“Face to Face” is a psychological drama film released in 1976. Starring Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson, it originally aired as a four-part miniseries and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in the US. However, this film didn’t release any albums, so instead we’re going to be ranking albums by the band Face to Face.
10. Three Chords and a Half Truth (2013)
This album is full of The Clash worship, so at least the band can walk away from this one saying they made a better album than “Cut the Crap.” There are some cool takes on the Clash sound here and there, but nothing really extremely new or interesting.
Play It Again: “123 Drop” if you want something that sounds like The Clash, “Right as Rain” if you want something that sounds like Social Distortion.
Skip It: Doesn’t really matter, you probably won’t remember most of the songs once you’re done with the album anyway.
9. Laugh Now, Laugh Later (2011)
There’s nothing explicitly wrong with this album, it’s just pretty cookie-cutter skate punk for most of its runtime. Just like the name “Face to Face” is a pretty cookie-cutter name for a film, as evidenced by the 16 films that share the name just on the first page of a Wikipedia search alone.
Play It Again: “All for Nothing,” easily the best song to come out of this album and even one of the best post-reunion Face to Face songs.
Skip It: “Stopgap”
8. Reactionary (2000)
Titled for being a reaction to their fanbase’s initial dislike for their previous album, “Ignorance Is Bliss,” “Reactionary” is a straight-up punk album. And while the return to form was welcome, it doesn’t do anything that Face to Face hasn’t already done before. Much like the previous entry on this list, there’s nothing wrong with it, it just isn’t particularly interesting compared to other albums the band has released.
Play It Again: “Disappointed,” “What’s In a Name” at least for the bass intro, if nothing else.
Skip It: This album doesn’t have any songs that need to be skipped, just few that are noteworthy in the grand scheme of Face to Face’s discography.
7. How To Ruin Everything (2002)
Did you know that the first ever film titled “Face to Face” was a silent short released in 1914? Sadly, no one involved in the making of that film lived long enough to ever be able to listen to the band Face to Face. This was the last album Face to Face released before breaking up for a while, and it’s good, but not their greatest work.
Play It Again: “Bill of Goods,” “A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing,” “Shoot the Moon”
Skip It: “Fight or Flight” and “The Compromise” if you decide 46 minutes is a bit too long for a punk album, otherwise just let it play!
6. Ignorance Is Bliss (1999)
It was at this point that Face to Face said “fuck it, we’re going to write a Foo Fighters album”, and not only did they do that, but they created a better Foo Fighters album than the Foo Fighters. Much like every Foo Fighters album, this one does drag a tiny bit in the second half, but it still is pretty strong overall, and had a nice bit of Face to Face-style punk still mixed in to keep it from sounding unoriginal. This album was also the first to show Face to Face was capable of pulling off toned-down, ballad-style songs, and they do it well. While fans initially didn’t respond positively to the change in sound, it ended up aging surprisingly well, and has become somewhat of a cult album for the band. Plus, as far as I can tell, no members of Face to Face have cheated on their partners, so they got that going for them I guess.
Play It Again: “The Devil You Know (God is a Man),” “(a)Pathetic,” “I Know What You Are” and “Overcome” if you really want to hear the Foo Fighters influence.
Skip It: “Nearly Impossible”
5. Protection (2016)
This is where the band starts to really hit their stride again after their reunion, something few punk bands manage to do. This album manages to feel a lot more fresh than their previous post-reunion attempts, and it sees the band hit a new stride that would continue into their following album.
Play It Again: “Bent but Not Broken,” “Double Crossed”
Skip It: This album doesn’t have any skips, so I’d instead like to point out that there were two movies named “Face 2 Face” (yes, with a 2) released just in 2012. Far later than using “2” in place of “to” should have been acceptable. And there were still several more movies to do it afterwards…
4. No Way Out But Through (2021)
Face to Face’s most recent entry into their catalog contains some of the best material they’ve made since reuniting, and maybe just in general. They manage to easily find their way back to making catchy and memorable melodies, but this time with a more mature sound of a band that’s been around and seen a lot. It’s a very natural progression of their sound that makes sense without sounding repetitive.
Play It Again: “Black Eye Specialist,” “No Way out but Through,” “This is My Vanishing Act,” “Farewell Song,” and the rest of the album too.
Skip It: Face to Face (1990). I’ve never actually seen this movie, but it’s a Hallmark movie, so I can’t imagine it’s worth checking out.
3. Big Choice (1995)
Did you know there’s also like a million books called “Face to Face”? And even another band with the name? It’s crazy. Oh yeah, the album. This one’s great, their third-best even. With their second album, Face to Face continued to show that they were on their A-game when it came to putting catchy, cool, and memorable melodies into fun and energetic skate-punk songs. And you might be thinking “That sounds a lot like pop-punk to me,” but trust me, this is way cooler than anything Blink tried when they were going for the same sound pre-”Enema of the State”.
Play It Again: “I Know You Well,” “You Lied,” “Velocity”
Skip It: The part at the beginning of the bonus track version of “Disconnected” where they’re just talking, it’s only funny the first time.
2. Don’t Turn Away (1992)
Much like Face to Face (1976) was Lena Olin’s debut film appearance, “Don’t Turn Away” was Face to Face (the band)’s debut album. And they got a lot right from the start. The songs are energetic, the melodies are fun and interesting, and it’s an enjoyable listen the whole way through, even with the bonus track version. Aside from some not-so-great sounding production, mostly resulting from the choice to only single-track the guitars, this album is incredibly solid and still holds up well today.
Play It Again: Tracks 1 through 13, or 1 through 15 if you choose the remastered version with the bonus tracks.
Skip It: Don’t even think about it.
1. Self-titled (1996)
This album was the first one to feature Scott Shiflett on bass, and has some of the best basslines in punk, ever. It’s also the — wait… THE ALBUM IS CALLED “FACE TO FACE” TOO??? Is this review even about music anymore? What’s going on? I just spent 3 days watching movies and reading books called “Face to Face” just so I could write a review on a punk band’s discography. Please stop reading this and just go listen to Face to Face, start with the album “Face to Face,” you won’t regret it as much as I regret Googling “face to face,” I promise.
Play It Again: All of it, trust me.
Skip It: None of it, trust me.
Still trick-or-treating actually.
Also still trick-or-treating. Should he have a gun?
He left his candy at a club across the Canadian border and he wants you to follow him there. DON’T.
Kids don’t knock on James’ door for Halloween because his door is the open road baby. And his bed is his bike. And cliche soap opera subplots that go absolutely nowhere and don’t tie back to the main story in any way? That’s his living room.
Once upon a time, Ben Horne would sick attack dogs on any child that game within 20 yards of his front gate, but he has since reformed and dedicated himself to being “Good.” Unfortunately, he course-corrected too far in the opposite direction. He’s the weirdo who hands out toothbrushes and raisins now. Plus he tells all the kids that he’s their biological father.
“Go away, I’m doing flower secrets!”
When she opens the door she’s crying and when you ask her what’s wrong she says “I don’t have any candy!” and then she does a sad little jazz dance until you give her some of yours.
If you ring Leo’s door on Halloween night he’ll hand you a large Ziploc bag filled with Snickers, Reese’s Cups, Peanut M&M’s, the works. Primo shit. So why doesn’t he rank hire? Because to qualify as Halloween candy, it has to be given. Every kid Leo floats candy to has one week to get him five grand, “or else.”
Oh hell no. You knock on Hank’s door and he’ll try spinning it that you owe HIM candy for all the time he did in the joint. Like, chill dude, I’m 11!
Wait, isn’t that the dude from “Halloween 3?” Stay away kids!
Big Ed is a legendary candy-giver, but if you have the misfortune of knocking on his door when he’s in the can you’ll get his wife Nadine, who will absolutely lose her shit when you ask if she’s a pirate and throw a bunch of failed silent curtain rings at you.
Pete’s a great guy, but he doesn’t totally get Halloween.
When kids knock on his door instead of giving them candy he pulls out a brie and butter sandwich and goes on and on about how good they are and how many of them he ate a day in Europe before taking a comically large bite. Then when the kids ask “Can we try it?” he screams “What? No! Never!” and slams the door shut.
“A shame, I had some wonderful tins of beluga caviar but the last group of kids cleaned me right out.” Sure you did Dick. Sure you did.
He’ll have a big reaction to your costumes, then tell you they remind him of when his Laura used to dress up for Halloween and start crying. Then he gets all happy again and insists you dance to the “Monster Mash” with him, and he’s playing the grief card so you have to do it. Leland is a lot, and the clock is ticking.
Once an FBI agent who gave awesome candy with no strings attached, Windom has long since gone completely insane. There’s still candy to be had dear children, oh yes, but to find it you’ll need to follow a series of clues, each more dangerous and horrifying than the last. So what do you say kids, do you want to play Windom Earl’s twisted game? The answer is of course no. Filling up that pillowcase is about clock management!
If you’re trick-or-treating and Bobby answers the door he’ll tell you to beat it, but he’ll say it a different way every time. “Get lost!” “Make tracks” “You better pound that pavement or I’ll pound your face!” He’s an inexhaustible source of needlessly hostile cornball threats, and it’s charming in a way.
No candy, but he’ll let you sneak a sip of his beer.
“Before you came here, Twin Peaks was a simple place. My brothers deal dope to the teenagers and the truck drivers. One-Eyed Jack’s welcomed the businessmen and the tourists. Quiet people lived a quiet life. Then, a pretty girl dies, and you arrive, and everything change […] Kidnapping. Death. Suddenly, the quiet people, they’re quiet no more. Suddenly, the simple dream…become the nightmare. So maybe if you die, you will be the last to die. Maybe you brought the nightmare with you. And maybe the nightmare will die with you.” The whole speech, every time. Just say you forgot to get candy dude!
Suspiciously hand-wrapped taffy and a suggestion to eat them one hour before watching “The Wizard of Oz” and listening to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” at the same time. Has anyone checked if this guy is really a doctor?
No candy, but she hands out vouchers good for one free cocktail at One Eyed Jack’s.
You’ll get a long-winded speech about the dangers of excessive sugar consumption followed by an over-the-top bit about how he delivered you into this world and he doesn’t want to have to bury you before he finally, FINALLY, gives you a Twizzler. Not worth your time.
Homemade candy apples. It’s better than just apples, but that’s a whole lot of effort for something not even as good as a 3 Musketeers lady.
He’s all butterscotch and Bit-O-Honeys, proof positive that he’s completely out of touch, and Twin Peaks is in desperate need of new leadership.
Each child at her door is handed a generous handful of top-shelf fun-sized chocolate bars, so why is she ranked so low? Because once the door is shut she reaches for the telephone. “Police? This is Catherine Martell. I would like to report some stolen candy. Yes, one was a ghost and the other was Thor. Please hurry, I’m terrified that they’ll be back for more.” Then she hangs up and takes a sip of wine before breaking into an evil and calculating grin. Cue ominous music.
