Face Dances

["Gary M. Gillman" <garyg@inforamp.net>]

Not to revive the FD/IH debate, but listening to FD on MCA CD ( I find its
sound crystal clear and vibrant), I've decided I like this album a lot, more
so than IH. The bass is produced high in the mix and JAE is just stellar on
all the cuts, especially his own songs, but listen too, for example, to that
little trebly figure he plays at the end of Daily Records - it's pure John
and no one else in rock can touch him when he plays lead bass in the upper
register like that. And though I've been critical of some of Daltrey's
post-WN work I find him strong on this record, better than on WAY. Also good
are Pete's harmonies. Even Jones is pretty fair, doing good fills on some of
the songs. While PT's guitars are produced too low, he does shine on Another
Tricky Day and The Quiet One. And dig that banjo like electric guitar solo
in Cache Cache ( I believe it was ). Unfortunately, the glossiness of the
overall production takes away some of  the typical Who character from the
record, but I still like it - this could also be  influenced by having heard
so much PT solo stuff in recent years. Only that long song, about How Can
You Do It Alone, etc., is a clunker. BTW when I said earlier that PT
complained about having to do "heavy" material on IH on JAE's songs (because
it hurt his ears), I now believe PT said this apropos The Quiet One and You
on FD....Gary M.