Face to Face (The Kinks album)

Face to Face is an album released by The Kinks in 1966 on Reprise Records in the United States and Pye Records in the United Kingdom. A major artistic breakthrough for Kinks' songwriter Ray Davies, the LP represents the first full flowering of Davies' use of narrative, observation, and wry social commentary in his songs. It hearlded the Kinks' abandonment of the hard-driving rock and roll style of 1964-65, which had catapulted the group to international stardom. It was also the first Kinks album recorded over several months, rather than in one concentrated session. Davies, who had suffered a psychological breakdown just prior to the major recording sessions for the album, seemed to be responding to the overwhelming pressures on him by escaping into stories of the bittersweet existence of ordinary suburban people, their failings, and frustrations. The new style of writing began gradually the previous year with compositions such as "A Well Respected Man" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," and would dominate the group's recorded output for the next five years. The 1966-1971 period inaugurated by this album would later be called Davies' and the Kinks' "golden age".

Related Topics:
The Kinks - 1966 - Reprise Records - Pye Records - Ray Davies - LP

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The album's songs are rife with Davies' sardonic wit, skewering the vapid Don Juan of "Dandy" (which became a hit for Hermans Hermits) and the self-absorption and hypocrisy of the wealthy elite on "House In the Country" and "Most Exclusive Residence for Sale." Davies' humanity is also on display in tracks such as "Rosie, Won't You Please Come Home", an unusual 1960's pop song that sided with the plight of parents against the cruelty of a rebellious child (a true harbinger of the Kinks' growing affinity for unfashionable but timeless themes). Other highlights include the magnificent vaudevillian "Sunny Afternoon" (a worldwide hit single), the world-weary "Too Much on My Mind", the foreboding "Rainy Day in June," the Eastern-tinged, enigmatic "Fancy."

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Some rock historians have credited the album as arguably one of the first concept albums in rock/pop, with the loose common theme of social observation. In its original inception, Davies had bridged the songs together by sound effects, but was forced to revert to the more standard album format by Pye Records before the album's release. Some of these effects remain, in "Party Line," "Holiday in Waikiki," "Rainy Day in June," and other songs recorded around this time but not included in the final album ("End of the Season," "Big Black Smoke").

Related Topics:
Concept album - Pye Records

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The album was released in a particularly tumultuous year for the band, with personnel problems (bassist Pete Quaife was injured, resigned, and later rejoined the band), legal and contractual battles, and an ongoing hectic touring schedule. The album was critically well received, but did not sell particulary well at the time of its release (especially in the US), and was out of print for many years. Reissues since 1998 have included bonus tracks of songs released contemporaneously as singles (most notably the wonderful "Dead End Street") and two unreleased tracks.

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