MANIFESTO

2,5 stars, really. Four years after Siren, their last classic line up album, Bryan Ferry decided to reform his old band, since his solo career was not bringing him the success he was hoping for. This time it was basically the core members (Ferry, guitarist Phil Manzanera, saxophonist Andy MacKay and drummer Paul Thompson). Eddie Jobson was not asked to join this time (and by then leading UK with John Wetton and Bill Bruford, it is unlikely he would say yes if so anyway). Obviously the bass player would be someone different again this time (Roxy never really had a permanent one). So Paul Carrack (Ace) joined in playing keyboards and Gary Tibbs (Vibrators, Adam And the Ants) was recruited for the bass duties.

The result was not exactly what fans were expecting. Ok, the opener, Manifesto, was a great one. Fantastic bass lines, gorgeous keys and that marvellous mad guitar we all know and love. But the second one Trash gives you a hint of what was to come: ordinary pop tune and fine playing, nothing more. I´m still wondering why they chose such weak tune to be their first single. However it is easy to guess why it was not a hit! Angel Eyes is the track that made fans cringe: a pure pop/disco tune. You almost have to admire their nerve to release something so blatantly disco in a time disco was labelled as the worst possible sell out one could have come up with. Clearly Roxy was ahead of their time doing things New Romantics would soon were bound to produce with much greater success.

Manifesto had another fine track: Strong Through The Years. A six minute tune with a minimalist, hypnotic riff and a convincing performance by all musicians, especially Ferry. It could have been included on one of their classic albums. And I must say I like Dance Away very much: it has some clever lyrics, great melody and an interesting rhythm track (which would be later used again for Ferry´s smash 80´s hit Slave to Love). Unfortunately the remaining tracks are just forgettable stuff. Nice, ok, well played too, but not on par with anything Roxy had released before.

Oddly enough, the album was a commercial success, reaching number 7 in the UK and going as high as number 23 in the US. Dance Away was also a number two hit and the Angel Eyes remix a top five hit. They were finally reaching the mainstream (the follow up, the slicker and even more polished Flesh + Blood would be even bigger, reaching number 1 in England)

In the end I guess this album is much weaker than anything they had released so far. it has some pleasant stuff on it, but the experimental/progressive side was almost completely wiped out. What was left were mostly well performed pop songs.