Conceptually flawed but lots of wonderful stuff in there
J. M. Zuurbier | 08/04/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The concept behind "See All Her Faces" was flawed from the start. It could have been a cogently packaged product and the genuine follow up to "Dusty Definitely" (1968) had Philips stuck to using only tracks recorded by Dusty for its own UK sessions in 1970/71. There was no dearth of completed material in the can to draw upon. Instead Philips was distracted by the ready availability of material from America and decided to blend in an assortment of Stateside-only singles sides (5) for variety. The outcome was a hotchpotch of tracks that may have been great individually but didn't quite jell in the overall context of the album. Released in November 1972 in the UK to coincide with Dusty's comeback season at London's Talk Of The Town, it was to have been Dusty's first domestic release for Philips since "Dusty Definitely" in 1968 and a crowd pleaser for her local fans. The two intervening albums - "Dusty In Memphis" (1969) and "From Dusty With Love" (1970) - wereAmerican products licenced for UK release and didn't count with British fans who were starved of genuine local product. The timing of its release was also two years too late. By 1972, Ziggy Stardust had taken the UK by storm, so the choice of "Yesterday When I Was Young" as the lead single could only seem strangely passe, wonderfully resonant though Dusty's rendition turned out to be.SAHF would have matched if not surpassed the high standards attained by her original 60s UK albums. The choice of material may have seemed oddly conservative for 1972 but Dusty was simply doing what she did best. As a pop stylist and interpreter, she was peerless. Her soul covers of "Crumbs Off The Table", "Girls Can't Do What Guys Do" and "Girls It Ain't Easy" bettered the originals by Glass House, Betty Wright and Hone Cone. Hard to believe but true. The big ballads - always her forte - were powerful and heartbreaking ("Yesterday When I Was Young"). She even dabbled with bossa nova ("Come For A Dream" and "See All Her Faces") and the results were inspired. On the opening track, Jimmy Webb's "Mixed Up Girl" originally recorded by Thelma Houston, she showed just what transforming powers inspired phrasing can have on a song. Listen to her tender yet soulful reading of "Let Me Down Easy" and you wouldn't recognise it as the song Cher murdered on her "Half Breed" album. The American tracks are great - especially Ellie Greenwich's "What Good Is I Love You" - but they belong elsewhere. "Willie & Laura Mae Jones" and "That Old Sweet Roll" - from Dusty's later sessions with Jerry Wexler - should have remained as potential bonus cuts for subsequent reissues of "Dusty In Memphis". "Someone Who Cares" and "Nothing Is Forever" were from the Jeff Barry sessions for Dusty's third Atlantic album that never was. It should have remained as US-only singles sides and been tagged on together with the other cuts from the same session in the recent Deluxe CD reissue of "Dusty In Memphis" by Rhino.SAHF has often been unfairly dismissed by music critics and fans alike for its lack of coherence. Blame it on Philips if you must, but don't make the mistake of ignoring its content 'cos there's loads of wonderful stuff in there to enjoy. A must for Dusty fans."
Something Special
acshore | Seattle, WA USA | 01/02/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Whenever I hear the title of this album mentioned amongst reviewers or Dusty's fans, it usually is not rated high on their lists; due to the fact that there was too much shuffle change between moods of the songs. But, in fact... the eclecticism is what makes this album something special.
When I first moved to Seattle, I happend upon this CD at Easy Street Records, and really grew to love it. I think the fact that there are so many songs on this album that many thought Dusty didn't have the potential of doing, and that of which she proved them wrong makes this album so inspiring. I think my favourite songs are 'Let Me Down Easy,' 'Come For a Dream,' 'I Start Counting,' 'What Good Is I Love You?,' 'See All Her Faces,' 'Haunted,' and 'What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?'
Also... this album had so much diversity, there was not room for all the tracks they cut for it upon its release, and 5 songs remained outtakes and in the vaults for over 15 years. Four of them were eventually issued on the "Dusty in London" Rhino CD compilation back in 1999. However, one track 'O-o-h Child' only remained finished in the form of demo completion, and was finally released on Dusty's 'Love Songs' CD back in 2001. What puzzles me is why they didn't release this CD with the 5 outtakes on it. Huh... oh, well. It would be fantastic if they would.
Still... if you want diversity and some form of eclecticism, get this CD."
