Faces is the tenth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire released on October 14, 1980, on ARC/Columbia Records. The album reached number 10 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, number 2 on the Billboard Top Soul albums chart and number 10 on the UK Albums Chart. Faces was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

Overview Faces was partly recorded in the Caribbean island of Montserrat and produced by EWF leader Maurice White.

Artists such as Fred Wesley and Toto's Steve Lukather guested on the album. This would also be guitarist Al McKay's last album with the band.

When asked in a 2007 interview which Earth, Wind & Fire album is his favorite, White replied, "...probably Faces, because we were really in tune." White also went on to proclaim that on the LP EWF were "playing together and it gave us the opportunity to explore new areas".

Singles The track, "Let Me Talk", reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and No. 29 on the UK Pop Singles chart. The song, "You", peaked at Nos. 10 and 30 on the Billboard R&B Singles and Adult Contemporary charts, respectively. A third single, "And Love Goes On", reached No. 15 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.

Critical reception

Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times declared that "Faces is the R&B album of the year." Hunt added "Faces is expertly written, produced and performed and is considerably better than any of this year's hardcore R&B albums. Just about every song on Faces, which is nearly all upbeat, is high quality. Its danceability rating is as high as any you'll find on an album in this post-disco era." Alan Morrison of DownBeat said that Faces "offer(s) an invaluable lesson in pop and jazz orchestration and production techniques. As a treasure trove of the imaginative technical resources available to the modern pop musician, EW&F’s productions continue to be state-of-the-art." Nelson George of Musician stated: "Faces re-affirms EW&F's role as the world's finest progressive soul band. While not an innovative work, the beauty of Faces is the band's feeling of renewed vigour and spirit, qualities that separate them from the many other good self-contained black bands."

Sal Caputo of the Gannett News Service said, "Minus Earth Wind and Fire's peace, love and happiness hype, this is a very good dance album by a tight ensemble which occasionally wanders too far into pretension. The two-record set contains spots of jazz, classic-rhythm and blues harmonies, Latin rhythms, modern funk, rock and soul all mixed together in an attempt to create a sort of "world" music." Paul Sexton of Record Mirror gave three out of five stars, stating "they're burning hot enough, but maybe the wind's all blowing in the same old direction". Phyl Garland of Stereo Review wrote that "Earth Wind & Fire's new release, the two -disc set Faces, has all the impact of a live volcano, but, unlike natural eruptions, this one is carefully controlled and every stunning effect is meticulously calculated." She added "all these forces might have gotten in each other's way and produced a monstrously cluttered set, but the way White has choreographed them everything fits together so well that the listener need only sit (or lie) back and enjoy."

Alan Niester of The Globe and Mail exclaimed: "Maurice White might not be the genius some people think he is, but at least he's a master of his craft, and Faces is another well-honed piece of musical excitement.". Richard Williams of The Times wrote: "Earth, Wind & Fire are arguably the most popular soul band in the world and Faces, following the enormous successes of All n' All and I Am, will certainly reach their unusually broad market. The mixture is familiar: reassuringly melodic songs delivered by the outstanding falsetto of Philip Bailey and the plainer tenor of Maurice White with creamingly opulent arrangements featuring a hair-trigger rhythm section and flashy horns. Faces, is however, a two-record set and for all the brilliance of the playing and recording it is hard to sustain deep interest over the distance." Paul Willistein of The Morning Call wrote that "this group's latest two-record set of 15 exceptional funk, R&B and fusion numbers is simply exhilarating".

Elise Bretton of High Fidelity wrote: "Soul disco like April in Paris cannot be reprised. And when it is transcribed, no matter how accurately, no pianist I know would want to tackle all those syncopated eight and sixteenth notes while singing in the funky, get down style that makes Earth, Wind & Fire the nation's No. 1 nonet." Bev Hillier of Smash Hits gave an 8 out of 10 rating and remarked "Their repertoire ranges from dreamy ballads through funk with a capital F, with numerous other styles incorporated en route. Every member's contribution is vital but Verdine White's bass in particular takes direct control of the feet and the horn section make Dexys sound like the Pied Piper. If you think disco's faceless, you ain't heard this".

Jim Arundel of Melody Maker praised the album, writing: "Earth, Wind &Fire's Faces is fascinating." Gary Bradford of The Pittsburgh Press exclaimed "Faces gets excessive in places, but Earth, Wind and Fire keep a strong afro-groove running". With three out of four stars Chuck Pratt of the Chicago Sun Times exclaimed "this fine funk soul group puts its best face forward on this ambitious and generous double pocket set of intricately produced, high gloss funk".

Isaac Hayes called Faces one of Earth, Wind & Fire's five essential recordings. Music journalist Mike Freedberg also named Faces in his ballot for The Village Voices 1980 Pazz & Jop critics poll.

Accolades Publication Country Accolade Year Rank SoultracksU.S. The 75 Best Soul Albums of the 80s 200929

Track listing Original release

2010 reissue bonus tracks

Columbia Masters reissue

Personnel Earth, Wind & Fire Philip Bailey – lead vocals, backing vocals, congas, percussion Maurice White – lead vocals, backing vocals, drums, kalimba Larry Dunn – acoustic piano, synthesizers, synthesizer programming Johnny Graham – guitars, guitar solo (11) Al McKay – guitars Verdine White – bass Fred White – drums, percussion Ralph Johnson – percussion

EWF horns Don Myrick – alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, sax solo (4, 15) Andrew Woolfolk – tenor saxophone Louis Satterfield – trombone, trombone solo (10) Rahmlee Michael Davis – trumpet, flugelhorn, trumpet solo (15)

Additional musicians David Foster – keyboards Garry Glenn – keyboards Jerry Peters – keyboards, organ Marlo Henderson – guitars Steve Lukather – guitars, guitar solo (6, 8) Paulinho da Costa – percussion Gary Coleman – orchestra bells Jeff Clayton – saxophones (uncredited)

Additional horns Jerry Hey – arrangements (1–4, 7, 9, 14, 15) Tom "Tom Tom 84" Washington – arrangements (5, 6, 8, 11–13) Erich Bulling – arrangements (8, 10) Fred Jackson Jr. and Larry Williams – flutes, saxophones George Bohanon, Bill Reichenbach Jr. and Fred Wesley – trombone Oscar Brashear, Bobby Bryant, Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Michael Harris, Jerry Hey, Steve Madaio and Nolan Smith – trumpet Tommy Johnson – tuba Vincent DeRosa, Art Maebe, George Price, Alan Robinson and Marylin Robinson – French horn

Strings

David Foster – arrangements (1, 4, 7, 9, 14, 15) James Newton Howard – arrangements (2) Tom "Tom Tom 84" Washington – arrangements (5, 6, 8, 11–13) Erich Bulling – arrangements (8, 10) Jerry Peters – arrangements (12) Assa Drori, Harris Goldman and Janice Gower – concertmasters Ronald Cooper, Larry Corbett, Nina Deveritch, Albert Gill, Dennis Karmazyn, Ray Kelley, Jacqueline Lustgarten, Earl Madison, Miguel Martinez, Nils Oliver, Frederick Sekorya, Marston Smith and Mary Louise Zeyen – cello Buell Neidlinger – double bass Dorothy Ashby – harp Marilyn Baker, Brenton Banks, Rollice Dale, Allan Harshman, Harry Hymas, Roland Kato, Renita Koven, Patricia Matthews, Gareth Nuttycombe, Jimbo Ross, David Schwartz, Bryana Sherman, Leanna Sherman, Ron Strauss, Barbara Thomason, Herschel Wise and Laury Woods – viola Mark Cargill, Norman Carr, Rob Clark, Isabelle Daskoff, Glenn Dicterow, Harold Dicterow, Assa Drori, Robert Dubow, Pavel Farkas, Henry Ferber, Ronald Folsom, Irving Geller, Harris Goldman, Joseph Goodman, Jack Gootkin, Janice Gower, Endre Granat, William Henderson, Reginald Hill, Karen Jones, Robert Jung, Gina Kronstadt, Bernard Kundell, William Kurasch, Janet Lakatos, Marvin Limonick, Robert Lipsett, Mary Lundquist, Joy Lyle, Michael Markman, Michael Nowak, Sid Page, Donald Palmer, Jerome Reisler, Henry Roth, Sheldon Sanov, Sid Sharp, Arkady Shindelman, Joseph Shoenbrun, Haim Shtrum, Barry Socher, Vicki Sylvester, Mari Tsumura, Jerome Webster, John Wittenberg and Shari Zippert – violin

Production

Maurice White – producer Ken Fowler – recording, mixing George Massenburg – recording, mixing Franklin Allen – engineer Jeff Borgesen – engineer Ray Gonzales – engineer Geoff Irons – engineer Steve Jackson – engineer George Morgan – engineer Reuben – engineer Ron Pendragon – engineer Ernie Sheesley – engineer John Silcott – engineer Tchad Thompson – engineer Mark Touhy – engineer Robert Wolstein – engineer Mike Reese – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California) Roger Carpenter – art direction, design Jim Wood – typographic design Kathy Knowles – casting Francie Moore – photographic stylist Jim Shea – outside cover photography, poster photography Bruce Talamon – inside cover photography C. Ness – photography assistant Kenvin Lyman – photo light illustration

Charts Weekly charts Year Chart Position 1980 U.S. Billboard Top Soul Albums 2 U.S. Billboard 200 10 UK Pop Albums chart10 Dutch Albums (Dutch Album Top 100)8 Norwegian Albums (VG-Lista15 Sweden Albums(Veckolista Album)23 New Zealand Albums Chart40 German Albums(Offizielle Top 100) 46

Singles + Singles Year Single Chart Position 1980 "Let Me Talk" U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 8 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 85 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 44 UK Pop Singles29 "You" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 48 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 10 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 30 1981 "And Love Goes On" N.L. Dutch Single Top 10025 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 15B.E. Belgian Singles (Ultratop 50 Singles)26 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 57 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 59

Certifications

References