A British psychedelic classic
08/01/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Released in 1968, this was the magnum opus of Small Faces, a group highly popular in their native U.K. but nearly ignored in the U.S. The first half (or side, on the LP) in particular is as good as anything from the period, with the hits 'Afterglow' and 'Lazy Sunday' as well as other hard-rocking cuts as 'Song of a Baker' and the title track. Uncanny material. The second half is a story suite narrated by Stanley Unwin, the late master of English gobbledygook. Some listeners, myself included, find the narration a little tiresome at times, but the musical sections in between are solid and more experimental than those on the first side. Taken as a whole, the album is a defining piece of British rock history. This reissue includes five live bonus tracks - inspired performances from November 1968 somewhat obscured by the constant screaming of the female audience - and a studio version of 'The Autumn Stone', a calm, pastoral counterpoint to the raucous live stuff."
60s Rock Classic expanded & issued in US
J P Ryan | Waltham, Massachusetts United States | 07/09/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Small Faces (1965 - 1969), were one of the great British groups of the 1960s, right up there with the Kinks, Who, and just a notch below the Stones and Beatles. "Ogden's," the group's fourth studio set and a # 1 album in Britain in 1968, has been available as an import for several years, and is finally now out in a reasonably priced package in the U.S.-- with an alternate mix of the late-period, meditative "The Autumn Stone" (from the band's unfinished final album of the same name, portions of which appeared alongside earlier material in 1969) and the five live tracks from November, 1968, appended. This edition clearly is superior in sound and packaging to the early '90s Sony (US) CD. For my money, however, the mastering on Santuary's 2003 "The Ultimate Collection" is superior, in terms of overall impact and especially in the reproduction of Ronnie Lane's bass and Kenny Jones' drum kit. There is altogether too little low-end here. Unfortunately, Santuary has not issued the entire album as part of its 50-track set. In any event, from the production/engineering team of Glyn Johns and George Chkiantz at Olympic Studios (part of the team behind the Stones' "Beggars Banquet"--also recorded at Olymic)to the inspired playing and superb songwriting of the entire band, this is an accomplished recording by a group at the peak of its powers--sexy and soulful("Afterglow"), psychedelic (in the best sense, the way Hendrix's "Axis:Bold As Love" is), witty ("Rene"), self-deprecating, and even, on Ronnie Lanes's crucial "Son Of A Baker," with its near perfect lyric of spiritual need, breathtakingly beautiful. Hear it in its entirety, then be pleasently surprised when you hear parts of it again on "The Ultimate Collection.""
The Original LP is best!
Gandalf | U.S.A | 01/30/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A truly spectacular 60s masterpiece! For best sonic quality stick to the original record on the hot pink Immediate label. As an added bonus this is a ROUND record cover with some really strange art. Taken as a whole the original mixes and the original package were superb and best! The bonus tracks and whatever on the new cd make me feel I'm listening to a different album; a bit what the major studios did to the Who's Live at Leeds."
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1