The Kinks Face to Face 180g LP (Vinyl)

180g Vinyl Reissue of Major Artistic Breakthrough Album!
Remastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Mastering From Original Master Tapes!

Face to Face, released in 1966 on Pye Records in the United Kingdom and on Reprise Records in the United States, is the fourth UK studio album by The Kinks. A major artistic breakthrough for Kinks' songwriter Ray Davies, the LP represents the first full flowering of Davies' use of narrative, observation, and wry social commentary in his songs.

The album's songs are rife with Davies' sardonic wit, skewering the vapid Don Juan of "Dandy" and the self-absorption and hypocrisy of the wealthy elite on "House in the Country" and "Most Exclusive Residence for Sale." Davies' humanity is also on display in tracks such as "Rosie, Won't You Please Come Home," an unusual 1960s pop song that sided with the plight of parents against the cruelty of a rebellious child (a true harbinger of the Kinks' growing affinity for unfashionable but timeless themes). Other highlights include "Sunny Afternoon," the world-weary "Too Much on My Mind," the foreboding "Rainy Day in June," and the Eastern-tinged, enigmatic "Fancy." This album has been long out of print on LP in the US.

"...one of the finest collections of pop songs released during the '60s...filled with wonderful moments...one of the most distinctive and accomplished albums of its time." -Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

"There’s not a weak tune on the album and all of them hold up well almost fifty years later, including the humorous ones like “Party Line” and the almost throw away “Holiday in Waikiki”, but the real stand-outs are the dark songs “Too Much On My Mind” and especially the drone-like “Fancy”, which might be the album’s deepest cut.

"Producer Shel Talmy was never known for deep pocket spending on record production or anything more than straight forward getting the tune on tape and getting out and for the longest time I thought of these as “el cheapo” productions with not much sonically to recommend but over time that view has changed especially with these new re-masters by Kevin Gray from the original Pye mono tapes (this album was never mixed to stereo though there are original fake stereo versions issued by both Pye and in America by Reprise—stay away from those!).

" I compared this reissue to an original UK red label Pye mono pressing and to an early 1990’s gray mono Pye pressing. The earlier pressings sound similar. The new cut by Kevin Gray is much better! There’s no doubt about it. It’s far more transparent, spacious and harmonically complete. The bottom end is both more extended and more detailed. On the opening track drummer Mick Avory does some speedy kick drum double time that I’d not before heard so deeply and cleanly rendered.

"More importantly, I’d always thought of this album as “okay sounding” but it’s much better than that on this reissue. First play “Fancy” and you’ll hear what I’m talking about.

"The Kinks Katalog has been messed up since forever, with a slew of reissues and hits compilations sourced from who knows what? Now we have a chance to get them all, cut by one of the great mastering engineers working today, sourced from the original master tapes and well-pressed too.

"For Kinks fans, this is it. Who knows how long these will remain in print. I’m buying them all!' - Michael Fremer, Analog Planet, June 16, 2015

Features:
• 180g Vinyl
• Remastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Mastering
• Remastered from original master tapes

Selections:
Side One:
1. Party Line
2. Rosy Won't You Please Come Home
3. Dandy
4. Too Much On My Mind
5. Session Man
6. Rainy Day In June
7. House In The Country
Side Two:
1. Holiday In Waikiki
2. Most Exclusive Residence For Sale
3. Fancy
4. Little Miss Queen Of Darkness
5. You're Lookin' Fine
6. Sunny Afternoon
7. I'll Remember