The Kinks
Face to Face

I must admit that I only knew "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks, known even to stones…

Upon first listening to this album, I was enthralled, which is why this review, the result of my personal "sensations," might be overblown and/or contain many errors! Have mercy…

"Face To Face" is the fourth album by the Kinks (recorded between '65 and '66) and represents, in my opinion, their "Rubber Soul": a departure from the early rock, with the search (first in the lyrics and then in execution) for that originality that will lead them to experiment with concept albums and rock operas in the following years.

It starts with a very tight "Party Line" with a country flavor, introduced by the rings of a telephone, and here I already find many similarities with the Beatles' Help era tracks, but I presume it was normal at that time to find such influences.

There is, as a session man on keyboards, Nicky Hopkins who embellishes the scenarios narrated by Ray Davies. His contribution is fundamental in tracks like "Rosie Want You Please Come Home," a desperate cry from Ray Davies to his sister who moved to Australia…

But the gem of the album is "Sunny Afternoon" (May 1966) which immediately reminds me of "Happy Together" by the Turtles (1967); "Sunny Afternoon" managed to dethrone none other than the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" from the top of the charts!!!

The judgment between the two is up to you…

The freshness of "Holiday In Waikiki" is also pleasant, where Dave Davies' slide interventions, combined with the sounds of the sea, evoke a seaside atmosphere. "Dandy" is instead a quick ballad, closely related to their single "A Well Respected Man," which will represent the turning point for the new direction Ray Davies will take in writing lyrics.

In "Session Man" we curiously find some harmonic passages that will later be dear to George Harrison. "I'll Remember Everything" instead greatly resembles "If I Needed Someone"…

The decadent tales of misery and poverty in "Big Smoke" and "Dead End Street" are from the same period, two singles added as bonus tracks to the deluxe version of 2011.

There are some references to R&B, as in "Your Looking Fine," or to India as in "Fancy," where without invoking sitar, tabla, and gurus, the sensation is that…

The album is surely psychedelic in nature, despite not having all the typical trademarks, e.g., of Revolver: sitar, backward voices, ghostly drums. A sort of embryonic psychedelia. Could it also be a concept album without intending to be?

The Kinks appear to me stylistically clear, sober, and without the desire to overdo; the rhythm section is almost impeccable, the lead guitar by Dave Davies is balanced, essential, and decent. The arrangements seem more oriented towards the song's structure rather than the pursuit of execution technique: every riff, lick, or other element serves the song, never the opposite.

It's certainly true that production makes a big difference! I presumably suspect that not having a George Martin or the Abbey Road technicians makes a well-played drum kit seem "acceptable," whereas a poorly played one seems "out of this world"!!!

Consider that Ray Davies wasn't even allowed to impose his own album cover! He wanted to use a black background, serious and in line with the album's adult themes, but he was forced into this one, colorful and psychedelic (which I still find pleasant).

There are none of those clichéd stylistic flourishes typical of other contemporary bands similarly lacking true guitar heroes, seeking solos at all costs as self-gratification of the current soloist, usually resulting in ridicule when compared to the likes of Clapton, Beck, Hendrix (just to name a few axemen).

The power chords that made them famous in the early albums also disappear; in summary, the Kinks were trying, at least until then, not to overreach…

Presumably, this stylistic choice was also linked to their ban from the US and/or the fact that their albums didn't perform well on the charts, which is why I hypothesize that a genius like Ray might have thought: "At this point, what do I care, let's make it weird..."

It's important to note how in all tracks there is always the search for "melody": from this point of view, I compare Ray Davies to McCartney, while as a lyricist, I consider him superior!

(I'm always afraid to make comparisons with the Fab Four; I almost feel that I risk less using Mozart, King Crimson, or Hendrix as references!!! 😉)

But there's a strange sensation I keep having listening to the Kinks: a strange déjà vu that brings to mind melodies by famous artists, only published later…

I wonder, therefore, what and how much their influence was on the pop-rock music scene.

If only they had had more money and/or the same production as the more renowned bands, who knows what we could have heard today!

Maybe something worse… 😉

Thanks for your patience!

P.S. I recommend the deluxe version of the album as, besides bonus tracks and extracted singles, there are both mono & stereo versions of the album.