ROXY MUSIC

This album is a real milestone... with some fillers (and this preserves me from giving it five stars), but still a milestone. It demonstrates that progressive rock, back in the early 1970s, was a real "umbrella" genre, a tension shaking the whole universe of rock, in those years rapidly changing and evolving. If possible, some songs would deserve more than five stars. First of all, because, despite featuring such melodies, experimentation and superb musicianship you won't easily find elsewhere, they keep a severe "song" format. "Re-make, Re-model" is the first one, a real maddening piece, supersonic glam rock, the ultimate 21st century boogie. Brian Ferry's vocals are already full of personality and charm, while Eno's "pataphisical" work at the VCS3 is already impressive. "Ladytron" is "sexy" and refined, displaying Andy Mackay's talent at its best (I'm mad for his oboe). The last song in this list is, IMO, the best on this album and one of the real jewel in prog rock: "2HB" is a timeless track, dynamic, beautifully arranged, with an unforgettable vocal melody, a chorus I would define epic and that tape-echoed sax solo... The good surprises are not over and you will find the beautiful "If there is something", beginning almost as a country rock pieces and evolving into a symphonic piece (also with mellotron chords) without ever changing its drum pattern! "Virginia Plane" is pure, exciting experimental pop... would you imagine bubblegum rock with experimental synths and a "riffing" oboe? The complex "The Bob" starts almost as a Black Sabbath's piece and then shifts to magnetic-band assembling, rock'n'roll, some symphonic passages... really amazing. And then come the fillers... "Sea Breezes" would be good enough, weren't it for that awful middle section which probably Mr Ferry considered experimental or surprising, but it isn't really so. In "Chance Meeting" Manzanera tries to turn himself into Mr Fripp and makes you only want to lower down the volume of your stereo, while "Would you believe", despite starting with experimental synths, is no more than an average Alvin Stardust piece. Luckily enough, the album ends with the short, but beautiful "Bitter's end", 1920s cabaret with eno's treated percussions and good vocal harmonies (as well as Mackay's magic sax). Overall, I repeat: a milestone.

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