Many of the songs released on Pipes of Peace were recorded during the 1981 sessions for Tug of War, with "Pipes of Peace", "The Other Me", "So Bad", "Tug of Peace" and "Through Our Love" being recorded afterwards, in September–October 1982. Accordingly, the album has many things in common with its predecessor: it was produced by George Martin, it featured two collaborations with the same artist (this time with Michael Jackson; the Tug of War collaborations being with Stevie Wonder), and continued McCartney's alliance in the studio with Ringo Starr, former 10cc guitarist Eric Stewart and his last session work with Wings guitarist Denny Laine.
Unlike Tug of War, the album features an electro-tinged sound. On the track "Tug of Peace", McCartney blended the title song to Tug of War with that of the new album. The album describes the mix as "an almost-electro collage that twists the songs into McCartney II territory".
All songs written by Paul McCartney, except "Say Say Say" and "The Man" co-written by Michael Jackson, and "Hey Hey" co-written by Stanley Clarke.
Faces addresses cosmic and social concerns, but its thinking is only Madison Avenue deep: e.g., when Joseph Worken Hardy (the name of the black everyman in “Let Me Talk”) ends his complaints about the Arabs, inflation and designer jeans with the observation “We’re all the same, with different names.”
What holds this double LP together isn’t tunes or ideas but a collective élan and Maurice White’s sparkling production, which runs the gamut from Sly Stone funk (“Pride”) to aural collage (“Faces”) to Bee Gees-influenced pop romanticism (“Sparkle,” “You”). The common denominator of White’s productions is their highly contrasted textures and boldly blocked arrangements, with brass and percussion every bit as important as the singing.
However impersonal, sprawling and weak at the seams Faces is, at least it coheres as a “happening,” resplendent with fireworks and pep-rally vibes.
