THE COLLECTION

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 It's a very interesting song which was originally made to be released as a hit single.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*)

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