There Are But Four Small Faces by Small Faces

Small Faces is the eponymous second studio album by the Small Faces, released in 1967. The album was their first for Immediate Records after leaving Decca. It peaked at number 12 in the UK Album Chart. In America, the album was issued with an alternative track order as There Are But Four Small Faces. The band's debut album, released on Decca in 1966, is also entitled Small Faces. The album is considered to be the artistic breakthrough for the group's songwriting and compositions, as well as their transition from a mod-influenced band to a psychedelic studio group, which they became seen as during their final months. It was recorded over a period of nine months, during the band's tenure on both Decca and Immediate Records, at two separate studios.It is their first LP to contain solely original compositions. Thirteen of the album's fourteen tracks were either written or co-written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, in contrast to the group's 1966 debut, in which only seven of the twelve tracks are credited to the band, with the remaining tracks being written by artists such as Kenny Lynch and Ian Samwell, or being R&B covers that were parts of the group's early repertoire.The album also marks the debut for Ian McLagan as a songwriter, who contributed the song "Up The Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire"; it is the first of two compositions for the group credited entirely to him, the second being "Long Agos and Worlds Apart" from Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. It is also the first studio album by the group where McLagan plays on all tracks, whereas on their debut album both he and Jimmy Winston are credited as keyboardists.Despite not breaching the top ten in the UK, it still became a success and was highly regarded by other musicians and would exert a strong influence on a number of bands both at home and abroad. It has been considered by many to be the group's best album.