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Reviews
Uncut June 2003
* * * * *
Amazingly, this is the first collection to reach
a publishing truce allowing the Faces' early R&B work on Decca to sit
alongside their later Immediate recordings of pastoral, psychedelic white soul.
An obvious concept, a great coup and one hell of a 50-track two-CD set. From
1965's opening What'Cha Gonna Do About It (covered by the Sex Pistols) to
the blues explosion of You Need Loving (a blueprint for Led Zep's Whole
Lotta Love) and Tin Soldier (Paul Weller's Magna Carta), the
pioneering influence on display here almost goes without saying. If life really
is "just a bowl of All-Bran," these two discs hold the fibre. (Simon
Goddard)
Classic Rock, July 2003 For
many people who were there at the time, the abiding memory of the Small Faces is
one of the seemingly ubiquitous groups who helped shape and define the sound and
style of Britain's Swinging Sixties, and providing - initially at least - a
sharp-dressed major emblem for contemporary Mods. Along with the likes of the
Kinks and the Who - although, along with everybody else, several tiers below the
unassailable aristocracy that was the Beatles and the Rolling Stones - The Small
Faces made a significant and indelible contribution to the soundtrack of that
remarkable era. Whereas the Kinks (a dozen
top ten hits - all absolutely unforgettable) and, to a lesser extent, the Who
(who notched up nine) were mostly about songs, the Small Faces (seven) were -
with one or two exceptions- more about style. Formed
in East London in June 1965, they began as an energetic pop R&B outfit, with
Steve Marriott's belted out, arresting vocals and teen-heartthrob good looks a
key element. later, coinciding with a switch from Decca to then Stones manager
Andrew Oldham's Immediate label, their records became more experimental and
sophisticated and the production more complex, the thinly disguised drugs
references in their '67 Immediate debut single Here Come the Nice and the
epochal classic Itchycoo Park hinting at the new well from which the
group were now drinking for inspiration. And although remembered mostly for
their hits, for many fans the Small Faces' 1968 chart-topping concept album Ogden's
Nut Gone Flake remains a classic of the time. Ultimate
Collection is a two-CD, 50-track compilation that covers the group's entire,
short career from their first hit WhatCha Gonna Do About It in 1965 to
their split four years later (after which Marriott went on to front Humble Pie;
while still in the Small Faces he was briefly in the frame for the vocalist slot
when Jimmy Page was putting led Zeppelin together). The Small Faces' back
catalogue has been repackaged to exhaustion, with dozens of compilations since
then, but this is the first one that has successfully negotiated the troublesome
hurdle of groups' output being on two different labels and brought together the
best material from both, and also has the benefit of high quality remastering
and input on track selection by the group's two surviving ex-members. As you
might expect, it includes all of their hits. Disc
1 fishes exclusively from the pool of the group's period on the Decca label,
from late '65 to early '67. All half dozen hits from then are here - WhatCha
Gonna Do About It, Sha La La La Lee, Hey Girl, All or Nothing and the
less-remembered My Mind's Eye and I Can't Make It - but apart from
those the rest are a so-so much of a muchness and, except for some b-sides will
be unfamiliar to those who never investigated the Small Faces beyond their
singles. Similarly, of Disc 2's
catchment from the more exotic waters of the group's Immediate years, apart from
the hits - the memory-etched Itchycoo park, Tin Soldier, Lazy Sunday and
the more forgettable Universal and Afterglow of Your Love (what?)
- there are not enough occasions to make anyone really kick themselves for only
having listened to the group at 45rpm. *****
Paul Henderson
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