'Face To Face' is sometimes acknowledged as a Kinks classic yet i believe overall it's a rather average album which is well below the standards set by the Kinks contempories (for example The Beatles, Stones, Bob Dylan) in that same time period (1966) both in songwriting, use of instumentation and production. However, there are indications on a number of tracks that the Kinks were really advancing lyrically and occasionally musically with a sustained english flavour to many of their songs in addition to an occasional use of unusual instruments like the harpsicord.
'Rosie Won't You Please Come Home' is an autobiographical song which relates to Ray and Dave's sister's emigration to Australia and has some aristocratic references alongside some inspired use of the harpsicord and a bass refrain which so effectively runs in unison with Ray's vocal. This song alongside the popular single 'Sunny Afternoon' and the Herman's Hermits covered 'Dandy' are as enjoyable as any song from that era in addition to being occasionally inspiring in their use of instrumentation. 'Party Line', 'Too Much On My Mind' and 'Rainy Day In June' aren't too far behind.
However, many of the other tracks are mainly pretty uninspiring which often amount to little more than filler (A House In The Country', 'You're Looking Fine' etc).
There are a number of bonus tracks to this edition of 'Face To Face', however, which in the main are far stronger than many of the album's original tracks. 'I'm Not Like Everybody Else', 'Dead End Street' and 'Mr Pleasant' are truly outstanding and make up a little for some of the filler tracks.

Generally 'Face To Face' has a number of fine moments that find the Kinks achieving greatness yet these moments fail to be sustained long enough to make 'Face To Face' stand as a great album in its own right. However, the Kinks best moments here are as essential as anything in the Kinks catalogue and with the addition of the bonus tracks 'Face To Face' becomes a highly desirable Kinks purchase.

Worth 3.5 stars.

After a couple of years of singles chart succsess, Ray Davis longed for a change in direction in The Kinks sound, and this album is where he honed his song writing into what was to become one of the most respected in pop history. Gone are the rip roaring hard rock riffs of singles such as "You Really Got Me", this album supplies the listener with a mostly acoustic guitar driven sound, where the emphasis is on the lyrics rather than the music. But thankfully the music doesn't suffer. It's as enguaging as ever, with clever melodies interwoven through out. Unlike the album cover suggests, the tracks are not particulary pyschedelic. Most have dark content (well for the 60's anyway) such as "Rainy Day In June", which starts off with a thunderclap and then proceeds to discribe a sunny day turning grey. However the best track on the album is of course "Sunny Afternoon".

It's hard to see why this album didn't sell. Perhapse it is down to the sub-par production, or the aquired taste of Ray Davis' singing, or the fact that it came out around the same time as The Beatles fantastic "Revolver", but still this is a must buy for music fans.

How do you sum up the appeal of the late 60's Kinks? The production is in most cases second rate. There is little musical virtuosity. At times the guitars sound out of tune. You get a lead singer (Ray Davies) who is hard to like, fancy or understand. However what you do get are 14 songs (plus the CD extras) which are all totally idiosyncratic. Each tells a unique story. The more I listen to this album over the years the more certain tracks stand out. The powerfully moving 'Rosie Wont You Please Come Home', the bold and acerbic put down of 'Session Man' and the album track that was crying out to be a single 'I'll Remember'.

Some folks say the Kinks created the 'concept album' on Face To Face: there's a unity to the sound of the album, every song is is an original, and nearly every song is a wry take on some aspect life in Mod mid-60'S England. Of course it doesn't matter if it's a 'concept album' or not, the main thing is it's great music and an essential purchase for any Kinks fan. It was their strongest album to date when it was released in 1966, and it still holds up about four decades on, even with the harpsichord, songs about elves and gnomes, and thunderstorm sound effects.

Many of Ray Davies best efforts are on display: 'Dandy', 'Too Much On My Mind', the Indian flavored 'Fancy', that song about the elves 'Rainy Day in June' and its complement, the eternal hit single 'Sunny Afternoon'. As with most Kinks albums, at least until the 70's, no HARD rock numbers here, but plenty of medium to light ones, full of the kind of melodies and ironic lyrics that reached maturity on "Something Else" and "Village Green".

Remastered ( in the original mono ) and with excellent bonus cuts that include the brilliant "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and "Mr. Pleasant". Get it quick before it goes out of print yet again.

After 40 years of listening to the Kinks, it's a little weird to see someone write that they were trying to fit in --- conform. Their first three albums were just like every other UK beat group, here they began to veer to the left.

This is the Kinks fourth LP. It is, arguably, one of the first albums where Ray had truly hit his stride in writing ideosyncratic lyrics dealing with things truly British.

This album and Something Else are probably the B est Kinks LPs in the Pye period. This record is highly recommended, a must buy.

The Kinks contemporaries in 1966 were the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and The Who. The Beatles did Revolver in 1966, the Rolling Stones did Aftermath, and the Who did A Quick One.

Dead End Street dealt with the hopelessness of the lower class in the UK, Big Black Smoke was Ray's take on London, Dandy was a satire about Carnaby Street (Roger Daltry or Dave Davies might have been the target of this barb), Session Man (was this about Jimmy Page); all these were quintessentially and insularly British. They weren't copying the Beatles, Stones or the Who; if they were, they would have been a whole lot more successful.

Track Listings
1. Party Line - One of my favorites, Ray wailing about sharing his phone line with his neighbors. Who else would write about this stuff?
2. Rosie Won't You Please Come Home - Ray's sister had just emigrated to Australia, Ray's lament gets across his heartbreak in a totally unique song.
3. Dandy - Roger Daltrey was really pissed off about this one, but methinks it was really about Dave, Ray's brother.
4. Too Much on My Mind
5. Session Man - Jimmy Page did You Really Got Me? No bleeding way!
6. Rainy Day in June - Sitting in a hotel writing lyrics, poignant and lyrical.
13. Sunny Afternoon - One of the most beautiful songs in UK history!
15. I'm Not Like Everybody Else [*] - A lcassic covered by nearly every US garage band!
16. Dead End Street [*] - The hopelessness of the British lower class, an clever attack on the class structure, arranged as a cartoon
17. Big Black Smoke [*] - London town
18. Mister Pleasant [*] - Mr Middle Class