Search - Laurie Sargent :: Heads & Tales

Laurie Sargent's About-Face

brucetheshark | Englewood Cliffs, NJ | 06/20/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The three late-1980s albums that Face To Face recorded revealed the band to be, well, two-faced. On one hand - and on the first two releases, Face To Face and Confrontation, both on Epic - the group performed propulsive rock that you could dance to. On the other hand, on the quintet's Mercury debut (and swan song), One Big Day, they played roots rock that you had to think about. Which genre was - and is - the preference of Laurie Sargent, the voice of Face To Face? Nearly a decade after One Big Day came and went, we now know the answer. The versatile vocalist is as adept at one kind of music as another, but on her premier solo album, Heads & Tales, on Reprise Records - watch your back, Joan Osborne - she leans more toward straightforward rock than toward edgy club music. And you know what? That's okay. Sargent sings her hard numbers - "Faithless" and "Beautiful" - with such clarity, with such startling matter-of-factness that you feel like maybe you ought to duck. When she applies that same candor to the sensual "One More," forget it; you blush, end of story. "Groove Thing" is gloriously catchy funk rock, "Ponies," a declaration of love that's as poignant as it is simple. "You can leave all the diamonds in Africa," she sings on the latter. "Leave the pearls on the bottom of the ocean blue, leave the roses on the vine, 'cause all I really want is you." 'Nuff said - and well-said, too. Throughout Heads & Tales, Sargent's triumph as a writer and as a vocalist is evinced time and again. Sounding worldly but never world-wary, she gives us hope. In her songs, even the darkest hours eventually do pass. For instance, on the lead track and first single, "Without Letting Go," she sings about a lost love affair not with resignation but with resolution. The improbable result: a feel-good song about a no-win situation. Anybody who can pull off that neat trick without setting off our B.S. detectors definitely is somebody we all could stand to have, as it were, in our face."

Fantastic

cfrey@symquest.com | Burlington, VT | 07/01/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was a fan of Face to Face, Laurie's Boston based band in the early 80's. On this CD she shows that she can still sing as good as ever. If you like rockin female vocalists like Amiee Mann or K D Lang, then Heads & Tails is for you."

Where are they now ?

liv4dobermans | walpole, Ma United States | 03/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got this Cd a little while back and really liked it, having been a big fan of the surely missed "Face to Face" and also having seen them many times live in the mid 80's at places like "The Channel" in Boston and "Rocky Point Park" in Rhode Island. Hearing her voice again after so many years was so great and really made me miss all the good times we had at those shows, moving to her high energy stage presence and reminding us at the same time of our own lives what seems so many years ago. also let us not forget the awesome vocal tracks cyndi Lauper recorded on the Confrontation record.I wish epic would release the first two records on Cd already, we're jonesing for them so we can retire our worn out LP's. Anyway if you liked "Face to Face" you'll like this Cd from Laurie too cause her vocals are great as always and heartfelt just the way you always remember her to be...... we miss you "Face to Face" and we love you Laurie, Please give us more music for your absence is surely our loss."