Had me a real good time (Faces) (LP 2489 -2495)

Faces  First Step (CD, Warner Bros Records, 1970) *** 

Faces  Faces Live BBC1 - Live 1970 (Vinyl, 1960's Records ) ***  

Faces  Long Player (CD, Warner Bros Records, 1971) *** 

Faces  A Nod Is As Good As A Wink... To A Blind Horse (CD, Warner Bros Records, 1971) ***** 

Faces  Ooh La La (CD, Warner Bros Records, 1973) *** 

Rod Stewart/ Faces  Coast To Coast: Overtures and Beginners (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1974) *** 

Rod Stewart & Faces  Live in London (CD, Immortal Records, 2007) *** 

Genre: Rock 

Places I remember: Fives, JB Hi Fi; Record Shop in Notting Hill (Coast To Coast)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Miss Judy's Farm (A Nod...)

Gear costume: Stay With Me (A Nod...)

Active compensatory factors: What I love about Faces is they always seem to be having the best time! There is an unassuming spirit of fun that shines through, most of the time.

That said, First Step is a tad tentative. Although the template is pretty much there - Ron's casually brilliant guitar riffs, a slightly shambolic approach (drums are key to that, and Ron's guitar); Mac's organ and piano sound; an instrumental thrown in like they ran out of time to write lyrics; Rod's ad libs and casually brilliant vocals; Ronnie Lane's vocal alternative; the football terrace backing vocals.

They'd get better, or more shambolic, as they'd go on. At this stage though it's a rough diamond. The Live 1970 album is a collection of Top Gear and John Peel sessions. It's all good fun, as you'd expect but it's not a continuous live concert.

Long Player is the second studio album. I often think of those first two studio albums as Vol 1 and 2. They are first steps towards the glory that is album number three - their classic.

A Nod Is As Good...is where all the elements come together brilliantly. The album is their second of 1971 (possibly the best year ever for music) but this one sounds way more confident than Long Player.

It kicks off with the mighty Miss Judy's Farm and doesn't let up. Along the way we see all sides of Faces. From Debris to Stay With Me. If you only buy one studio album from Faces - this is it!

Things had changed a bit by 1973. Rod's solo career was off and running (Maggie May had happened) and the cracks were appearing. The back cover has five individual portraits, rather than a group shot.

Still, there are plenty of quality spots - principally Cindy Incidentally and the title track sung brilliantly by Plonk. In fact, he influences the sound a lot on this album and you can hear the beginnings of his own solo career, particularly on side 2.

The Rod Stewart/ Faces live album, Coast To Coast: Overtures and Beginners (what a daft title!) is a tricky one. Rod didn't tour on his own, instead he used Faces as his live band. So, this set has 3 Faces songs, and 6 solo Rod Stewart songs.

In that regard the band sound had begun to sound much more like his solo albums, rather than A Nod Is A Wink... era Faces.

By this stage Tetsu had replaced Ronnie Lane in the band and the stage was getting set for a break up.

The Live In London set is raucous and good fun but it's more like a Rod Stewart concert with backing from the last orders version of Faces. Keith Richards makes an appearance, which is fitting, given the Faces were so obviously inspired by the Stones.

Where do they all belong? A compilation is probably the most obvious place to start, but it doesn't give the full picture to my mind. Instead, I'd recommend A Nod Is A Wink.. as the starting point. Faces at their finest.