Faces Box Set "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything" Cut From Analog Tapes

"To deliver superior audiophile quality, each album was cut from the original analog master tapes directly to lacquers and pressed on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl."

Every vinyl reissue should include an explicit source description like this one. Not "sourced from analog tapes", which only means at some point the analog tape was used and it's possible the lacquers were cut from 96/24 files created from the tape.

Here, we're told that the four Faces studio album reissues in this box set were cut using the tapes. Hooray!

Here's the press release in its entirety:

FACES: YOU CAN MAKE ME DANCE, SING OR ANYTHING
(1970-1975)

The Collection Includes Newly Remastered Versions Of All Four Studio Albums
With A Bonus Disc Of Rarities And Will Be Available On August 28 From Rhino

Limited Edition Vinyl Version Boasts Remastered Sound Cut From The Original Analog Masters And Original Packaging That Meticulously Recreates The Original Albums

LOS ANGELES - Faces squeezed a lifetime's worth of rock 'n' roll into just five years. But despite their relatively short time together, Kenney Jones (drums), Ronnie Lane (bass/vocals), Ian McLagan (keyboard), Rod Stewart (vocals) and Ronnie Wood (guitar/vocals) have earned a spot on the short list of the world's greatest rock bands.

Rhino Records will release a boxed set with newly remastered versions of all four of the Faces' studio albums, plus a bonus disc of rarities. All of the music has been remastered from the original analog tapes, making the collection the best-sounding version of the band's music ever released. YOU CAN MAKE ME DANCE, SING OR ANYTHING (1970-1975) will be available on August 28 from Rhino Records for a list price of $54.98 on CD and $39.99 digitally.

A beautiful limited edition vinyl version of the collection will also be released the same day. To deliver superior audiophile quality, each album was cut from the original analog master tapes directly to lacquers and pressed on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl. The records will come packaged in sleeves that accurately recreate the original release. For instance, when you push the sleeve for Ooh La La, the man's eyes move and his mouth opens, creating a look that's reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's animation work with Monty Python. This special set will be available for a list price of $129.98.

The YOU CAN MAKE ME DANCE, SING OR ANYTHING (1970-1975) CD set includes: The First Step (1970), Long Player (1971), A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse (1971), and Ooh La La (1973), and features unreleased bonus tracks included with each album. Despite their hard-partying reputation, the band was a formidable powerhouse and could play it all-blues, soul, funk, country and boogie. These albums showcase that incredible range from bar stool anthems like "Had Me A Real Good Time," "Miss Judy's Farm," and "Stay With Me," to tender ballads that will leave you crying in your beer like "Ooh La La," "Love Lives Here" and "Glad And Sorry."

In addition to the studio albums, the collection also features a bonus disc that gathers up nine essential tracks that didn't appear on proper albums, including the 1973 single "Pool Hall Richard," a live performance of the Temptations' "I Wish It Would Rain" from the 1973 Reading Festival, and "Dishevelment Blues," a song that came free as a flexi-disc in copies of the British music publication, New Music Express.

The Faces came together in 1969 when former Small Faces Ian McLagan, Kenney Jones and Ronnie Lane hooked up with ex-Jeff Beck Group vocalist Rod Stewart and guitarist Ronnie Wood. The group's impact on music has only deepened since its break up in 1975. In recognition of the Faces' influence, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the group in 2012.

BONUS LP

1. "Pool Hall Richard"
2. "I Wish It Would Rain" (With A Trumpet)
3. "Rear Wheel Skid"
4. "Maybe I'm Amazed"
5. "Oh Lord I'm Browned Off"
6. "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything (Even Take The Dog For A Walk, Mend A Fuse, Fold
Away The Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Short Comings)" (UK Single Version)
7. "As Long As You Tell Him"
8. "Skewiff (Mend The Fuse)"
9. "Dishevelment Blues"

COMMENTS
faskenite's picture

Nice to see these LP's being properly reissued. I have always thought the Glyn Johns recording of Nod's As Good As A Wink to be a particularly excellent example of rock recording. Check out "Too Bad"!

Patanalog's picture

I agree. Glyn Johns was almost a guarantee of a great album.

Grant M's picture

Rhino usually does such a great job on these reissues, I have bought many of them pressed at RTI. Really hope these are pressed there too.

Donnie Ton's picture

Ed Feinblatt?

TommyTunes's picture

Are they cut from the UK tapes or the copies sent to the US? I have US and UK copies of several of the albums and there is a difference. I'll be buying the set regardless just to have all those lively B sides on a proper album but it would be nice to know.

Steve Edwards's picture

how about the source for the recently released box set of Rod Stewart's first 5 solo albums by Mercury? I would love to have new, audiophile grade pressings of those records.

recordhead's picture

can't wait

malco49's picture

just bought a copy of long player. for a moment they were the greatest rock and roll band in the world.

PeterPani's picture

"cut from the original analog master tapes directly to lacquers and pressed on 180-g" still leaves room for interpretation. Directly to lacquers without at least EQ? I guess, it was done cut directly to lacquers at least through some kind of mix-console, which was either analog or digital. I would guess, digital console and probably a digital pre-loop for the cut-head, too. If it would be really all analog, they would either state true "AAA" or "true all analog chain". For me it seems, they choose their words wisely to get all the audiophiles. But not me, until I get an absolutely clean statement. Experience with music-salesman tells me so. But I will happy to buy this box, if i read an believable AAA-declaration soon.

my new username's picture

Yes the description left out mentioning EQ, because EQ is in fact implicit with mastering.

PeterPani's picture

but what kind of mastering concole was used?

my new username's picture

Presumably an electronic one. Who cares? (Not me.)

Hats Domino's picture

A mastering console and EQ will change the sound far more dramatically than pretty much any any conversion to digital.

PeterPani's picture

never-the-less I, at least, would like to know whether an analog vinyl-set is all analog or not, before I buy.

Hats Domino's picture

An analog source is hardly an indication of a good sounding record. Proper mastering is much more important than anything else.

PeterPani's picture

you my be right. But doesn't help. Digital vinyl I cannot listen repeatedly. It is no fun to my ears and fatiguing. That it might be good EQ'ised does not help.

Lothar's picture

You may be like me. I can hear digital mastering / digital pressed to vinyl immediately. I've been burned too often to buy anything anymore without full disclosure by the company on the process.

john ryan horse's picture

The original CDs have not been remastered since 1993 (except for Audio Fidelity's terrific gold disc "Nod"), and I still have first pressings of albums 2, 3, & 4. In either format (and I'll get the LPs) this body of work is long overdue for an upgrade. The 2005 box "Five Guys" btw featured lots of outtakes and non-album singles. Though the Faces albums were never as acclaimed as Rod's solo stuff (featuring Faces) they are not at all dated. The depth and maturity of the songwriting is astonishing. As is how prolific they were: five Stewart solo albums on Mercury, four Faces studio albums plus a live set, two Ron Wood solo albums ('Now Look' is criminally underrated), the first three Lane albums, and Wood & Lane's "Mahoney's Last Stand" (issued by Atco in 1976 but recorded shortly after "Ooh La La"). All recorded during a six year period!

Kirby's picture

Just received my box, it's as good as I hoped. Don't have originals to compare it with but who cares. Sounds and looks great, kills my copy of "First Step" by 4 Men With Beards. Better than my copy of "Ooh La La" (old but not org.it's got the moving face) and well my seedees why even soil these with a comparison. Dead flat not a pop or hiss.Money well spent! Again Thanks for the heads up.

john ryan horse's picture

Fantastic!!! Why has my copy not arrived yet, ordered it in July? I have to get the CD edition shortly as well, for the bonus tracks on each title (at $46 it will be available for %30 soon after release). Hope it arrives tomorrow.

john ryan horse's picture

Got both Faces boxes, and the vinyl set is pretty great. Only played side one of "First Step" so far but I hear warm, "flat" transfer, no compression or other concessions to the current marketplace. Ron Wood's guitar strokes rather than slashes, but I've been listening to CDs for several years in between turntables. The covers are sturdy, tip-on (resolution of inside gatefold group photo is poor compared to the original US Warners I own). The vocals are gorgeous on 'Devotion'. Also, "Nod Is As Good As a Wink" comes with the enormous poster included in early pressings, but scaled down maybe 20%. Likewise "Ooh La La" has the original black & white poster, as well as the 'working mouth'...One can get the 5-disc CD set for about $30, and as Kirby says it is essential if you want the previously unissued bonus tracks on each title. The LP box does include the album of non-LP singles. Faces deserve this respect, and whatever flaws I can discern (CD insert credits are inaccurate about who sings & plays what when) are minor in the big picture. So, recommended, and AT LAST!!

john ryan horse's picture

I know this is an old thread almost dead, but if Tommytunes is around I'm interested in differences between the UK & US masters. Audio Fidelity used the UK master for their gold disc of "Nod". On the box, I noticed the end of "Plynth" is chopped off: after the guitar fades, you hear Kenny's drums CLOMP and a few seconds of voices - I first heard this on the 2005 "Five Guys" box, but it was not on my US copy of "First Step" nor is it on this new one. Also I noticed the CDs are in a couple cases about 20-30 seconds shorter than previous cd issues (First Step, Long Player - those are the ones I've played). In any case the LPs do sound better than the CDs.

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