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Faces (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

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Faces
Studio album by
Earth, Wind & Fire
ReleasedOctober 14, 1980
RecordedMarch–July 1980
Studio
Genre
Length65:34
LabelARC/Columbia
ProducerMaurice White
Earth, Wind & Fire chronology
I Am
(1979) 		Faces
(1980) 		Raise!
(1981)
Singles from Faces
  1. "Let Me Talk"
    Released: August 1980
  2. "You"
    Released: November 1980
  3. "Back on the Road"
    Released: November 1980
  4. "And Love Goes On"
    Released: January 1981

Faces is the tenth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire released on October 14, 1980, on ARC/Columbia Records.[1] The album reached number 10 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, number 2 on the Billboard Top Soul albums chart and number 10 on the UK Albums Chart.[2][3][4] Faces was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.[5]

Overview

[edit]

Faces was partly recorded in the Caribbean island of Montserrat and produced by EWF leader Maurice White.[1][6]

Artists such as Fred Wesley and Toto's Steve Lukather guested on the album.[1]

When asked in a 2007 interview which Earth, Wind & Fire album is his favorite, White replied, "...probably Faces, because we were really in tune." White also went on to proclaim that on the LP EWF were "playing together and it gave us the opportunity to explore new areas".[7]

Singles

[edit]

The track, "Let Me Talk", reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and No. 29 on the UK Pop Singles chart.[8][4] The song, "You", peaked at Nos. 10 and 30 on the Billboard R&B Singles and Adult Contemporary charts, respectively.[9][10] A third single, "And Love Goes On", reached No. 15 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.[11]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Chicago Sun Times[17]
Robert ChristgauC+[16]
DownBeat[18]
Record Mirror[15]
Rolling Stone[14]
Smash Hits8/10[13]

Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times declared that "Faces is the R&B album of the year." Hunt added "Faces is expertly written, produced and performed and is considerably better than any of this year's hardcore R&B albums. Just about every song on Faces, which is nearly all upbeat, is high quality. Its danceability rating is as high as any you'll find on an album in this post-disco era."[19] Alan Morrison of DownBeat said that Faces "offer(s) an invaluable lesson in pop and jazz orchestration and production techniques. As a treasure trove of the imaginative technical resources available to the modern pop musician, EW&F’s productions continue to be state-of-the-art."[18] Nelson George of Musician stated: "Faces re-affirms EW&F's role as the world's finest progressive soul band. While not an innovative work, the beauty of Faces is the band's feeling of renewed vigour and spirit, qualities that separate them from the many other good self-contained black bands."[20]

Sal Caputo of Gannett said "Minus Earth Wind and Fire's peace, love and happiness hype, this is a very good dance album by a tight ensemble which occasionally wanders too far into pretension. The two-record set contains spots of jazz, classic-rhythm and blues harmonies, Latin rhythms, modern funk, rock and soul all mixed together in an attempt to create a sort of "world" music."[21] Paul Sexton of Record Mirror gave three out of five stars, stating "they're burning hot enough, but maybe the wind's all blowing in the same old direction".[15] Phyl Garland of Stereo Review wrote that "Earth Wind & Fire's new release, the two -disc set Faces, has all the impact of a live volcano, but, unlike natural eruptions, this one is carefully controlled and every stunning effect is meticulously calculated." She added "all these forces might have gotten in each other's way and produced a monstrously cluttered set, but the way White has choreographed them everything fits together so well that the listener need only sit (or lie) back and enjoy."[22]

Alan Niester of The Globe and Mail exclaimed: "Maurice White might not be the genius some people think he is, but at least he's a master of his craft, and Faces is another well-honed piece of musical excitement.".[23] Richard Williams of The Times wrote: "Earth, Wind & Fire are arguably the most popular soul band in the world and Faces, following the enormous successes of All n' All and I Am, will certainly reach their unusually broad market. The mixture is familiar: reassuringly melodic songs delivered by the outstanding falsetto of Philip Bailey and the plainer tenor of Maurice White with creamingly opulent arrangements featuring a hair-trigger rhythm section and flashy horns. Faces, is however, a two-record set and for all the brilliance of the playing and recording it is hard to sustain deep interest over the distance."[24] Paul Willistein of The Morning Call wrote that "this group's latest two-record set of 15 exceptional funk, R&B and fusion numbers is simply exhilarating".[25]

Elise Bretton of High Fidelity wrote: "Soul Disco like April in Paris cannot be reprised. And when it is transcribed, no matter how accurately, no pianist I know would want to tackle all those syncopated eight and sixteenth notes while singing in the funky, get down style that makes Earth, Wind & Fire the nation's No. 1 nonet."[26] Bev Hillier of Smash Hits gave an 8 out of 10 rating and remarked "Their repertoire ranges from dreamy ballads through funk with a capital F, with numerous other styles incorporated en route. Every member's contribution is vital but Verdine White's bass in particular takes direct control of the feet and the horn section make Dexys sound like the Pied Piper. If you think disco's faceless, you ain't heard this".[13]

Jim Arundel of Melody Maker praised the album, writing: "Earth, Wind &Fire's Faces is fascinating."[27] Gary Bradford of The Pittsburgh Press exclaimed "Faces gets excessive in places, but Earth, Wind and Fire keep a strong afro-groove running".[28] With three out of four stars Chuck Pratt of the Chicago Sun Times exclaimed "this fine funk soul group puts its best face forward on this ambitious and generous double pocket set of intricately produced, high gloss funk".[17]

Isaac Hayes called Faces one of Earth, Wind & Fire's five essential recordings.[29] Music journalist Mike Freedberg also named Faces in his ballot for The Village Voice's 1980 Pazz & Jop critics poll.[30]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let Me Talk"Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Maurice White, Verdine White4:09
2."Turn It Into Something Good"Valerie Carter, James Newton Howard, Maurice White4:10
3."Pride"Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Al McKay, Freddie White, Maurice White, Verdine White4:11
4."You"David Foster, Brenda Russell, Maurice White5:10
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Sparkle"Philip Bailey, Eduardo del Barrio, Maurice White3:50
6."Back on the Road"Al McKay, Maurice White3:33
7."Song in My Heart"Garry Glenn, Brenda Russell, Maurice White4:17
8."You Went Away"Philip Bailey, Ross Vannelli4:24
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."And Love Goes On"Larry Dunn, David Foster, Brenda Russell, Maurice White, Verdine White4:05
10."Sailaway"Philip Bailey, Eduardo del Barrio, Roxanne Seeman, Maurice White4:37
11."Take It to the Sky"Larry Dunn, Garry Glenn, Maurice White3:50
12."Win or Lose"Jean Hancock, Jerry Peters3:53
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Share Your Love"Garry Glenn, Maurice White3:17
14."In Time"Arlene Matza, Howard McCrary, Maurice White4:13
15."Faces"Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Maurice White, Verdine White8:02

2010 Reissue (Bonus Tracks)

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let Me Talk" (12" Long Version)Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Maurice White, Verdine White6:45
2."You" (Alternative Mix)David Foster, Brenda Russell, Maurice White3:47
3."And Love Goes On" (Alternative Mix)Larry Dunn, David Foster, Brenda Russell, Maurice White, Verdine White3:38

[1]

Columbia Masters Reissue

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let Me Talk"Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Maurice White, Verdine White4:09
2."Turn It Into Something Good"Valerie Carter, James Newton Howard, Maurice White4:10
3."Pride"Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Al McKay, Freddie White, Maurice White, Verdine White4:11
4."You"David Foster, Brenda Russell, Maurice White5:10
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Sparkle"Philip Bailey, Eduardo del Barrio, Maurice White3:50
6."Back on the Road"Al McKay, Maurice White3:33
7."Song in My Heart"Garry Glenn, Brenda Russell, Maurice White4:17
8."You Went Away"Philip Bailey, Ross Vannelli4:24
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."And Love Goes On"Larry Dunn, David Foster, Brenda Russell, Maurice White, Verdine White4:05
10."Sailaway"Philip Bailey, Eduardo del Barrio, Roxanne Seeman, Maurice White4:37
11."Take It to the Sky"Larry Dunn, Garry Glenn, Maurice White3:50
12."Win or Lose"Jean Hancock, Jerry Peters3:53
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Share Your Love"Garry Glenn, Maurice White3:17
14."In Time"Arlene Matza, Howard McCrary, Maurice White3:47
15."Oriental (Interlude)"Arlene Matza, Howard McCrary, Maurice White0:27
16."Faces"Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Maurice White, Verdine White7:38
17."Pipe Organ (Interlude)"Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Maurice White, Verdine White0:25

[31]

Personnel

[edit]

Earth, Wind & Fire

[edit]

EWF horns

Additional musicians

[edit]

Additional horns

Strings

  • David Foster – arrangements (1, 4, 7, 9, 14, 15)
  • James Newton Howard – arrangements (2)
  • Tom "Tom Tom 84" Washington – arrangements (5, 6, 8, 11–13)
  • Erich Bulling – arrangements (8, 10)
  • Jerry Peters – arrangements (12)
  • Assa Drori, Harris Goldman and Janice Gower – concertmasters
  • Ronald Cooper, Larry Corbett, Nina Deveritch, Albert Gill, Dennis Karmazyn, Ray Kelley, Jacqueline Lustgarten, Earl Madison, Miguel Martinez, Nils Oliver, Frederick Sekorya, Marston Smith and Mary Louise Zeyen – cello
  • Buell Neidlinger – double bass
  • Dorothy Ashby – harp
  • Marilyn Baker, Brenton Banks, Rollice Dale, Allan Harshman, Harry Hymas, Roland Kato, Renita Koven, Patricia Matthews, Gareth Nuttycombe, Jimbo Ross, David Schwartz, Bryana Sherman, Leanna Sherman, Ron Strauss, Barbara Thomason, Herschel Wise and Laury Woods – viola
  • Mark Cargill, Norman Carr, Rob Clark, Isabelle Daskoff, Glenn Dicterow, Harold Dicterow, Assa Drori, Robert Dubow, Pavel Farkas, Henry Ferber, Ronald Folsom, Irving Geller, Harris Goldman, Joseph Goodman, Jack Gootkin, Janice Gower, Endre Granat, William Henderson, Reginald Hill, Karen Jones, Robert Jung, Gina Kronstadt, Bernard Kundell, William Kurasch, Janet Lakatos, Marvin Limonick, Robert Lipsett, Mary Lundquist, Joy Lyle, Michael Markman, Michael Nowak, Sid Page, Donald Palmer, Jerome Reisler, Henry Roth, Sheldon Sanov, Sid Sharp, Arkady Shindelman, Joseph Shoenbrun, Haim Shtrum, Barry Socher, Vicki Sylvester, Mari Tsumura, Jerome Webster, John Wittenberg and Shari Zippert – violin

Production

[edit]
  • Maurice White – producer
  • Ken Fowler – recording, mixing
  • George Massenburg – recording, mixing
  • Franklin Allen – engineer
  • Jeff Borgesen – engineer
  • Ray Gonzales – engineer
  • Geoff Irons – engineer
  • Steve Jackson – engineer
  • George Morgan – engineer
  • Reuben – engineer
  • Ron Pendragon – engineer
  • Ernie Sheesley – engineer
  • John Silcott – engineer
  • Tchad Thompson – engineer
  • Mark Touhy – engineer
  • Robert Wolstein – engineer
  • Mike Reese – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California)
  • Roger Carpenter – art direction, design
  • Jim Wood – typographic design
  • Kathy Knowles – casting
  • Francie Moore – photographic stylist
  • Jim Shea – outside cover photography, poster photography
  • Bruce Talamon – inside cover photography
  • C. Ness – photography assistant
  • Kenvin Lyman – photo light illustration

Charts

[edit]

Albums

[edit]
Year Chart Position
1980 U.S. Billboard Top Soul Albums 2[3]
U.S. Billboard 200 10[2]
UK Pop Albums chart 10[4]
Dutch Albums (Dutch Album Top 100) 8[32]
Norwegian Albums (VG-Lista 15[33]
Sweden Albums
(Veckolista Album) 		23[34]
New Zealand Albums Chart 40[35]
German Albums
(Offizielle Top 100) 		46[36]

Singles

[edit]
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1980 "Let Me Talk" U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 8[8]
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 85
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 44
UK Pop Singles 29[4]
"You" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 48
U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 10[9]
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 30[10]
1981 "And Love Goes On" N.L. Dutch Single Top 100 25[37]
U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 15[11]
B.E. Belgian Singles (Ultratop 50 Singles) 26[38]
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 57
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 59

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan — 52,950[39]
United States (RIAA)[5] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

[edit]
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Soultracks[40] U.S. The 75 Best Soul Albums of the 80s 2009 29

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces. Columbia/ARC Records. October 19, 1989.
  2. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces (Billboard 200)". Billboard.com.
  3. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces (Top R&B Albums)". Billboard.com.
  4. ^ a b c d "Earth Wind & Fire". officialcharts.com. Official Charts.
  5. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". riaa.com. RIAA.
  6. ^ Billboard Magazine (PDF). February 16, 1980. p. 14.
  7. ^ "MAURICE WHITE: STILL BURNING BRIGHT". bluesandsoul.com.
  8. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: Let Me Talk (Hot R&B Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  9. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: You (Hot R&B Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  10. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: You (Adult Contemporary Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  11. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: And Love Goes On (Hot R&B Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  12. ^ Wynn, Ron. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
  13. ^ a b Hillier, Bev (October 30, 1980). "Albums". archive.org. Vol. 2, no. 22. Smash Hits. p. 33.
  14. ^ Holden, Stephen (March 5, 1981). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone.
  15. ^ a b Sexton, Paul (October 25, 1980). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". Record Mirror. p. 20.
  16. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". robertchristgau.com. The Village Voice.
  17. ^ a b Pratt, Chuck (January 29, 1981). "How the Wax Stacks". Des Moines Tribune. Chicago Sun Times. p. 36 – via newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b Morrison, Alan (March 1981). "Earth, Wind & Fire - Faces" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. DownBeat. p. 46, 47.
  19. ^ Hunt, Dennis (November 30, 1980). "EARTH, WIND & FIRE FACES THE MUSIC". Los Angeles Times. p. 324 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ^ George, Nelson (February 1981). "Record Review: RECORD REVIEWS - Earth, Wind & Fire". Musician, Player, and Listener. No. 30. p. 82. ProQuest 962645932.
  21. ^ Caputo, Sal (December 13, 1980). "If only EWF would hush up and play their music". The San Bernardino County Sun. Gannett News Service. p. 42 – via newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Garland, Phyl (March 1981). "Popular Music (Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces)" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Vol. 46, no. 3. Stereo Review. p. 122.
  23. ^ Niester, Alan (1 November 1980). "INSIDE THE SLEEVE Faces Earth, Wind and Fire". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. F.7. ProQuest 386762913.
  24. ^ Williams, Richard (October 25, 1980). "Stevie Wonder proves his return to form". gale.com. The Times. p. 9.
  25. ^ Willistein, Paul (December 13, 1980). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". newspapers.com. The Morning Call. p. 67.
  26. ^ Bretton, Elise (July 1981). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces" (PDF). High Fidelity. Vol. 31, no. 7. p. 84.
  27. ^ Arundel, Jim (March 26, 1994). "Silver Surfer". Melody Maker. Vol. 71, no. 12. p. 37. ProQuest 223508582.
  28. ^ Bradford, Gary (January 8, 1981). "Records by Gary Bradford". newspapers.com. Pittsburgh Press. p. 45.
  29. ^ Hayes, Issac (July 7, 1995). "Essentials: Issac Hayes on Earth, Wind & Fire". The Guardian. p. 39.
  30. ^ "The Year of the Lollapalooza". robertchristgau.com. The Village Voice. February 9, 1981.
  31. ^ Earth, Wind & Fire: The Columbia Masters. Columbia Records. 2011.
  32. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". dutchcharts.nl.
  33. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". norwegiancharts.com. VG-Lista.
  34. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". sverigetopplistan.se.
  35. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". charts.nz. Official New Zealand Music Chart.
  36. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Faces". offiziellecharts.de.
  37. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: And Love Goes On (Dutch Top 40)". dutchcharts.nl. Dutch Charts.
  38. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: And Love Goes On (Ultratop 50 Singles)". ultratop.be. Ultratop.
  39. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  40. ^ "80s Poll Results". Soul Tracks. 6 April 2009.
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