REVIEW: Faces First Steps - GigslutzGigslutz

When Steve Marriott left Small Faces to form Humble Pie his ex bands mates Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones were left to figure out what was to come next. With the help of former Jeff Beck Group duo, Otis Redding under study Rod Stewart and bass player turned lead guitarist Ronnie Wood a perpetual life line was thrown and the quintet would go on to achieve legendary success with a string of unstoppable rock n roll riot tunes celebrated by long-time fan John Peel along with a legacy of drinking to excess. The overall concoction still gets spoken about in jovial terms.

Before the band had written anything as Faces they came together with Wood’s elder brother Art to form Quiet Melon, the track Diamond Joe is up with Stay With Me in late 60’s anthems. Following this brief excursion Faces settled down to hit their flow, Early Steps helps to trace their tentative primitive outings. With the help of Nice Records chef archiver Rog Caiger these 10 mainly previously unheard outtakes from Olympic Studios and Rolling Stone rehearsal space both taken from 1969. Straight out of the starting blocks Shake, Shudder, Shiver is brilliant, just brilliant, Lanes bass sounds so wonderfully warm, Jones and McLagan feels like your sitting at their feet, whilst Wood’s astute fills and Stewarts oft crackled vocals top off the jam packed ingredients with a delicious topping of satisfaction.

Maybe with a release like this unearthing previously unheard outtakes might make the consumer think there’d be substandard sound, but this release thrives and echoes much needed heart and soul along with some great conversations by all band members. Probably the best of the bunch are the outtakes from Olympic, Train is a great Booker T And The M.G’s infused canticle; Flying attacks the speakers with fervor; and Devotion has some sublime poignant vocals by both Stewart and the vastly underrated and oft forgotten Ronnie Lane.

Whilst these compositions are primitive moments for the band that would go on to write more well known tracks the collection of these 10 vibrantly performed numbers showcase the class act Faces were.

Faces website can be found here