Small Faces – Small Faces

Universal's "Back To Black" campaign has been hit or miss, so my expectations weren't high for this release. Boy, was I wrong. From my understanding, this was an analogically cut from the same new masters that later appeared on the Small Faces' 5CD box set The Decca Years that same year. And it's a great pressing, too. The vinyl is heavy, flat and silent! No audible clicks or pops anywhere. Both the cover and disc are faithfully reproduced from their 1966 counterpart, and have beautiful red Decca labels.

As previously noted, don't buy this album if you're expecting audiophile quality on the songs. These tracks are not and have never been high fidelity recordings owing to the way they were recorded. But it's faithful to how these songs should sound. In loudly cut mono! Most likely the best pressing of their debut album unless you're willing to pay big sums for an EX copy of a 1966 original UK pressing.

Sounds mono to me! I just came on here to recommend this pressing. It's stunning quality, flat, loud, plays completely silent between tracks, and is a marked improvement on the 4 Men With Beards pressing from 2009 (being louder, more dynamic, punchier.) Also, the label and sleeve properly replicate the original, and it's the attention to detail that really comes across with this release.

Don't expect miracles with the sound, though. These were never audiophile studio recordings in the first place. Typically rough and ready mid-60s production.

I have this copy of the album and although it is marked mono it is definitely a stereo pressing.