Greatest Hits - The Immediate Years 1967-1969

The first disc of the 2014 box Here Come the Nice is also the only one that holds interest for the average listener, which is why it was released separately as a disc called Greatest Hits: Immediate Years. This is territory that has been explored many times over, but this is the best representation of the Small Faces' richest period: it contains 20 songs, all in their original mono single mixes. The compilers stretch the singles designation ever so slightly, finding space for U.K. B-sides, and a host of songs that appeared on European and Asian singles and EPs -- an elastic definition, to be sure, but it means this single disc winds up covering the very best of the Small Faces' best period. It has nearly all their biggest hits -- "Here Come the Nice," "Itchycoo Park," "Tin Soldier," "Lazy Sunday," "The Universal," "Afterglow of Your Love," all U.K. A-sides -- and it contains some of their best, colorful mod sides ("Talk to You," "[Tell Me] Have You Ever Seen Me," "Get Yourself Together"), excursions into psychedelia ("Green Circles"), and songs that split the difference between these two extremes while being underpinned by soulful rhythms ("I Feel Much Better," "Rollin' Over"). As this purposefully side-steps Decca sides, it can't be seen as definitive, but it's the best representation of what's by most measures the Small Faces' best period. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine