Faces (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

Faces was partly recorded in the Caribbean island of Montserrat and produced by EWF leader Maurice White.[1]

Artists such as Fred Wesley and Toto's Steve Lukather guested on the album.[6]

When asked in a 2007 interview which Earth, Wind & Fire album is his favorite, Maurice 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".[7]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Smash Hits	(8/10)[9]
Los Angeles Times	(favourable)[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Stereo Review	(favourable)[12]
Record Mirror	[13]
Musician	(favourable)[14]
High Fidelity	(favourable)[15]
Village Voice	(C+)[16]
Chicago Sun Times	[17]
Melody Maker	(favourable)[18]

Dennis Hunt of The Los Angeles Times declared "Faces is the R&B album of the year".[10] 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".[14] Paul Sexton of Record Mirror gave the album a three out of five star rating and proclaimed "they're burning hot enough".[13] Phyl Garland of Stereo Review wrote "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." Garland also 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."[12] Bev Hillier of Smash Hits gave Faces an 8 out of 10 rating and affirmed "if you think disco's faceless, you ain't heard this".[9] Elise Bretton of High Fidelity noted on the LP a "style that makes EWF the nation's No. 1 nonet".[15] With a three out of four star rating 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".[17]

Music journalist Mike Freedberg also named Faces in his ballot for The Village Voice's 1980 Pazz & Jop critics poll.[19]

The track, "Let Me Talk", reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and No. 29 on the UK Pop Singles chart.[20][4] The song, "You", peaked at Nos. 10 and 30 on the Billboard R&B Singles and Adult Contemporary charts, respectively.[21][22] A third single, "And Love Goes On", reached No. 15 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.[23]

The information regarding accolades attributed to Faces is adapted from SoulTracks.com.[33]