Face up, Lisa Stansfield’s 5th album, is on sale in the market in June, 2001. This is Lisa’s last work (except the following greatest hits) for the label BMG Arista. Once again the album’s producer is Ian Devaney and he also played some instruments, with the collaboration of Richard Darbyshire that is also a guitar player and chorister and with others musicians that collaborate to this project. The album is very rhythmical, we can find a lot of contemporary styles, but all really adaptable to Lisa’s voice with elegance. I’ve got something better is the first track in which soul and dance rhythm are well mixed and in this song Stanfield seems to let a lot of space to the chorister and, with their collaboration, we can find a great mix that made resounding chorus. Number 2 Let’s just call it love is also the album’s 1st single, has a sentimental text and it is a pop song with urban and drum’n‘bass atmosphere; with this song we can image a running city: as support just a discreet “in script” videoclip in which we can find a lot of good Lisa’s picture in a red suit. This single doesn’t reach good positions obtaining the best placing in the UK charts just in position number 48. Following by You can do that, nearly a soul classic track, with a good text and a great work for chorus and vocal arrangement.Track number 4 is the beautiful ballad How could you? with an excellent melody and a not banal text, with no dubt another rare pearl from Devaney & Stansfield team.
Followed by Candy, the 5th song of the album, a good funky sound that reminds some Madonna’s success and then the number 6, I’m coming to get you, a particular “airy” song. Afterwards there’s one of the album’s best moments with 8-3-1:8 letters, 3 words, 1 sense, that means I love you. It’s an amazing song with a funky approach in Stansfield’s pure style: it could be also the 2nd single extracted from Face Up, but the sales of the album didn’t satisfy the expectations .Number 8 is Wish on me, a track with a good sentimental text, in which we find a great guitar performance. Followed by Boyfriend, a modern and contemporary R&B with an intriguing text. Number 10 is Don’t leave now I’m in love another romantic ballad, a vocal performance of high quality. The next on is Didn’t I, Lisa’s favourite song, in which we find a passionate text, accompained by an intence piano and strings section very important; great is also the intence vocal interpretation that represents without a doubt the best moment of the album together with the following track. This is number 12, the title track Face up, arranged by a fantastic soul rhythm in Barry White’s style as usual more frequent in Lisa’s music, with a great bass rhythm and a melodic flute base that is really involving. The album wraps up with number 13, When the last sun goes down, a beautiful and emotional ballad.
Regarding the charts, this album reached good position only in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, meanwhile in the UK it places at number 38 and in the USA and Italy instead it doesn’t even reach the charts. Face up represents to Lisa Stansfield a commercial failure, maybe because of this situation she let the label BMG Arista, even if the scarse sales don’t mean the CD’s real quality that is ,in fact, a good work rich of different influences, misunderstood by a lot of Stansfield’s fans. This album is definitely a waste chance, because is obvious the artist’s versatile ability, rich of tracks ( as usual recorded in small sections to keep the freshness) sophisticated and with a good arrangement: Lisa accustomed us to refinement and also in Face up it gives a great performance with her incredible voice.
In 2003 Face up digipack edition, inserted in The complete collection, we can appreciate the following bonus tracks All over me, Can't wait to and You get me. All over me and Can't wait to were inserted as additional tracks in the UK and JAP 2001 editions, meanwhile You get me is a real unpublished in any Face up versions.
Singles extracted from album
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Let's just call it love*
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8-3-1**
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8-3-1***
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*Contain the B-side More than sex
**Single stopped before publishing
***Radio promo
Videoclips
- Let's just call it love
For more information on the history of videoclips visit the appropriate section.
