|
|
Roxy MusicAlbums ReviewedThe Early Years (2000)Country Life (1974) Siren (1975) Avalon (1982) Streetlife: 20 Great Hits (1986) NB. This was one of the first pages I wrote for the site - I know a lot more about music than when I did this, and I need to rewrite the whole thing sometime. The Early Years(2000)The Early Years compiles songs from Roxy Music's first three albums: 1972's Roxy Music, and 1973's For Your Pleasure and Stranded. The amount of talent in the original group is phenomenal: Brian Eno is now legendary as a visionary producer, saxophonist Andy Mackay, guitarist Phil Manzanera and drummer Paul Thompson are all proficient and distinctive, while leader Bryan Ferry contributed weird vocals and interesting lyrics. While Roxy Music quickly lost their initial inspiration, for an all too brief period they managed to cram power, lyrical insight and innovation into some dizzying recordings. The material from the first two albums still sounds fresh and must have sounded crazy in the early 1970s: Brian Eno's synthesisers are still pretty weird, while the group changes style every song. Numerous highlights include the singles 'Virginia Plain' and 'Do The Strand', the countryish 'If There Is Something' and the ballad 'Beauty Queen'. 'Remake/Remodel' features a series of unforgettable consecutive solos by each of the group members: the bass plays the riff from The Beatles' 'Day Tripper', while Eno makes some strange whirring noises. Most stunning of all is 'In Every Dream Home a Heartache', in which Ferry tirades against materialism and futility with the analogy of an inflatable companion, capturing the sickness of a post sixties generation. Midway through 1973 Eno quit Roxy Music after tensions with Ferry, who feared that Eno was upstaging him. The material from Stranded is less innovative, but still classy, particularly the more straightforward rock song 'Streetlife'. The epic 'Mother of Pearl' entertains with lyrics that don't say anything in particular, but use a lot of long words. While it is difficult to quibble with The Early Years, there is probably a lot of great music on the three albums that isn't included here, and it is probably advisable to get each of the albums separately. However The Early Years provides one excellent 80 minute CD, and for completists a compilation (or Soulseek) is the only way to obtain the non album single 'Pyjamarama'. 
Country Life(1974)Roxy Music continued their excellent sequence of work in the early 1970s with their fourth album, Country Life. Stylistically, Country Life is all over the place, attempting country ('Prairie Rose'), psychedelia ('Out Of The Blue'), ballads ('A Really Good Time'), funk ('Casanova'), and a German pub song ('Bittersweet'). There's even a medieval-style song about Jesus' crucifixion. All these, along with the heavier 'The Thrill of It All' and 'All I Want Is You' work brilliantly. The remaining songs are less stylistically exciting, but Ferry's writing is so strong that every song works. When Country Life was released nobody really noticed the music, because of the controversial cover artwork. The original American release removed the two semi-naked women from the cover, leaving some grass and trees. I ordered Country Life over the internet because I was too embarrassed to physically purchase it. I have turned the cover back to front but I still have to look at the artwork when I open the case. If I wasn't objective in my review I would deduct a host of marks for the cover, but there is no other reason why Country Life shouldn't be awarded 5 stars.
Feedback: from anonymous you say country life are offensive. but they have a song about Jesus.... they are the only band appart from the christian ones to write about Jesus. the cover is symbolic of nature and can be interpreted as people so in love with Jesus that they find no reason to cover their "shame" as it was created by there lord. no "shame" i say. naked all the way. Siren(1975)Within the space of three years between Roxy Music and Siren Ferry lost his lyrical muse, and it is difficult to imagine him ever writing another 'In Every Dream Home A Heartache'. Instead of singing about cars and Humphrey Bogart, Ferry dwells on the clichés of cocktail bars and broken hearts. Fortunately, Roxy Music remained a classy and distinctive band with Thompson in particular shining; he propels the otherwise limpid 'Nightingale', while 'Just Another High' hits the stratosphere when his drums kick in. Manzanera, Mackay and Eno's replacement Eddie Jobson provide solos and texture aplenty. And even when his lyrics are routine, Ferry's voice is still intriguing, like the wonderful falsetto in 'Sentimental Fool'. Despite the fact that the group are veering closer to the mainstream, Siren is consistently interesting musically, although it would have been far less engrossing if Ferry had recorded it without his talented colleagues.
 Avalon(1982)The reformed Roxy Music were considerably more commercially orientated, and less fascinating than the 1972-1975 vintage. Unfortunately Avalon is just another product from the production line, with a honed and refined sound. This is a predictable pattern; Roxy Music were ageing and couldn't carry on being groundbreaking forever, but it is unfortunate that their less interesting later work is their most successful. All these concerns don't prevent Avalon being a good album. The album has a lovely atmosphere with Ferry's tasteful synths and the restrained melodic guitars, and the songs are consistently enjoyable. In some ways Avalon is flawless but it doesn't have the bite to satisfy me; maybe I'll appreciate it when I'm older. Several of the songs rise above the pleasant but insubstantial category. 'More Than This' is a classic single with a beautiful melody, while the closing track 'Tara' is a nice way to finish a career.
Streetlife: 20 Great Hits(1986)Streetlife provides a blatantly commercial selection of Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry hits. Because it is commercially focused, it provides an excellent complement to the essential material from Roxy Music's classic early period; Country Life is not represented at all, while only one song from each of the first three albums is included. Instead, Streetlife concentrates on the later Roxy albums and Ferry's solo hits. The most noticeable aspect of Streetlife is the contrast between Roxy Music's art-rock and Ferry's cod-highbrow solo career; groundbreaking Roxy Music classic 'Virginia Plain' is followed by Ferry's campy cover of Bob Dylan's 'A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall'. The discrepancies between the two entities narrow with the passage of time; 'Avalon' and 'Slave to Love' are similarly smooth and languid. While Streetlife is not cohesive, it collects a number of Ferry's finer moments. 'Oh Yeah', 'More Than This' and 'Slave To Love' are wonderful ballads, while Roxy Music's early classics 'Virginia Plain' and 'Do The Strand' remain astonishing. The worst of the music comes from Roxy Music's later period; the disco style of the singles from Manifesto is unbecoming, while the cover of 'In The Midnight Hour' from Flesh + Blood is blandly undistinguished. While Streetlife is a mixed bag, it contains some undeniable gems. There's something for everyone on Streetlife (lots of elderly would probably enjoy Ferry's take on 'These Foolish Things'), but hardly anyone would unconditionally embrace the whole package.
|
|
|
|
Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
