Track Listing

1. Bad 'n' Ruin
2. Tell Everyone
3. Sweet Lady Mary
4. Richmond
5. Maybe I'm Amazed
6. Had Me A Real Good Time
7. On The Beach
8. I Feel So Good
9. Jerusalem

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19398 in Music
• Released on: 1993-09-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

May the smile from your face come straight from your heart
When in 1971 the world discovered "Every Picture Tells A Story" and "A Nod's As Good As A Wink", those of us who found "their band" in the face of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Bowie et al peer pressure, were gratified in the pleasure of discovering the "back catalogue". Prior to "Nod", the Faces threw together the logically titled "Long Player" (long playing records being the thing in those days you see) and there was gold discovered in them there record stores! Like you do when you "get right into" a newly discovered band or artist, you want to hear everything and here was one that we should have known but didn't and wondered where we'd been. From the opening strains of the Stewart/McLagan "Bad 'n' Ruin" ("mother you won't recognise me now", what more could an adolescent need!) through the poignient Ronnie Lane "Tell Everyone" and shared "Sweet Lady Mary" to the excellent live cover of McArtney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" (some commentators drawing similarity in the opening bars sung by Ronnie Lane and the great Macca himself!) here was an album that a faceless cover belied. The roots were showing in the live 'n' rollicking cover of Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good" but it was good times and rock'n'roll that the Faces came for and did not disappoint with "Had Me A Real Good Time". We were glad they'd come and were so sad they'd leave but while they were here they gave us a real good time! And boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, for the singularly inexpensive price of this CD, still can!

Rock n' roll!
The Faces were a rough, sloppy rock & roll band, able to pound out a tough, muscular rocker like "Had Me A Real Good Time", a bluesy ballad like "Tell Everyone", and a folk tune like "Richmond" all in one album.

The Faces rock with loose abandon on "Long Player", their second effort, and their best alongside "A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse".
The sublime ballad "Sweet Lady Mary" and the hard rocker "Had Me A Real Good Time" are two of the band's very best songs, and bassist Ronnie Lane's two ballads, "Tell Everyone" and the slide guitar-driven "Richmond", rival each other for the most touching number on the album (which ends with a lovely instrumental rendition of Henry Wood's "Jerusalem").

"I Feel So Good" and "Maybe I'm Amazed" are recorded live; Big Bill Broonzy's classic up-tempo blues "I Feel So Good" is good but too long, clocking in at almost nine minutes, but the Paul McCartney-number is great. Ronnie Lane and Rod Stewart share lead vocals, and they tear into the song, transforming it from a saccharine ballad to a heartfelt cry of devotion.

"Long Player" is a bit of a sloppy record, perhaps, but it's also a pretty terrific one; it may have a couple of weak moments, and it doesn't reach the dizzying heights of Rod Stewart's magnificent solo albums from the same period, but it truly has the heart and soul of the band.

Too Long?
Although it was their second album it sounds like a band still finding their way. Most of the songs are run of the mill rockers and don't have the feel of a band hitting their stride (which they did on their next album, 'A Nods as Good...'). There are a couple of stand out songs though: Ronnie Lane's rootsy Richmond and the brilliant, live version of Maybe I'm Amazed - which is a gem. You might think that's worth the price of the CD by itself but if you buy it you'll also get a lot of basic stuff, including Ronnie Wood's version of Jerusalem where he seems to be learning how to play guitar. Don't know why he had to do it in public...