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I can't see any reason for a Roxy Music reunion tour besides pure mercenary nostalgia, but it's still good to hear Bryan Ferry and the boys (and girls) together again, and near peak form too. And, unlike a lot of other aging rock stars trading on past glories, this at least is a legitimate reunion, with four fifths of the acclaimed mid-70s line-up present and accounted for.

First the good news: the always underrated Paul Thompson is back behind his drum set again, and more than anything else it's his rock-steady downbeat that conjures up the quintessential spirit of classic Roxy Music. Another silver lining is the addition of Chris Spedding, hanging his leather jacket alongside Roxy mainstay Phil Manzanera in a match made in air-guitar heaven. Spedding could always be found somewhere inside the binary orbit of both Ferry's and Brian Eno's early solo careers, and on his own was a post-Punk guitar hero of the first magnitude (remember the album "Hurt By Love"?).

Speaking of Eno, no one really expected such a forward-thinking celebrity to dust off his pink feather boa for a return engagement (in a mere supporting role) of his early Roxy hermaphrodite alter ego. But Eddie Jobson is conspicuously absent as well, and the lack of his Plexiglas electric violin leaves a hole on stage too big for even the talents of his replacement Lucy Wilkins to fill. Meanwhile the Roxy Music Revolving Door Bass Player Policy is still in place. It would have been nice to hear ex-Crimson King John Wetton holding down the low end of the stage again, but newcomer Zev Katz fills the bill well enough, although I suspect he was offered the gig on the strength of his appropriately stylish name.

But what about the music? The two-CD set opens with a blistering version of "Re- Make/Re-Model", and then continues on a whirlwind 22-track tour of the band's back catalogue, spliced seamlessly together from shows all around the world. There aren't many unexpected choices in the set list, but fans will be relieved to find the majority of songs lifted from their first three influential albums (although the single best represented LP is, of course, their popular 1982 studio swan-song "Avalon").

The real surprises are the stunning extended versions of two otherwise routine Roxy ballads: "While My Heart is Still Beating" and "My Only Love" (off the later "Avalon" and "Flesh & Blood" albums, respectively). The former allows Manzanera a long, nervous, effects-filled solo in a very Fripp-like mood, and the latter gives Spedding a turn in the spotlight, with his slow, emotional guitar solo building into one of the more ecstatic musical climaxes since Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky".

Later, after a likewise superb "Mother of Pearl" (with both guitarists deliciously trading licks under Ferry's world-weary party animal croon), the show more or less devolves into a slick, predictable parade of greatest hits: "Dance Away", "Jealous Guy", "Love is the Drug" and so forth, all played with spirit but hardly straying from the studio originals by as much as a single note.

And that's a problem. There's a certain lack of spontaneity to the project, with nothing to upset the delicate clockwork timing of the newly re-tuned Roxy Machine. Heck, even Eno's little VCS3 synthesizer squirts at the fade-out of "Re-Make/Re-Model" are reproduced (pre-recorded?) verbatim, some thirty years after adorning the band's self- titled 1972 debut.

Couldn't they have taken a few more liberties with such well-worn, already familiar material? In my dusty vinyl library is a bootleg from the 1975 "Siren" tour, and during the thumbnail solo spots at the end of "Re/Make" you can hear micro-samples of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" (Manzanera), Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" (Mackay), "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (Ferry, who covered the golden oldie on his second solo album), and something from Jobson sounding like a pastiche of "Three Blind Mice".

I guess the new band was too hard at work to risk having a little fun, unlike in the old days, when the vulgar overkill of Antony Price's outrageous wardrobe designs were all the rage. On the other hand, song for song these new versions all sound better than the originals, if only because the live production is so sharp and the performances so well-rehearsed. If not for the applause you might never even guess it was a concert recording.

In its entirety the twin CD is a much stronger valedictory than the somewhat mechanical 1990 live set "Heart Still Beating". The encore alone is almost worth the near-two decade wait for another tour: a suitably ghostly reading of the "For Your Pleasure" title track, maybe the high water mark of early Roxy Music weirdness. As the hypnotic coda slowly fades into the ether (with, take note, the audience edited out altogether), we're left with what may be the perfect farewell to Brian Ferry and company...until the next tour, of course, or better yet (cross your fingers) a new reunion, this time in the recording studio.

This is the ultimate Roxy Live album. When I reviewed Viva! I mentioned that most of their giant numbers were not represented. It was slightly corrected, in a way, with "Heart Still Beating" in 1990.

What the fan gets here, is what he has expected from Roxy during the last twenty-five years or so. Like the cover mentions : "The Best Of Roxy Music - Live In Concert". As it was a reunion tour, Roxy had no album to support, so they offered a kaleidoscope of their fabulous repertoire.

The original line-up (except Eno unfortunately) was re-united for the occasion. As a guest, Chris Spedding was playing rythm guitar. It is quite remarkable that after having the bass player from The Vibrators (Gary Tibbs featured on Manifesto and Flesh+Blood) they enrolled another member of this association (you know the one reponsible for pogo dancing : one goes up, must come down!) with Chris Spedding.

Roxy had the brilliant idea to include very old numbers in this tour. What a nice gift to its old fan database (to which I belong). I saw this tour and it was quite a pleasant concert I must say.

Even their great debut album is featured with three of its most interesting songs (but all of them were great, IMO) : "Re-Make-Re-Model", "Ladytron" and "Virginia Plain" featured on the CD remastered version. Four songs from "For Your Pleasure" : the title track, "Do the Strand", "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" and "Editions of You" which is totally devastating here (almost punkish). The best three songs from their third album sit here as well : "Street Life", "A Song For Europe" and an extraordinary version of "Mother Of Pearl".

My only regret is that their last two albums from their early days (the one I like the most, by far honestly) are under-represented. Only "Out Of The Blue", (wonderfully played) from "Country Life". I would have liked to hear "Casanova" and "Prairie Rose" but these tracks were only played live during the "Country Life" supporting tour).

From "Siren" we get "Both Ends Burning" for the third time in a row on a live album. This version is far much better than the one available on "Heart Still Beating". The second and last number from "Siren" is of course "Love Is The Drug" which has been played in each Roxy tour since 1975. "Whirlwind" and "Sentimental Fool" would have been great as well.

From their second era, I really miss "Manifesto" (but it was featured on "Concerto") and "Same Old Scene". The remaining numbers are not really my cup of tea in terms of studio albums (you can read my review to get details, but each one was rated with two stars) so getting them live do not really change my mind about them.

If, like me, you are a Roxy maniac, you'll create your own "Best Of - Roxy Live" compilaton from their four live offical albums. If you are a casual fan, I highly recommend this one. Four stars.