' as the mood is generated in a much more frenetic fashion in 'Daily Records,' 'You,' and 'Another Tricky Day.' Other songs like bassist John Entwistle's ironic self-portrait 'The Quiet One' and 'Somebody Saved Me' are minor Who classics. Kenney Jones, Keith Moon's replacement, proves himself to be a competent drummer, while Roger Daltrey's angry cries punctuate the album with essence.
Though it is without the pinnacles of other albums, "Face Dances" is definitely a worthy set. This album was the next-to-last studio album for The Who however, revealing the band's loss of desire, a fact which bitterly attaches itself to the songs here.
Digitally remastered Japanese reissue of The Who's 1981 album in a miniaturized LP sleeve with the original pac kaging intact. Limited to the initial pressing only, it also features all five of the bonus tracks included on MCA's U. S. reissue in the '90s! The extra cuts are 'I Like Nightmares', 'It's In You', 'Somebody Saved Me', 'How Can You Do It Alone' (Live) and 'The Quiet One' (Live). 14 tracks total. 1999 reissue of 1997 reissue.
Limited Japanese Version Featuring Lp Style Slipcase,& 5 Bonus Tracks. Digitally Remastered
