Acknowledged as one of the finest UK sixties rock/pop albums, across fourteen tracks the four-piece deliver sharp observations about English life. While not exactly a mod band, the Kinks’ hard-rocking singles were popular with the mod subculture, and tracks like ‘House In The Country’ with its raw backbeat and snarling guitar certainly fitted the bill. But on ‘Face To Face’ they’re another band who are experimenting with folk-influenced acoustic guitar songs and the beginnings of psychedelia, all characterised by singer/songwriter Ray Davis’ superior songcraft.

– Harold Heath