FOR YOUR PLEASURE

As one of the really fine experimental art rock albums of the early 70s, Roxy Music's 'For Your Pleasure' is also quite significant for its masterful bridging between prog and glam - the daring in-depth exploration of unorthodox ideas, the extended song lengths and the focus on intricate instrumentation, extended soloing and technical acuteness, are combined with the relentless sexualization of the album's lyrical content, and the evocative all-around imagery of the band and their produce, which is a rare sight during this period in the development of rock music. There is an eclectic combustion of styles on this album, which might be an overall more focused and better-executed record than the band's famed self-titled debut album. The supposed clash between Ferry and Eno here, furthermore, is more of an abstraction rather than an actual source of conflict, and I do believe that their differing artistic visions had navigated this album into its more obscure presentation.

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.

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