"Face the Face" is a song by

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

. The song is the third track on Townshend's fourth solo album, a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

titled '' White City: A Novel,'' and was released as a single. The UK and US single edit features

's daughter

Emma Townshend Emma Townshend (born 28 March 1969) is an English writer and journalist, and the elder daughter of The Who's Pete Townshend. She has previously worked as an academic, a musician and in adult education, but since 2006 has been the ''Independent on S ...

singing some parts on the song. The single reached number 26 on the US singles chart and number 3 on ''Billboard''s Mainstream Rock chart, along with achieving top 20 status in Australia, New Zealand and several European territories, but did not share the same success in the UK, only peaking there at number 89.

Background

When

was asked about the song he said:

Release

In the US, the single had a different take which had bad sound compared to the UK release and the packaging for the US promo single said:

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it a "playful upbeat track...with strong emphasis on a high energy marching drum groove and playful vocal mix." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called it a "a high-powered explosion at a feverish tempo."

Music video

Geoffrey Giuliano Geoffrey Giuliano (born September 11, 1953)
''Tell Me What Y ...

in his book, ''Behind Blues Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend'' (2002), described " e highlight of the video is the poolside staging of the electric 'Face the Face', in which director

Richard Lowenstein Richard Lowenstein (born 1 March 1959) is an Australian filmmaker. He has written, produced and directed: feature films, including '' Strikebound'' (1984), ''Dogs in Space'' (1986) and ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'' (2001); music videos ...

effectively captures the excitement of a big-band performance and Townshend's joyous jitterbugging ... in a gold lamé, forties-style tuxedo Lowenstein reveals more story line in these five minutes than the entire video". It was released with Townshend's concept album, ''White City: A Novel'', and included his discussing the music.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

{{authority control 1985 singles 1985 songs Atco Records singles Pete Townshend songs Songs written by Pete Townshend Song recordings produced by Chris Thomas (record producer)