Face in the Crowd

Face in the Crowd

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The good news concerning A Face in the Crowd is that Leon Russell in his late 50s sounds a lot like Leon Russell in his early-30s commercial prime--old. Or perhaps seasoned is a more appropriate word, since the veteran rocker's appeal has always centered around his mushy, been-around-the-block vocals and sophisticated R&B- and gospel-flavored songs. This 12-track collection finds the Oklahoma original playing more lead guitar than one might expect from a man best known as one of rock & roll's premium pianists. The album's opener, a pummeling blues original called "Love in a Battlefield," lays the groundwork with Russell's Albert King-inspired guitar in the fore. "Down in the Flood" finds Leon pumping away back at the keys. "Blues Eyes & a Black Heart," "Mean and Evil," and "Don't Bring the Blues to Bed" indicate his mind is suitably in the mire. Is Face in the Crowd up to standards set in the early 1970s with And the Shelter People? Not quite. But it does demonstrate that the Russell of the late '90s isn't far removed from the natural-born musician who once rubbed shoulders with Phil Spector and George Harrison and was a linchpin for The Concert for Bangla Desh and Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen. --Steven Stolder

Entertainment Weekly
Too many of the [cuts] are uninspired or derivative.