ROXY MUSIC

Roxy Music always was a relatively stabilized band. It always had three main members, the front man and main composer Bryan Ferry, the guitarist Phil Manzanera and the saxophonist Andy Mackay, which formed the core of the group. Still, in a way, we can also join them with the drummer Paul Thompson who participated on six of the eight Roxy Music's studio albums. However, the other band's members have changed frequently all over the history of the band.

"The Collection" is a compilation album of Roxy Music released in 2004. It's a varied and complete compilation album of Roxy Music. It's a very representative compilation album of the band with tracks from all their eight studio albums. So, it has tracks that belong to their golden era and also tracks that belong to their most pop phase. It has one track from "Roxy Music", one track from "For Your Pleasure", one track from "Stranded", three tracks from "Country Life", one track from "Siren", two tracks from "Manifesto", one track from "Flesh + Blood" and two tracks from "Avalon".

So, "The Collection" has twelve tracks. The first track "Virginia Plain" was the song released as their debut single. The song wasn't present on the original version of their album "Roxy Music", and hasn't been recorded when the album was released. However, after the success of their debut album, it was included on later reissues. It was also released as a new single, together with "Pyjamarama", in 1977. It's a very interesting song which was originally made to be released as a hit single. It has some good interesting musical appointments by Brian Eno. The second track "Do The Strand" was originally released on their album "For Your Pleasure". It's a perfect way to open that album brilliantly. It's a song with fantastic vocal work by Bryan Ferry that sings curious lyrics, and it also has great guitar, keyboard, and saxophone performances, very well accompanied by strong and vigorous drums. This is an excellent song with plenty of energy. The third track "Street Life" was originally released on their album "Stranded". It's a song in the pop/rock style, very enjoyable and composed in the commercial vein. It's well performed and Bryan Ferry's vocal style is really good. The fourth track "The Thrill Of It All" was also originally released on their album "Country Life". It's a great opener for "Country Life", as is usual for this band. It's a Roxy Music's classic rock song very frenetic and with great individual performances. It deserves special mention Phil Manzanera's individual work and the powerful presence of the violin of Eddie Jobson. The fifth track "All I Want Is You" was also originally released on their album "Country Life". It's a powerful song full of energy, very melodic and with another absolutely fantastic guitar work performed by Manzanera. The sixth track "Love Is The Drug" was originally released on "Siren". It's an incredible song, very melodic and with good quality. It has an incredible performance too. Andy MacKay and his saxophone are absolutely great, Manzanera and his guitar work is great too and Bryan Ferry and his vocals are fantastic as always. The seventh track "Out Of The Blue" was originally released on their album "Country Life". It's a rock song with plenty of energy with great vocals, good piano, amazing synthesizer effects, a fantastic violin solo and a striking guitar work. It soon became one of the favourite songs of the fans in their live concerts. The eighth track "Ain't That So" was originally released on their album "Manifesto". It's a song with a mix of pop, disco and avant-garde music. It's an interesting music with a nice and catchy tune, well played and that was made to be danced. The ninth track "Dance Away" was also originally released on their album "Manifesto". Despite having nothing of progressive really, it has good and simple lyrics, a fantastic melody and a great dancing rhythm. I always loved this song which is, for me, one of the greatest pop songs ever written. The tenth track "Same Old Scene" was originally released on their album "Flesh + Blood". It's a song with a strong bass line, nice vocals, great keyboards and a special fantastic saxophone work by Andy MacKay. This is another great Roxy Music song. The eleventh track "The Main Thing" was originally released on their album "Avalon". It's a song with a fantastic and unique musical atmosphere and where Bryan Ferry's vocals are some of the best on "Avalon". This is a song with a great beat. The twelfth track "More Than This" was also originally released on their album "Avalon". This is a great commercial pop song composed for easy radio listening. So, we may say this is a perfect hit pop song of the 80's.

Conclusion: "The Collection" is one of the many compilation albums released by Roxy Music all over the entire career of them. And as is usual, some are better than others, some are better representatives than others and some are more extensive than others. There are also hybrid compilations, with and without Bryan Ferry's solo tracks. "The Collection" is, as mentioned before, very representative and a complete compilation album of the band that covers the entire career of the band, with tracks from their eight studio albums put in the respective chronological order and without solo tracks by Bryan Ferry. Thus, despite being a relatively small compilation album, I think we can say that "The Collection" is a good compilation of Roxy Music. So, "The Collection" can be considered a good introduction to Roxy Music's career.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

6. The Bogus Man for the long morau, an intrusive, metronomic tune with the voice and sax talking to each other; Ska, CLASH before its time, this repetitive tune on Bryan's wild vocals; John, credited, compulsively launches his bass, facilitating the musical trance; it's catchy and jerky, Brian's tinkering ends up charming by capsizing; not prog, but melodic prog spirit, hypnotic for sure 7. Grey Lagoons for Bryan's hit as if he knew he was already going to play solo; wild sax and piano kick him out of the song; the harmonica brings everyone together with a hilarious western solo before the Bill HALEY-style piano returns; in short, madness with Bryan returning as if nothing had happened 8. For Your Pleasure, BOWIE style, for the high voice, the rhythm on a guitar and pad from the 60s for the gangster movie soundtrack trip; The voice is the best part of this emerging group, the voice becoming melting, addictive, radiant and expressive on the repetitive pad; a prog wave that reminds me of an XTC title from the 80s, almost a generation later with the reverberating, enjoyable, orgasmic, mantranic effect... with the electro finale worthy of a TANGERINE DREAM coupled with POPOL VUH.

"Heart Still Beating" is the second live album of Roxy Music that was only released in 1990. While the album's sleeve states that the album was recorded at Fréjus, France in 1982, it's in reality a mixture of shows from several locals and dates in Europe in 1982 and 1983 when Roxy Music made their Avalon's Tour and was mixed together as only one live show. It's interesting to note that, unlike most bands of that time, Roxy Music has very few live albums. At that time, beyond "Viva! Roxy Music" released in 1976, Roxy Music had only released their four track live EP "The High Road".

Relatively to the line up on "Heart Still Beating" and in addition to the only three founding members that remaining on the group Bryan Ferry (vocals and keyboards), Phil Manzanera (guitars) and Andy MacKay (saxophone and oboe), there are several additional musicians on "Heart Still Beating". So, we also have Neil Hubbard (guitar), Alan Spenner (bass), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Andy Newmark (drums) and Jimmy Maelen (percussion). We still also have Fonzi Thornton, Mitchelle Cobbs and Tawatha Agee (backing vocals.

"Heart Still Beating" has fourteen tracks. The first track "India" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "Avalon". The second track "Can't Let Go" isn't a Roxy Music's track. It's a Ferry's track. It was originally released on his album "The Bride Stripped Bare". The third track, which gave its name to the album, "While My Heart Is Still Beating" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "Avalon". The fourth track "Out Of The Blue" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "Country Live". The fifth track "Dance Away" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "Manifesto". The sixth track "Impossible Guitar" isn't a Roxy Music's track. It's a Manzanera's track. It was originally released on his album "Primitive Guitars". The seventh track "A Song For Europe" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "Stranded". The eighth track "Love Is The Drug" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "Siren". The ninth track "Like A Hurricane" isn't a Roxy Music's track. It's a Neil Young's track. It was originally released on his album "American Stars 'n Bars". The tenth track "My Only Love" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "Flesh + Blood". The eleventh track "Both Ends Burning" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "Siren". The twelfth track "Avalon" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "Avalon". The thirteenth track "Editions Of You" was originally released on Roxy Music's album "For Your Pleasure". The fourteenth track "Jealous Guy" isn't a Roxy Music's track. It's a John Lennon's track. It was originally released on his album "Imagine".

So, "Heart Still Beating" was Roxy Music's second live album, following the 1976's "Viva! Roxy Music". When the album came out, the band hadn't existed for a few years. The fourteen tracks were recorded in 1982 but not released until 1990. This period of eight years shows how fresh and timeless the band's music sounds. Even today, the pieces don't seem to me a bit dusty. Musically, Bryan Ferry, Phil Manzanera and Andy MacKay offer a journey through the albums "Stranded", "Country Life", "Siren", "Manifesto", "Flesh + Blood" and "Avalon". Alongside the hits "Editions Of You", "Love Is The Drug", "Both Ends Burning", "Dance Away", "My Only Love", "Jealous Guy" and "Avalon". "Heart Still Beating" also includes interesting interpretations of "A Song For Europe", "Out Of The Blue" and "While My Heart Is Still Beating". As a treat, there are some extra tracks here. Tracks don't belong to Roxy Music. So, we have "Impossible Guitar" by Manzanera, "Like A Hurricane" by Neil Young and "Jealous Guy" by John Lennon. The band comes closer to a mainstream rock sound with enjoyable interpretations of "Like A Hurricane" and "Jealous Guy", but even then, the distinctive band's art-rock tendencies remain faithful. All in all, "Heart Still Beating" is an absolute listening pleasure.

Conclusion: I almost agree with Raff when he says this album is a little bit cold. This is true in the beginning of the album but as the concert advances it will become warmer. That is especially true from "A Song For Europe", eventually being brilliant, in certain moments, like "Like A Hurricane", "My Only Love" and particularly "Jealous Guy". However, I think this album has a different problem. The problem isn't with Ferry, MacKay or Manzanera, because they're excellent as always. Manzanera features some of his best guitar solos as a Roxy Music member. The problems are with the additional musicians because they're all good but not as great as they must be. The main problem is on the keyboards where the sound is a bit faint, failing to fill the concert with its sound. I'm convinced that if Eddie Jobson was still in the band this live album could be a masterpiece. Still and despite all I said before, I decided to rate this album with 4 stars. The track list of the album is great, the live performances are in general very good, the sound quality is excellent, particularly my CD because it's a HDCD version and finally because there are so few live albums of the band. So, I think it's necessary to have it. All of this makes it an excellent addition to any Roxy Music's decent music collection.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Of course, Brian Eno is very prominent on the best tracks off 'For Your Pleasure', and his playing seems to be sprawling into punk, prog, and classic rock, while Phil Manzanera, for example, delivers some substantial solos as well as multiple fine riffs. Andy Mackay dares to play out of key on a few occasions, which gives the album an avant-garde touch, while the rhythm section is working tightly and does not shy away from being minimal, metronomic, or simply punctuative. For what concerns Ferry's vocals, independently of how much one might be into his singing style, it is a fact that his performance is exquisite, and he really experiments with his voice throughout this entire album. Obviously, 'Do the Strand' and 'The Bogus Man' are the best album tracks, perhaps depicting perfectly the band's bold amalgamation of glam, pop, prog and avant-garde. 'Strictly Confidential' and 'In Every Dream Home a Heartache' are also really fine attempts at having an unusual but compelling rock sound that diverges from the standard, blues-based formula and tries to introduce a novelty sound with an inherent progression. At the same time, the trivial 'Grey Lagoons' and the punk-backed 'Editions of You' are far from impressive, which lets the otherwise-excellent album down a little. Nevertheless, 'For Your Pleasure' is a unique and important album from the early 70s that above all introduced a fascinating synergy between glam rock and prog.

4.5

"Avalon" is the eighth and last studio album of Roxy Music and was released in 1982. It was their greatest commercial success hitting the UK charts and staying there for over a year. "Avalon" is also the only Roxy Music's album to reach the platinum record in the USA. "Avalon" is one of their finest albums. Certainly, the lush and elegant soundscapes of "Avalon" are far removed from the edgy avant-pop of their early albums, yet it represents another landmark in their career. Ferry was never this romantic or seductive but "Avalon" shimmers with elegance in both its music and its lyrics. The beautiful art cover of the album represents a figure wearing a medieval helmet and carrying a falcon, evoking King Arthur's last journey to the mysterious land of Avalon. The figure is Bryan Ferry's then girlfriend and future wife Lucy Helmore, a former model and London socialite, who posed as the cover model for the album, continuing the tradition of Roxy Music's albums to feature images of women on the cover artwork. The artwork was designed by Peter Saville too.

As on "Flesh + Blood" the line up are only the remaining three original members and some guest musicians. So, the line up is Bryan Ferry (vocals, keyboards and guitar synthesizer), Andy MacKay (saxophone), Phil Manzanera (guitar), Yanick Etienne (vocals), Fonzi Thornton (vocals), Neil Hubbard (guitar), Paul Carrack (piano), Kermit Moore (cello), Alan Spenner (bass), Neil Jason (bass), Andy Newmark (drums), Rick Marotta (drums) and Jimmy Maelen (percussion).

"Avalon" has ten tracks. All songs were written by Bryan Ferry except "While My Heart Is Still Beating" written by Bryan Ferry and Andy MacKay, "Take A Chance With Me" written by Bryan Ferry and Phil Manzanera and "Tara" written also by Bryan Ferry and Andy MacKay. The first track "More Than This" is the song released as the first single taken from this album and is of course one of the hits of this album. It's a great commercial pop song composed for easy radio listening. We may say this is a perfect hit pop song for the 80's. The second track "The Space Between" is a kind of a sexy song with clear influences of the disco sound, so in vogue at that time. It's a song that sounds to have been played in the night dance clubs all over the world in that time. It's a little bit repetitive and monotonous. The third track, the eponymous title track, "Avalon", was the song released in the second place as a single and taken from this album. This is, without any doubt, a great song. It's a song with good and perfect classic lyrics and where the music is absolutely perfect and invites us to dance slowly like when the party's over. The voice of Bryan Ferry is absolutely fantastic and the female chorus is very warm and gives it a nice touch. The fourth track "India" is a very short and nice instrumental song with some influences of the oriental music. The fifth track "While My Heart Is Still Beating" is another great song. This is a very sophisticated art pop song with very interesting musical moments like the percussion and drums, the vocals and finally the sound of the saxophone. I think we can say this is the song on this album, more close to the original sound of the group. The sixth track "The Main Thing" is another highlight on this album. This is a song with a fantastic and very own musical atmosphere and where Bryan Ferry's vocals are some of the best on the album. It's a song with a great beat. The seventh track "Take a Chance With Me" is another great song of the album. It's also a song released as a single and was the last Roxy Music single released during the band's life. It's a very catchy song with a good and nice melody that sounds very fresh even today. The eighth track "To Turn You On" is a very simple and nice song that especially lives almost entirely on Bryan Ferry's voice. It's an interesting song with some tasteful guitar moments very well accompanied by piano. The ninth track "True To Life" is another interesting and nice song with a good musical atmosphere and with a very calm rhythm. It also has different vocals by Bryan Ferry and good percussion all over the song. The tenth and last track "Tara" is another very short instrumental song like "India". It's a very beautiful song where the sound of Andy MacKay's saxophone is absolutely relaxing. It's a strange beautiful way to end the album and is also probably a perfect and elegant farewell for this so special, interesting and unique prog rock band.

Conclusion: "Avalon" is, in my opinion, the most Bryan Ferry's album of the band. It's also their most well produced, most mature, most accessible, most commercial and the best selling album of the band. This is really a unique album on the band's career that takes us to another musical dimension. It's true that "Avalon" isn't truly a progressive album but is only a pop rock album with only little reminiscences of progressiveness. However, of all the many pop rock albums made by many progressive rock groups in the 80's, like Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant, Renaissance and even "Breakfast In America" of Supertramp, that I can remember, this is, for me, the one that passed the test of time with best results. "Avalon" is a very charming album that still sounds fresh, cool and sophisticated after all these years and I can still hear it, even now, with great pleasure. So, "Avalon" is an album highly recommended for any art rock enthusiast.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"The Thrill Of It All" is a compilation album of Roxy Music that was released in 1995. It features songs from all eight studio albums of the band. But, apart from that, this compilation album also has many other things like single B sides, various remixes and different versions. Thus we may say that it stands as probably the most complete Roxy Music's retrospective compilation album that ranges all their history. So, this is the ultimate collection of Roxy Music, really.

"The Thrill Of It All" has sixty-seven tracks and is divided into four discs. Disc 1 and disc 2 have sixteen tracks, disk 3 has eighteen tracks and disc four has seventeen tracks. The first three discs only cover the tracks recorded on the original studio albums of the band. The fourth disc covers the single B sides, the remixes and the different versions.

Since we are in the presence of a compilation album with so many tracks, I'm not going to analyze them individually, as I usually do, but to make only a global appreciation about the choice of them in its context, mentioning album by album.

The first CD has sixteen tracks: "Re-Make/Re-Model", "Ladytron", "If There Is Something", "2HB", "Chance Meeting" and "Sea Breezes" are all from their eponymous debut studio album which was released in 1972. "Do The Strand", "Beauty Queen", "Strictly Confidential", "Editions Of You", "In Every Dream Home A Heartache", "The Bogus Man" and "For Your Pleasure" are all from their second studio album "For Your Pleasure" which was released in 1973. "Street Life", "Just Like You" and "Amazona" are all from their third studio album "Stranded" which was released in 1973. About the tracks on this CD, they're all great. As we know, "Roxy Music" and "For Your Pleasure" are two excellent works, the two best, most innovative and progressive of the band. "Stranded" is another great album from the band, less innovative, but still a great album. In reality, all tracks that belong to all these albums could fit perfectly well here.

The second CD has also sixteen tracks: "A Song For Europe", "Mother Of Pearl" and "Sunset" are also from "Stranded". "The Thrill Of It All", "Three And Nine", "All I Want Is You", "Out Of The Blue", "Bitter Sweet", "Casanova", "A Really Good Time" and "Prairie Rose" are all from their fourth studio album "Country Life" which was released in 1974. "Love Is The Drug", "Sentimental Fool", "Could It Happen To Me?", "Both Ends Burning" and "Just Another High" are all from their fifth studio album "Siren" which was released in 1975. About the tracks on this CD, they're all great too. It has some more tracks from "Stranded" and tracks from "Country Life" and "Siren". The same I said about the first CD also applies perfectly well here. All tracks chosen are all great but if there had been others the final result would be equally good too. "Stranded", "Country Life" and "Siren" are three albums very similar in terms of quality.

The third CD has eighteen tracks: "Manifesto", "Trash", "Angel Eyes", "Stronger Through The Years", "Ain't That So" and "Dance Away" are all from their sixth studio album "Manifesto" which was released in 1979. "Oh Yeah", "Same Old Scene", "Flesh And Blood", "My Only Love", "Over You" and "No Strange Delight" are all from their seventh studio album "Flesh + Blood" which was released in 1980. "More Than This", "Avalon", "While My Heart Is Still Beating", "Take A Chance With Me", "To Turn You On" and "Tara" are all from their eighth studio album "Avalon" which was released in 1982. About the tracks on this CD, I can't say the same. If "Avalon" is another excellent album and all tracks are great, on "Manifesto" and "Flesh + Blood" aren't the same. As we know, despite the good quality of many tracks on both albums, they aren't properly progressive. We are talking about tracks more in the musical vein of pop and disco.

The fourth CD has seventeenth tracks: "India" is also from "Avalon", "Manifesto" is a remake of the title track of "Manifesto", "Trash 2" is a different version of the original track of "Manifesto", "Virginia Plain", "Pyjamarama", "Jealous Guy", "The Numberer", "The Pride And The Pain", "Hula Kula", "Your Application's Failed", "Lover", "Sultanesque", "South Downs" and "Always Unknowing" are non-albums' tracks that weren't originally released on any of their studio albums and "Dance Away", "Angel Eyes" and "The Main Thing" are extended remixed versions of the original tracks on "Manifesto" and "Avalon". About the tracks on this CD, they're almost all leftovers or alternative versions. They aren't really bad. Some are better than others, but I think we can highlight three of them, "Virginia Plain", "Pyjamarama" and "Jealous Guy". They usually appear on many other compilation albums released by Roxy Music.

Conclusion: Thus, due to all I wrote above, "The Thrill Of It All" is an excellent compilation album of Roxy Music. It covers the entire career of the band plus some rare material not usually available on the other releases from the band. As all we know, Roxy Music always was a very special band in the panorama of the progressive rock music and they always had a huge legion of prog fans, in which I include myself. So, "The Thrill Of It All" is an excellent addition to any collection of hard fans of the band, especially due to the rare material on it. This is, certainly, the main reason to buy it.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"Live" is a double live album by Roxy Music. From what I know, it was the fourth and last official live album of Roxy Music, until now, and was released in 2003. It isn't a classic live album recorded from only one live show and released to promote a new studio album from the band. It contains live performances from all their studio albums taken from a great variety of locals on their 2001 reunion live world tour, and represents the entire set list from those live concerts.

The line up on the album was formed by their original line up Bryan Ferry (vocals and piano), Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy MacKay (oboe and saxophone) and Paul Thompson (drums). Unfortunately, the keyboardist Brian Eno was an exception and didn't appear on the album, and the original bassist Graham Simpson too, but we mustn't forget that Roxy Music never had a permanent bass player. Beyond the original members, some guest musicians appeared on the album. Chris Speeding (guitar), Colin Good (piano), Zev Katz (bass), Julia Thornton (keyboards and percussion), Lucy Wilkins (violin and keyboards) and Sarah Brown, Yanick Etienne, Michelle Brown and Sharon White (backing vocals).

"Live" has twenty-two tracks. "Re-Make/Re-Model", "Ladytron" and "If There Is Something" were originally released on "Roxy Music". They were recorded at Detroit Pine Knob in 29, July, Milan Forum in 24 September and Birmingham N.E.C. in 17 June, respectively. "Virginia Plain" was originally released as a single. It wasn't initially released on their album "Roxy Music". Later, it was a track added to that album. It was recorded at Stuttgart Schleyerhalle in 22 September. "In Every Dream Home A Heartache", "Editions Of You", "Do The Strand" and "For Your Pleasure" were originally released on "For Your Pleasure". They were recorded at Antwerp Sportspaleis in 14 September, Perth Ent. Centre in 19 August, Vancouver G.M.P. in 3 August and Adelaide Ent. Centre in 17 August, respectively. "Street Life", "A Song For Europe" and "Mother Of Pearl" were originally released on "Stranded". They were recorded at Hamburg Sporthalle in 19 September, Perth Ent. Centre in 19 August, and Vienna Gasometer in 26 September, respectively. "Out Of Blue" was originally released on "Country Life". It was recorded at Manchester E.N. Arena in 28 September. "Both Ends Burning" and "Love Is The Drug" were originally released on "Siren". They were recorded at Milan Forum in 24 September and Perth Ent. Centre in 19 August, respectively. "Dance Away" was originally released on "Manifesto". It was recorded at Adelaide Ent. Centre in 17 August. "My Only Love" and "Oh Yeah!" were originally released on "Flesh + Blood". They were recorded at Stuttgart Schleyerhalle 22 September and Detroit Pine Knob in 29 July, respectively. "While My Heart Is Still Beating", "Tara", "More Than This" and "Avalon" were originally released on "Avalon". They were recorded at Glasgow S.E.C.C. in 29 September, Toronto Air Canada Centre in 16 July, Tokyo Int. Forum in 7 September and London Apollo in 2 October, respectively. "Jealous Guy" is a John Lennon's song. It was released on Lennon's album "Imagine". It was never released on any studio album of Roxy Music. It was released on their live EP "The High Road". It was recorded at Birmingham N.E.C. on 17 June.

With this document of their reunion in 2001, Roxy Music presents one of their best live albums. In terms of prog their second best after "Viva! Roxy Music". After almost twenty years of abstinence, Roxy Music was fully on the retro track. The selection of songs is more than satisfactory and, compared to the 1982 tour, places a clear emphasis on the 70's. But a few hits from the 80's shouldn't be missed either. The double CD is, like "Heart Still Beating", not the recording of a single concert, but a live compilation that was created at various locations around the world. It contains the full program of the world tour and follows the London concert in the order of the songs as seen on the "Live At The Apollo" DVD. In addition, there are only the two songs "More Than This" and "If There Is Something", which is the plus point of the CD edition. The band is in top form having a lot of fun. The focus is the band's stars Ferry, Mackay and Manzanera.

Conclusion: "Live" is a great live album. In a way, we even can say that is better than "Viva! Roxy Music". Since it was a reunion tour and the band had no album to support, they offered a great choice of their fabulous repertoire. "Live" has everything we can expect from a live album. It has a perfect alignment, an impeccable repertoire choice with different versions from the original songs and in the case of "A Song For Europe", "My Only Love", "Both Ends Burning" and "Tara", they're practically new songs. So, it's perfectly representative of the band's career and of all their studio albums and finally has a magnificent musical live performance and a great sound. "Live" shows that Roxy Music was a great band and that they're also great when performing live. "Live" is the living proof that even thirty years later, their heart is still beating. I only want to say one more thing. When I was young I had the privilege and the honour to be on a live performance of them, I think on "Avalon" live tour. And I can assure you they were great when performing live.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"The Studio Albums" is a very special compilation album of Roxy Music that was released in 2015. This is an economic package that includes the entire studio discography of the band on only one package. So, it can be an interesting purchase for those who don't have yet all these studio albums individually. They can perhaps save money and space.

As I've already reviewed all these albums previously on Progarchives, in a more extensive way, I'm not going to do it again. So, if you are interested to know, in more detail, what I wrote about them before, I invite you to read all those reviews. However, here I'm going to write something about them in a shorter way. So, of course, I'm not going to analyze them track by track, as I did before, but I'm only going to make a global appreciation of all those eight albums.

"Roxy Music": "Roxy Music" is an excellent, original and fantastic debut album. It's with "For Your Pleasure", one of the two albums that represent the first period, their most experimental and avant-garde period. They also represent the most interesting phase for all prog heads. Some songs from this album remind me of new wave music. Their debut is a classic album. Roxy Music was a band that proved that innovative music can also be melodic and very accessible.

"For Your Pleasure": "Roxy Music" and "For Your Pleasure" are the two less accessible albums of the band but are also the best and most experimental and avant-garde of their career. Both albums represent the most interesting phase of the band for prog heads. Still, "For Your Pleasure" is better because it's more balanced, mature and adult. Ferry took the reins a little more and Eno's influence diminished. There's no doubt this was the album which put the art into rock.

"Stranded": "Stranded" is a mark in the change of the musical direction of the band. The musicianship is excellent and the production is very professional. "Stranded" is one of the most sophisticated and charming albums of Roxy Music. This is, perhaps, their best work after the departure of Eno. Eno later rated it as Roxy Music's finest album. So, if you're really interested in their most prog phase without their avant-garde phase, "Stranded" is the right place to start.

"Country Life": Of all Roxy Music studio albums, "Country Life" is their most rock album. It's essential for those who love the decadence, the glamour and the passion of art rock. Overall, "Country Life" is another step out of the more experimental sound of the first two Roxy Music's albums. If you liked "Stranded" you will not be disappointed. The new sounds are great, even if they aren't quite complex. The new language made Roxy Music a band ahead of their time.

"Siren": "Siren" marks the end of an era, the end of the second era of Roxy Music. "Siren" is a fantastic album and a landmark in the progressive rock music of the 70's. It's a model of modern rock and we can't forget that the Rolling Stone magazine considered "Siren" as Roxy Music's masterpiece and ranked it in number 371 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. "Siren" is a solid offering from Roxy Music, one of their defining truly essential albums.

"Manifesto": Returning to action after almost four years of solo projects, Roxy Music redefined their sound and strips away, and once for all, of their experimentalism and the art rock influences in favour of short concise pop songs with some kind of stylish disco rhythms, while retaining in the generality a good and consistent song writing. "Manifesto" is a transition album from art rock to pop. So, for all prog heads, it hasn't the kind of music we expected from them.

"Flesh + Blood": I always considered "Flesh + Blood" better than "Manifesto". "Flesh + Blood" is better balanced, cohesive and consistent than "Manifesto" is. However, it lacks a touch of progressiveness to be a great prog work. Like Genesis, Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music succeeded where other bands like Renaissance, Gentle Giant and Emerson, Lake & Palmer failed and weren't able to achieve and sustain a commercial success in those difficult days of the 80's.

"Avalon": "Avalon" is the most well produced, mature, accessible, commercial and best selling album of Roxy Music. This is a unique album on the entire band's career that takes us to another dimension. It's true that "Avalon" isn't truly a progressive album but it's a charming album that still sounds fresh, cool and sophisticated after all these years. I still can hear it with great pleasure, even nowadays. So, "Avalon" is highly recommended for any huge art rock enthusiast.

Conclusion: "The Studio Albums" is a great compilation album of Roxy Music. As I mentioned before, this is a very complete compilation album with all studio albums of the band on only one package. So, this compilation album is an excellent alternative for all who don't have the studio discography of Roxy Music. "The Studio Albums" is very similar to other compilation albums "The First Seven Albums". The only difference, as its name indicates, is that "The First Seven Albums" has only the first seven studio albums of the band, missing to it their last studio album "Avalon", an album that had not yet been released in 1981, the year of its release. So, if you need to have a compilation album of the band with their studio works, "The Studio Albums" is a better option because it has all the studio albums of the band.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

It's completely different with bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, ELP. How can you make a guide to their work if many of their outstanding compositions last more than 10-15 minutes? Theoretically, it's possible, but how will it work in practice? Such songs will be taken out of context, and this will not give a full understanding of the album and the creative period from which they were taken. It's the same as reading separate chapters of Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Or fragments of separate chapters.

A separate story with compilations like this. They focus on only one aspect: singles, hits and radio idols. It is impossible to get a full idea of ​​the band's work from such a collection. I have seen this for myself. About 30 years ago, I first heard Roxy Music from this CD. I barely perceived the first half. But the second half, starting with Dance Away, seemed to me the lightest, most sincere and most understandable from a musical point of view. Later, I was surprised to learn that Roxy Music is classified as progressive rock, although I did not notice any traces of progressive in either the first or second part. At that time, I was already familiar with the work of the classics of progressive rock, there was something to compare it with. Even later, I was finally able to get to know Roxy Music's work in more detail, listened to all their albums. I did not find any progressive either, although I was looking for it. But I noticed something else: at first, I did not perceive the songs that were not included in this collection and were new to me. I have listened to this collection many times and got used to it, got used to a certain sequence of songs. There was a time when I thought that Roxy Music was somewhere between rock and the Pet Shop Boys or Duran Duran. The second part of this collection and the lack of opportunity to listen to the group's work by albums are to blame. Fortunately, the mp3 format soon appeared, and I was able to listen to Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry and many others in their entirety. After several years, I finally realized how interesting and diverse the Roxy Music group is, how much their music differs on early and later albums. The collection does not convey this at all, concentrating only on time-tested and accessible to mass perception hits. This follows from its title. At least it is fair to consumers.

That's why I'm convinced that compilations are bad for bands like Roxy Music. Yes, they probably increase sales, but they also create a false impression of the music. Based on this, I think the 3-star rating for this compilation is well deserved. This disc is great to listen to in the car, on the beach, in solitude on a quiet evening. But you definitely shouldn't start learning Roxy Music's music with this disc.

By the way, in Ukraine you can still download the full discography of almost any band or artist from the Internet for free, and that's great.