Faces - Ooh La La

Details:

• Year of release : 1973
• Label : Warner Brothers 7599-26368-2
• Review format : CD

The highly recommended blog Heavy Metal Time Machine has been running a topic on supergroups all week. The usual suspects like Asia, The Firm, Damn Yankees and even Blue Murder has been mentioned but its got me thinking about whether the Faces qualify for this status. Three ex-member of The Small Faces left high and dry when Steve Marriott moved on were joined by two member of The Jeff Beck Group post the groundbreaking Truth album. So a line-up then of Rod Stewart (vocals), Ron Wood (guitar), Ronnie Lane (bass & vocals), Ian McLagan (keyboards) and Kenny Jones (drums). If that lot doesn’t qualify for supergroup status then no one does!

The last of four studio album by the band, Ooh La La appeared in ‘73 and followed two very well received albums in A Nod’s As Good As A Wink… To A Blind Horse and Long Player. By now their style was set and although Rod Stewart’s growing solo career was starting to put pressure on the band on this, their final release, sees the band continuing to sound like they’re having a great time in the studio - probably sometimes too good to the detriment of the music!

Both of the opening tracks Silicone Grown and Cindy Incidentally are classic examples of the tight but loose rock ‘n’ roll the Faces mastered. Cindy is the better track and proved a successful single release as well, hitting number 2 in the UK charts and giving them their biggest hit. The folkier feel to Flags And Banners works well and displays the versatility of the band at least up to the two minute mark where the songs end rather abrubtly…. the pubs must have opened. My Fault is next and leads into the klaxon loaded electric start to the excellent Borstal Boys with its classic opening line “Cell Block S how I hate bromide”. It’s a real good rocker and an example of the Faces at their best. Superb instrumental Fly In The Ointment builds from a single repeating bass note with each instrument gradually joining before Ronnie Wood confirms his guitar hero status taking the song to the skies. If I’m On The Late Side is a classic early ’70s Rod Stewart ballad. That unique, instantly recognisable voice over a sparse, mainly acoustic backing it would have fit on any of his solo albums as well and breaks the album up nicely hear as well. The fact that up to about ‘73 Stewart saw his solo career as a nice little side earner pays tribute to just how good the Faces were, in fact much of his early solo work see him backed by the Faces anyway!

The piano dominated Glad And Sorry is another slow paced track with Ronnie Lane on vocals this time. More melodic that the previous song it is actually a better ballad and proves that with Lane the band had a second consumate vocalist. Rod’s back though for the bluesy Just Another Honky before Wood take to the mic for the title track Ooh La La. Written by Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood its a real high moment with the great bar-room singalong chorus of “I wish that I knew what I know now…. when I was younger”. A track that is rightly gaining “great” status and for me is right up there with Stay With Me as the bands best.

Rod Stewart dismissed this album much to the disgust of the other members and Lane soon became disillusioned with Stewart’s increasing absences due to solo commitments. He quit to follow a nomadic life in a gypsy caravan. Although the band soldiered on for a tour with Tetsu Yamauchi on bass, a poor live album release saw Rod “sailing” off into solo waters picking up mega-money and leggy blondes along the way whilst others joined rock giants like the Rolling Stones and The Who and sadly, the Faces were no more.

Summary : To dismiss this album is a shame. Clocking in at a little under 30 minutes it feels a little unfinished, perhaps due to tensions within the band however there is enough quality on here to satisfy any fan. The title track is worth the price alone but Cindy Incidentally and Borstal Boys also rightly make there way onto any Best Of collection; recorded proof of Stewart’s ability to front a rock band rather than the American Songbook crooner he’s become and a lasting testament to the late Ronnie Lane’s ability. This band had quite an influence on future rock music particularly noticable in the work of The Black Crowes and The Quireboys and to overlook them is a rock fans loss.

If You Listen To One Track Listen To : Ooh La La

Score : 3/5