Faces (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Faces
Earth Wind & Fire - Faces.jpg
Studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire
Released October 14, 1980
Recorded September 1980, George Massenburg/ARC Studios, West Los Angeles, Los Angeles
Genre R&B
Length 60:34
Label ARC/Columbia Records
Producer Maurice White
Earth, Wind & Fire chronology
I Am
(1979)I Am1979		 Faces
(1980)		 Raise!
(1981)Raise!1981
Singles from Faces
  1. "Let Me Talk"
    Released: September 5, 1980
  2. "You"
    Released: November 14, 1980
  3. "Back on the Road" / "Take It to the Sky"
    Released: 1980
  4. "And Love Goes On" / "Win or Lose"
    Released: January 12, 1981
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[1]
Warr.org 3.5/5 stars[2]

Faces is the tenth studio album, a double-LP by R&B artists Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1980 on ARC/Columbia Records. The album reached number 2 and number 10 on the Billboard Black and Pop albums charts.[3]

It has been certified gold in the US by the RIAA.[4] In a 2007 interview when asked which EWF album is his favorite Earth, Wind & Fire leader Maurice White replied "Probably Faces because we were really in tune, playing together and it gave us the opportunity to explore new areas".[5]

The lead-off single was "Let Me Talk". The songs "You", and "Sparkle" followed as single releases. Unlike previous Earth, Wind and Fire albums, there was no U.S. tour in support of the album. This was also the last Earth Wind and Fire recording with guitarist Al McKay, who left the group the next year. This album is noted for featuring Steve Lukather, guitarist for EWF's label mate Toto, on the songs "Back on the Road" and "You Went Away".

Track listing

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Let Me Talk"   Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Maurice White, Verdine White 4:09
2. "Turn It Into Something Good"   Valerie Carter, J.N. Howard, Maurice White 4:10
3. "Pride"   Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Al McKay, Freddie White, Maurice White, Verdine White 4:11
4. "You"   David Foster, Brenda Russell, Maurice White 5:10
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
5. "Sparkle"   Philip Bailey, Eduardo del Barrio, Maurice White 3:50
6. "Back on the Road"   Al McKay, Maurice White 3:33
7. "Song in My Heart"   Garry Glenn, Brenda Russell, Maurice White 4:17
8. "You Went Away"   Philip Bailey, Ross Vannelli 4:24
Side three
No. Title Writer(s) Length
9. "And Love Goes On"   Larry Dunn, David Foster, Brenda Russell, Maurice White, Verdine White 4:05
10. "Sailaway"   Philip Bailey, Eduardo del Barrio, Roxanne Seeman, Maurice White 4:37
11. "Take It to the Sky"   Larry Dunn, Garry Glenn, Maurice White 3:50
12. "Win or Lose"   J. Hancock, Jerry Peters 3:53
Side four
No. Title Writer(s) Length
13. "Share Your Love"   Garry Glenn, Maurice White 3:17
14. "In Time"   Arlene Matza, Howard McCrary, Maurice White 4:13
15. "Faces"   Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Maurice White, Verdine White 8:02

[3]

UK Singles Released

"You" was released as a 7" Single in November 1980 in the UK as an edited version (3:55). The B-side contained the full album version of "Pride". UK Cat No: CBS A1204. UK Jazz Funk and Soul DJs, led by Robbie Vincent and Chris Hill, flipped the single and preferred to play "Pride" on their radio shows and at clubs/venues. "Pride" was and is still considered the stronger track, being a retro throwback to the Earth Wind & Fire sound associated with early hits such as Saturday Nite and Mighty Mighty. The 7" version of "You" was added to the album with a number of other bonus tracks when the album was remastered and updated to CD in 2010.

Charts

Album – Billboard
Year Chart Position
1980 Black Albums 2
Pop Albums 10
Year Chart Position[6]
1980 United Kingdom 10
Singles – Billboard
Year Single Chart Position
1980 "Let Me Talk" Black Singles 8
Club Play Singles 85
Pop Singles 44
"You" Pop Singles 48
Black Singles 10
1981 "And Love Goes On" Black Singles 15
Club Play Singles 57
Pop Singles 59

[3]

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to Faces is adapted from SoulTracks.com.[7]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Soultracks U.S. The Greatest Soul albums of the 1980s 2009 29

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Warr.org review
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Faces - Charts on Allmusic.com Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "allmusic" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ RIAA Certification for Faces
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ www.soultracks.com/80s-poll-results
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Faces_(Earth,_Wind_%26_Fire_album)&oldid=1169096"