I realize the following statement may come as a shock to many, especially those who consider his latest cover albums to be crimes against rock and roll, so consider yourself warned:

Rod Stewart was once cool. Sure, his solo material has never been very good, regardless of what some people may have you believe. Even his early 70s material is "eh" at best, at least for me. But Rod was once cool. He was once the lead vocalist for a band called The Faces.

You read a lot about the Faces, but they never sold all that many records. Instead, the band is more famous for what some of their members did afterwards than for what they did in Faces. Rod Stewart has had a successful (if un inspiring) solo career; Ron Wood joined the Rolling Stones, and is still playing with them; and Kenny Jones became Keith Moon's replacement in The Who. Completing the band was Ronnie Lane on bass (he also lent his voice to some of the band's best numbers, and would go on to work with Pete Townsend) and Ian McLagen on piano/keyboards/organ.

Good Boys...When They're Asleep accomplishes what many other "best ofs" fail to: it manages to work as a fine single disc introduction to the band while also keeping the tracklist as fine-tuned for diehard fans as possible. With 19 tracks totaling over 79 minutes of music, this disc is filled to the brim with some of the best rock and roll songs you've never heard.

The Faces were a disparate bunch, and they could party with the best of them. Their concerts threatened to come off the tracks at any given time at any given show. Despite this, their music was made up of various types of songs: hard rockin' tunes, pretty ballads, and reflective folk numbers. They were sloppy, but that was part of their charm, and they sounded like a mix of Brian Jones-era Stones and your local blues bar band.

This magnificent collection of music begins with Flying, a mid-tempo bit of balladry that climaxes in a duel between Wood's soaring lead licks and McLagen's soaring organ line. This is immediately followed up by a stomping R&B tune called Three Button Hand Me Down, which despite stealing it's hook from the classic song Some Kind of Wonderful, is extremely satisfying and once again comes down to an extended jam session between Wood and McLagen. This time though, Lane gets in on the action as well, laying down a tight and impressive bass solo.

It might not come as a surprise, but the band's dirtier grooves are those that really get me. After all, I'm very much a fan of blues based rock and roll, and it doesn't get much better than Bad 'N' Ruin for that. The song is soaked in booze, and is driven by a memorable guitar line from Wood. Stewart's voice sounds like it's been stewing in whiskey for three days, and it adds a certain type of charm to the song. Follow that up with Had Me A Real Good Time, and you're bound to have a real good time.

Not to be lost in all this is the vocal contributions of Lane. Lane's songwriting tended to be more introspective than Stewart's, and this is proven no better than on Ooh La La, which is probably the band's best known song, and the incredible Debris, which may be the blues/R&B ballad to end all blues/R&B ballads.

I could be here forever going into detail about the great songs on this collection: the dark bluster of Wicked Messenger, the sappy sweet Sweet Lady Mary with the terrific guitar line, the driving hard rock of Too Bad and Borstal Boys, and the swaggering R&B of Miss Judy's Farm.

There are three songs on this disc that are a bit rare. The closing Open to Ideas had never been released before, and it is a tender ballad with Stewart's voice sounding in tip top shape. The other two songs, Pool Hall Richard, a hard rocking balls to the wall blues buster, and You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything, a shuffling mid-tempo R&B number, were previously only available on preceding "best of" compilations.

As good as this collection is, there are a couple of songs missing that really do belong, but due to space constraints, were left off. The band's live version of Maybe I'm Amazed is really something to behold, and the ballad Richmond from their first album is one of their best. It's hard to say that any of the songs here should get the boot, but ultimately, something should have to make room for those two.

But enough of the complaints. For those who have only heard of the Faces and never heard anything by them, this is a perfect collection. For longtime fans looking for a cheap alternative to buying all of the band's albums on CD, this will work extremely well.

If you like what you hear, you may want to check out the new box set just issued a couple of months back, Five Guys Walk Into a Bar.

5 stars.

Recommended: Yes