ALBUM REVIEW: Faces - A Nod Is as Good as a Wink... to a Blind Horse

    By the time Rod Stewart hopped onto the Small Faces parade, he was steadily working up the music food chain into becoming one of the best known artists of the early 70s. After his tenure with Jeff Beck had come to its conclusion, Stewart began pursuing a solo career, and by the end of 1970 he already had a sophomore album under his belt with Gasoline Alley. By the end of '71, he would cement his legend with the massive success of Every Picture Tells a Story and an album with the Small Faces, by this point renamed to the Faces - the band, for the most part, was the same lineup, albeit Ron Wood was the new guitarist in place of the talented Steve Marriott. Even with this slight change in personnel, Faces know how to rock and roll, and all across A Nod Is as Good as a Wink..., the group play some great, straightforward rock. Rod's vocals are a perfect fit for the thunderous energy of the Faces, and although the songwriting can lack a similar punch at point, most of the album is made up for simply having a fun beat and groove to it.

    By far the strongest thing going for A Nod Is as Good as a Wink... is that it knows it's here to have a good time. What it lacks in, say, musical variety is balanced out by the punch, slinging rock of Faces and Rod Stewart, who, as you can guess, delivers the goods when he is called upon. The musical skill of the group is on display from the smashing opener of "Miss Judy's Farm," as Rod belts out one hell of a rocker. Kenny Jones continues to impress as a drummer, and I found Ian McLagan to be a great keyboard player with an in-depth understanding of how to fill out a track - his riffing and fills add such great texture to every song on the album it's impressive. Ronnie Lane is also a great bassist, and he even sang a handful of songs on the album while Rod was busy working on his own solo career - "Debris" is one of the slowest moments on the album, and Ronnie's vocals give it a certain power and moving quality to it. He also knows how to be funny with his delivery, evident by the tongue-in-cheek "You're So Rude." The band plays it fun and tight from start to finish, and it suits the album.

    The biggest issue I personally found with this album is how it front-loads its best material. With the exception of the previously mentioned "Debris," I found most of the latter half of the album to be far weaker than the consistently fun, punching first half. It doesn't help that the group's cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee" is among one of the weakest covers I think I've ever heard - all the energy and style from the original is drained out in boogie rock hell. The following track, "Too Bad," is amongst the least memorable moment of the entire album, only contributing to a weak second showing. But, as I previously mentioned, the first half is pretty consistently strong in my eyes. From powerhouse moments like "Stay With Me" and "Miss Judy's Farm" to the slowed down feeling of "Love Lies Here," the album doesn't really stumble for the first side. It also helps that after the particularly poor second half, we get "That's All You Need," which is a pretty solid way to close off the album.

    While I don't think it's on par with the best solo Rod Stewart material (maybe not even with the best Small Faces album), I think that A Nod Is as Good as a Wink... is a very good rock album to add to your repertoire. When the group are in their element, it's fun, punching, lighthearted rock from start to finish. The album knows what it is, and likewise it makes for what is largely a very fun listening experience. Certainly a fine addition to the ever-growing Rod Stewart cinematic universe, and one that I think is more than worth the 36 minute listen.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to A Nod Is as Good as a Wink... to a Blind Horse.