Face to Face is an album released by The Kinks in 1966 on Reprise Records in the United States and Pye Records in the United Kingdom. A major artistic leap forward for songwriter Ray Davies, the LP represents the first full flowering of Davies use of narrative, observation, and wry social commentary in his songs. The style of writing began the previous year with compositions such as "A Well Respected Man" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," and would dominate the group's recorded output into 1970. The album's songs are rife with Davies' sardonic wit, skewering the vapid Don Juan of "Dandy" (which became a hit for Hermans Hermits) and the self-absorption and hypocrisy of the wealthy elite on "House In the Country" and "Most Exclusive Residence for Sale." Davies' humanity is also on display in tracks such as "Rosie, Won't You Please Come Home", an unusual 60's pop song that sided with the plight of parents against the cruelty of a wayward child. Other highlights include the magnificent "Sunny Afternoon" (a hit single in the UK and US), the world-weary "Too Much on My Mind", the foreboding "Rainy Day in June," the Eastern-tinged, enigmatic "Fancy."

Some rock historians have credited the album as arguably the first concept album in rock/pop, with the loose common theme of social observation. In its original inception, Davies had bridged the songs together by sound effects, but was forced to revert to the more standard album format by Pye Records before the album's release. Some of these effects remain, in "Party Line," "Holiday in Waikiki," "Rainy Day in June," and other songs recorded at this time but not included in the final album ("End of the Season," "Big Black Smoke").

The album was critically well received, but did not sell well at the time of its release (particularly in the US), and was out of print for many years. Reissues since 1998 have included bonus tracks of songs released contemporaneously as singles (most notably "Dead End Street") and two unreleased tracks ("Mr. Reporter" and the instrumental track "Little Women").

Track listing

1. Party Line -2:35
2. Rosie Won't You Please Come Home -2:34
3. Dandy -2:12
4. Too Much on My Mind -2:28
5. Session Man -2:14
6. Rainy Day in June -3:10
7. A House in the Country -3:03
8. Holiday in Waikiki -2:52
9. Most Exclusive Residence for Sale -2:48
10. Fancy -2:30
11. Little Miss Queen of Darkness -3:16
12. You're Lookin' Fine -2:46
13. Sunny Afternoon -3:36
14. I'll Remember -2:27
15. I'm Not Like Everybody Else* -3:29
16. Dead End Street* -3:23
17. Big Black Smoke* -D2:36
18. Mr. Pleasant* -3:01
19. This Is Where I Belong* -2:25
20. Mr. Reporter* -3:58
21. Little Women* -2:10

Asterisk = Bonus tracks included on reissues.