face to face: Big Choice

face to face: Big Choice

1995

Victory Music

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Struggle  2. I Know You Well  3. Sensible  4. A-OK  5. You Lied  6. Promises  7. Big Choice  8. It's Not Over  9. Velocity  10. Debt  11. Late  12. Disconnected  13. Bikeage


Another face to face album that I've listened to 10,000,000,000 times and know frontwards, backwards and sideways. This was a big one in my world...I remember I originally bought this on cassette, which looked like this:

The cassette differed slightly from the compact disc that I have now, since the CD has a couple of bonus tracks...There's a skit that appears before this album's obligatory version of "Disconnected" (third album in a row!) that's not on the tape version.  There's also a cover of "Bikage" by The Descendents, which is fitting because "Disconnected" is this close to being "Hope" in places...

The confidence these guys had at this time was off the map. Armed with their most powerful version of "Disconnected" yet, you can tell they expected this thing to (rightfully) climb to the top of the charts, no questions asked. And why not? Green Day had managed to top the charts with their gazillion-selling album "Dookie" one year prior. And "Disconnected" is better than any song on "Dookie." This shit is fact. The album even kicks off with a sample of "ONE! TWO! ONE TWO THREE FOUR!" to remind the faithful of past awesome-ness. Get the faithful  all juiced up. And to hammer home their mightiness, the sample is attached to the song, "Struggle" which is a marvel of 90's pop-punk. Just wall to wall hooks and energy. Pretty much every song on the album sports a big, burly, killer chorus of some sort. They had this shit down to a science at this point.

As it turned out, it wasn't really a Green Day/Offspring level hit, but it was pretty popular, if I remember correctly. I bought my copy at a K-Mart, if that tells you anything. Try finding a face to face album at a K-Mart or Walmart these days!

I think this album is slightly inferior to "Don't Turn Away," which mainly has to do with the album's sound. If you listen to it back to back with that album, it sounds a little thin and congested. The bass doesn't have that satisfying rattle that it did before. I should probably mention they added a second guitarist at this point, which changes the sound a bit too. It's all a little more detailed and busy. If they were able to capture the brute simplicity of "Don't Turn Away" with this set of songs, I think "Big Choice" might surpass it though. I dunno, hard to say...But with tracks as flawlessly constructed as like "I Know You Well," "Sensible" and "You Lied" it's hard not to speculate.

I'm still amazed at how many top-tier tracks they were able to fit on their first couple records. Again, naming the best song usually ends with me rattling off 9 or 10 songs. The only dud here is "Debt," which is the only track I would think of skipping, with its hammy vocals in the stop and start section. And even that song kinda rules when the chorus rolls around.

All in all, this is just another solid face to face album, showcasing the band right in the midst of their glory years. No struggle here. Nothing but sturdy, well-written, well-performed pop-punk. Let's check some out...Here's "Struggle" by face to face...Enjoy...