5. Faces Live At The Paris Theatre (1971)

The Faces have a deserved reputation as a torrid, burn-the-house-down live act – one part soulful strut, one part boozy anarchy. Regrettably the only officially sanctioned live release was 1974’s Coast To Coast: Overture And Beginners, featuring a short-term iteration of the band that toured after Lane’s departure, and which served largely as a showcase for Stewart’s emerging stardom. Try instead Faces Live At The Paris Theater 1971, recorded for the BBC and available online here. From their stunning stomping take on the Stones’ “It’s All Over Now” to a blistering cover of the Eddie Cochran popularized “Cut Across Shorty,” the band demonstrates their remarkable capacity for making just about any song their own. Rod is in vintage form, shredding his vocal chords over one barreling rock assault after the next, only to pull it back to great and subtle effect during a killer take on Robert Johnson’s “Love In Vain.” This is the live Faces people can’t forget – great and dexterous playing coupled with a devil-may-care looseness, loud enough to send your average punk band back to Garageland. As tough, funny, and ferocious as rock and roll gets.