Consider where each member of Faces found themselves once album three was coughed out. Rod Stewart’s success as a solo artist was guaranteed by the time the group were recording A Nod Is as Good as a Wink… to a Blind Horse, though there was clearly some interest in working together. Ronnie Wood and company would hardly be sidelined as backing instrumentalists to Stewart, egos are too big for the time and wouldn’t have been fair to any of the band. But Stewart returning to Faces at this point in his career is a bit like Neil Young figuring he could be better off with Crosby, Stills, and Nash. It’s just not the case, not until twenty years later, when some nostalgia can be eked from the stone. Faces’ work had peaked with Long Player, and that was messy to say the least. Still, here it is now, and there’s some solid work to take from this third Faces release.
Boogie rock is still very much the focus of Faces, and it’s too slow to a tempo to adapt to Stewart’s new pop-rock figure. He cut it well on Gasoline Alley but it’s somewhat absent here. Wood and the band are in solid form for a pre-breakout Stewart, but the dissonance between that rock and roll style and what the man behind Do You Think I’m Sexy? had in mind. Opening track Miss Judy’s Farm, while strong, showcases that difference of artistic intent. Wood and the band are blowing through the usual boogie rock groove that served Faces well enough in their hodgepodge Long Player release, while Stewart is on the pop straight. You’re So Rude sounds good enough too, but it all falls apart from there with some relatively standard pieces which are neither unconvincing of their talent or a unique thrill for the band to toil away on. Great fun all the same, but a little off as the band struggled to find common ground.
Wood, as well as Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan, are putting some real heavy lifting into this project. That’s not because Stewart has nothing more to add, but it sounds as though the band are figuring out a route through without their leading man. You’re So Rude does well to last on without Stewart. Love Lives Here is a brilliant piece of work, one of the best Faces songs around, make no doubt about it. There’s a few moments of wisdom to come from A Nod Is as Good as a Wink… to a Blind Horse. Not many, but some is better than none and those instrumental qualities which defined Long Player, be it the jam sessions or live snippets, prevails. Some soppier moments on Last Orders Please are held together by the subtle yet strong instrumental style, the guiding piano work which creates an atmosphere of the pub calling time on patrons.
It’s all a little too cliche, a tad handwringing in its emotionally obvious perspectives and feelings. Songs like Debris are solid enough but they do little to advance Faces’ sound or standing in rock and roll. Solid work, absolutely, but nothing that’ll inspire or pull you into the band’s sound any further than even the most dedicated listeners already were. A familiar love song, that’s what the band mocks yet makes at the same time. Like any group where one member has spiralled off into a cultural phenomenon of their own, the band struggles to figure out a route through, their next steps muddled by success elsewhere for Stewart. Songs like Memphis lack the cutting edge that once came through the band’s work. It’s a little messy, a tad deflated of its usual qualities, but ultimately more Faces work. That’s no bad thing.
