Adam Faith - I Survive (Deluxe) (2023)

Once one of Britain's most reliable hit-makers, Adam Faith slipped out of the recording studio in 1965, and did not return for another decade, a period during which he established himself as both an actor (well-received roles in That'll Be the Day and Stardust) and a manager -- he was part of the team that launched Leo Sayer to fame. 1974, however, brought him back to a recording career, with a comeback album that now stands as one of the great unsung records of the 1970s -- and one of the last great "super-sessions" of the age as well. Co-produced by Faith and David Courtney, I Survive was engineered by Deep Purple faithful Martin Birch, mastered by Mickie Most, and draws in guest appearances from Ritchie Blackmore, Russ Ballard and Argent's Bob Henrit, with Blackmore's lead guitar flourishes through the title track the match of anything he'd done with his own band lately. The songs are equally eye-catching, as Faith and Courtney collaborate across ten solid pop-rockers that are as close to the Beatles as they are to Courtney's then-swinging partnership with Sayer, and offer few concessions whatsoever to Faith's own past as a pre-beat boom balladeer. When he does slow down, as on the sweet "I Believe in Love," his vocal is a dead ringer for some lost Ray Davies' jewel, while the quirky "Foreign Lady" has a beery singalong quality that is irresistible. The Kinks parallels resurface elsewhere across the album, with the closing pairing of "In Your Life" and "Star Song" as movingly mighty a finale as any of Davies' concept albums ever enjoyed, the first a sparse piano-led confession, the second an atmosphere-drenched rumination on the fame that Faith had walked away from, and was now in the business of inflicting upon others. A lot of the early-'60s pop idols attempted comebacks during the mid-'70s, with Alvin Stardust (the Artist Formerly Known As Shane Fenton) succeeding beyond anybody's wildest imaginings. From a commercial point of view, Faith was never going to eclipse the man in black leather's fame and fortune. But, from a musical point of view, I Survive wipes the floor with all contenders, past and present. A masterpiece. © Dave Thompson