STRANDED

With its title alluding to the lead track of the previous album, this is yet another classic RM album even if Eno is gone. Coming in are Quartermass's John Gustaffson on bass and Curved Air's Eddie Jobson on violin and keys (unfortunately relieving Ferry from this duty and allowing him to become the full frontman (that will become their ultimate flaw), almost sole writer and future crooner. I mean the man has a great voice and looks to match so this was maybe his fate.

Plenty of still inventive and catchy pop songs, but nothing as mesmerizing than the previous album, one can already feel the slip as Jobson backs Ferry on Just like You. The first side of the vinyl leaves you with a rather imperishable and deceiving feeling of waste - considering whet had been achieved on the second side of previous For Your Pleasure - and unconfirmed talents. If Amazona has flashes of brilliances (Manzanera doe get a credit inn the writing), and the all-too-long Psalm is just slightly interesting. The second side starts with the disastrous Serenade, but the following Song To Europe with its Kevin Ayers-like vocals does make up for the slack of the album (Ferry even singing in French almost managing to sound like giant Jacques Brel and anarchist Leo Ferre). Mother Of Pearl draws some interesting moments, especially after a rocky intro, but never manages to take off. Closing track Sunset could've been interesting if Eno had been there. But on the whole Manzanera is the other absentee except for one Amazona.

Ultimately, I believe this album became the downfall of RM, and the fact that Ferry became even more of a towering force within the group, will lead Manzanera to solo projects such as the superb Canterbury-esque Quiet Sun or later poppier 801. Given the added progressive musicians that this album brought, this album is quite a let down for progheads only, though. And future albums will only confirm this. Incredibly, though, this will not stop RM to have their first #1 album in the UK with their worst album so far as the lead-off track was another top ten hit single with non-album Hula Kula.

BTW, progheads, since it is highly unlikely that I will ever review further albums, Gustafson played bass on the following album Country Life (with its very hung-up teenager artwork), but John Wetton will be replacing him for the tour of that album and further, but he will not do any difference just as he did not when he came in Family.

Exit Eno and his extravanganza. One can hardly replaces a guy like that. But life goes on ... This year has been an incredibly productive for the band and its members : two studio albums, a solo effort from Eno and a solo Ferry one : "This Foolish Things" with Phil and Paul giving a hand as well as John (Porter) and Eddie (Jobson).

As usual so far, the opener is a great track. "Street Life" is another derivate of "Virginia". It will reach the ninth spot in the charts and is of course a highlight of this album.

"Just Like You" is very piano oriented : it is a mellow / croony tune like Ferry will produce during decades with Roxy as well as in his solo carreer. "Amazona" has a very weak opening, kind of bluesy stuff. It goes on with very nice vocal harmonies and pretty strong intrumental effort; alas it ends like it started ...

"Psalm" is a quite long (within Roxy's standards) and pointless track : this song never lifts off : it remains all the way long too repetitive, without any conviction. No great beat as in "Bogus". Ferry has apparently said that this was the first song he ever wrote. It closes the weakest (by far) side of any Roxy album so far.

B-side opens with a great "Serenade" : typical Roxy (Ferry and Manzarena like they used to be, a very strong backing bass and drumming adding to the glory). One the highlight, even if it only lasts for a mere three minutes.

"Song For Europe" will be one their standards for the decades to come in their live performances (I've seen them twice : 1984 and ...2003). Very emotional vocals from Bryan and great sax from Andy. A quiet but beautiful song (with some Frenchy words : was this the start for Europe ?). It is the first track co-written by Ferry and Mackay (more to come). Bryan have said : "Andy came up with the music...it sounded very European to me, so I thought I'd use latin and french and do it as A Song For Europe." It's not the first time than Bryan introduces some French in his text (maybe its "chic" side like this language) : "Tous ces moments, Perdus dans l'enchantement, Qui ne reviendront, Jamais".

"Mother Of Pearl" is probably the most achieved song of this album. Quite rocking in its first part, it turns then to a quieter tempo with a low-tone Ferry and a good strong bass playing. The last part is too repetitive an lacks in interest. The closing "Sunset" is a six minutes uninspired ballad and leaves the listener completely perturbated.

IMO it is by far the weakest of the Roxy album so far. It will reach the first spot though in the UK charts. Three stars.

"Will you swoon, as I croon your serenade"

Released in the same year as "For your pleasure" (it was not unusual in the 1960's and 70's for bands to release two albums in the same year), this was the first album by Roxy Music to witness significant changes in the line up. Eno's departure was more than just the loss of a keyboard player, his futuristic experimentation went with him too. In came accomplished bassist John Gustaffson and violinist Eddie Jobson (who had replaced Daryl Way in Curved Air).

The band's successes in the singles chart lead to the realisation that a strong dance rhythm and an upbeat melody were the best tools for the job as far as success in that area is concerned. Thus "Street life", which introduces the album, was another indicator that the band were prepared to take the king's shilling. This leads to the album having a rather schizophrenic mix of pop singles and decidedly un-pop album tracks. "Amazonia" for example has a wonderfully eclectic structure with Eno-esque guitar effects and a cod reggae beat. "Psalm" is an unabashed religious song penned by Ferry. It builds nicely through 8 minutes from a very quiet start, to an understated but climactic ending, with a Welsh male voice choir accompanying Ferry's vocal. In view of the cynicism such songs tend to evoke, it is an astonishingly brave, but largely successful piece.

"Serenade" could have been another hit single, taking us back into the upbeat pop side of the band. Ferry gives the game away here with the lyric "Will you swoon as I croon your serenade", something he would do on an ever increasing basis both with Roxy Music and as a solo artist. "A song for Europe" is a surprisingly effective ballad with notable sax accompaniment. Perhaps unwisely, Ferry decides to unveil his linguistic skills on the song, rather spoiling the soloing. I think there's even a bit of Latin in there somewhere.

"Mother of pearl" is a strangely muddled number with varying tempo and a distinctly retro feel. In the latter half of its 7 minute running time it settles down into a more conventional Roxy Music standard. The intensely vocal nature of the track is indicative of Ferry's now unchallenged leadership of the band. "Sunset" makes for a fitting, if corny, end to the album. The song is effectively a solo Ferry piece, featuring just voice and piano.

In all, an enjoyable if somewhat uneven album. While the switching between pop rock songs and distinctly album only tracks can be unsettling, there is nothing particularly great or indeed awful about the individual songs.

"Stranded" is the 3rd full-length studio album by UK pop/rock act Roxy Music. The album was released through Island Records (Europe) and Atco Records (US) in November 1973. It´s the successor to "For Your Pleasure" from March 1973 and there´s been two lineup changes since the release of the predecessor as bassist John Gustafson has been added as a permanent member and keyboard player Brian Eno has left and has been replaced by the 19 years old Eddie Jobson (fresh out of a stint with Curved Air) who in addition to playing keyboards also brought his violin playing to the soundscape of Roxy Music.

Eno brought an experimental touch to Roxy Music sound, and the lack of that element has the effect on the material on "Stranded", that it´s generally a little more mainstream oriented, although it´s still quite sophisticated pop/rock. The material is generally well written, relatively memorable, and very well performed. Roxy Music are obviously very skilled musicians and it´s a great asset of the band´s music, to hear such a well playing band perform.

"Stranded" is well produced too, featuring an organic, detailed, and powerful sounding production job, which suits the material perfectly. So while Eno was arguably an integral part of what made the first two Roxy Music albums such unique releases, the band survived his departure and soldiered on without apparent ease and with just small adjustments. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Roxy Music´s third album found the band in a transitional period, when the group lost the very influential Eno and all his synth/tapes experiments (and hence much of the band´s signature sound thus far). With Stranded, Roxy´s music tended to slide more and more towards the mainstream, but it did also maintained the high quality of their material anyway, since Bryan Ferry was still delivering great tunes.

The arrival of such competent players like Eddie Jobson (ex Curved Air) and seasoned bassist John Gustafson as permanent members were a mixed blessing. You see, up till then none of Roxy´s personel was a particulary skillful musician. And that was part of their charm and it worked on their advantage: their approach to rock was free from most cliches that plagued ´serious´ and experienced bands and they more than compensate their lack of virtuosity with lots of creativity and an willingness to experiment.

Two years later they had the chops, but something was missing in the process, and Eno was only one of them. Their slide into a less unpredictable sound was only a matter of time, but they managed to make the long transition with grace. Well, at least Bryan Ferry was still on the top of his form and was still writing great songs. And some of the initial experimentalism stayed on since Jobson was good enough to emulate much of Eno´s manneirisms on the VCS3 synthesizer (ok, not much, but it was better than nothing...). Songs like Street Life, Mother Of Pearl and Just Like You could easily be on the first two albums. The remaining sutff is also good and the only real let down was Psalm, a pseudo, country tinged, gospel song that never works and drags on for 8 minutes.

On the other side we have odd songs like Amazona and the fantastic A Song For Europe, probably one of Roxy´s greatest tunes ever, with a simple, but unforgetable, melody line, inspired lyrics and a powerful, emotional epic ending with Ferry singing verses in latin and french. A real classic!

Production was quite good for the time.

Conclusion: a fine album. Not as good or groundbreaking as the first two, of course, but still of high quality and elegance. Four stars.

There must be some kind of twisted connection between the growing nudity content of Roxy's artwork and the diminishing quality of the actual music. Brian Eno had left the band and I can only conclude that he is clearly missed here.

Things kick off in great fashion as if Eno never left. Street Life is a sharp dressed rocker with great keyboards and the typical artsy Roxy vibe. Also Just Like You is a winner. I's a beautiful lyrical ballad with a tender and subtle emotionality. From then on the inspiration seriously dwindles and the band seems to hesitate between bland classic rock, pop balladry and contrived experiments. Nothing is really bad, but with the exception of A Song For Europe and Sunset maybe, nothing is either memorable or very interesting.

This doesn't rate as a very convincing 3 stars, but given the continued downhill slope on the ensuing albums, 2 stars would probably be too low.

In my (and many other's, though seemingly not so much on this site) eyes, this is the best RM album, yet when I'm listening to it it isn't immediately clear that that should be the case. It doesn't really have any tracks that stand head-and-shoulders above the rest, it's not especially bizarre or "futuristic" sounding, especially in comparison to the Eno albums, and in fact it seems like pretty normal European "romantic" pop and rock that happens to be well-done. As one track after another passes, though, the power of the whole album becomes more and more obvious until anything but a solid ***** seems absolutely out of the question.

This album is so slick and rich that it's amazing to realize that these guys were the first people in rock to do anything along these lines. Yeah, I can hear the "blah blah blah innovation has no bearing on how good an album is" people now, but look; it's one thing to follow a cliche, it's quite another to invent a cliche. Furthermore, it's quite yet another to invent a cliche and use it at such a high quality level that it becomes obvious why so many people would have taken notice of it and latched onto it. This is now Ferry's band, and Ferry's singing on this album spans so many emotions and styles that he basically ensures this album a ***** on his own. It's possible that the opening "Street Life" would pass me by if the instrumental track were done by a different band with a different singer; as is, the hilarious inflections he comes up with "It can take. you. highYA than the Milky Waaaaaaaaay" and with "It can make you. feel. like you're losing your miiiiiiiiiiind" and with "loooooooooving yooou is all I can doooooooooooooooo" are enough to make it a classic. It is entirely possible that without his pleading falsetto I'd find "Just Like You" boring, an average piece of "romantic" fluff, but there's no chance of that happening in what ends up as an emotional classic. It's entirely probable that I'd find the un-ironic gospel of "Psalm" (especially at 8 minutes) unbearably dull if sung by somebody else, but here it just seems terrific.

I don't wish to give the impression, though, that this album is nothing but a piece of crap that's rescued by good singing (as I'm realizing could be inferred by my phrasing in the previous paragraph). "Amazona" stands out a little more than the rest, as it starts as a fun bit of latin dance-boogie (or whatever you want to call it), then goes into a slower croony part, and then gives time for Phil to pull out the sort of "flushing" guitar sound that comes from more processing than what's given to a tax return from somebody claiming his pet rock as a dependent. My favorite use of this sound would actually come later on "King's Lead Hat," but given that he combines this sound with an absolutely astounding adrenaline- pumping guitar break, this has got to rank right up there. And then back to the original latin sound, except with Phil keeping the sound going. Yeah.

The first three songs of the second half are all almost as good, though. "Serenade" is a perfect example of what I'm talking about when I say this album is "rich;" the pianos and guitars and whatever are given a perfect amount of echo, not to mention that it seems like there are layers upon layers of them supporting Ferry's croon. And man, there's just something extra moving to me about that little Ferry middle 8, though I don't really know why ... Anyway, "Song For Europe" is extremely dark and decadent and mournful, a mode that Ferry can seemingly do excellently even in his sleep, and even the parts of him singing/talking in Latin and French work marvelously. And man, those are some really moody saxes going off while he goes off into foreign language land.

Then there's "Mother of Pearl," which starts off as an up-tempo, fairly aggressive rocker with all sorts of chaotic Ferry overdubs ("comingroundthecornerWHOOOOOOOOO"), before settling into a slow piano-based ballad with Ferry singing/emoting marvelously (as usual). And oh man, that's one amazing chorus, and it's especially nice that the coda is nothing but a couple of overdubs of Ferry singing, "Oh mother of pearl, I wouldn't trade you for another girl" again and again.

Of course, the closing "Sunset" sucks, as it's really dull and really long (though it's ok as a mood piece), but that's just one blotch on an otherwise mostly-impeccable album. When I finished listening to this album for the first time, and I sat for a bit taking it all in, I realized very quickly why it was that so many (Even Eno, supposedly and surprisingly) have eagerly deemed this as their favorite Roxy album. Many others have tried to make many songs and albums like this, but few have come close to matching the richness and candor and just plain goodness of this. Get this first.

Proving that he's nothing if not a good sport, Brian Eno identified Roxy Music's Stranded - their first album after his departure - as his favourite. With Eddie Jobson fresh from his stint in Curved Air joining in the keyboardist spot and adding a subtle sprinkling of electric violin to the band's sound, the weird Krautrock-influenced experiments of For Your Pleasure may be gone but what remains is still cool as ice, arty glam rock with prog rock production values and more than a few surprises for listeners who thought Roxy sold out as soon as Eno left the crew. Standout tracks include the driving opening number Street Life and the impassioned Song for Europe.

Roxy, "exiles" Brian Eno, unplug themselves and start their second re-incarnation, musically speaking of course.

STRANDED, the 3th. Roxy Music album, as always with this ensemble, offers "tons" of unexpected surprises. Bryan Ferry "frees" himself of unrequested commitments, to focus on his own conception of what Roxy's music, really was for him. A vehicle for an astounding and exceptional composer and songwriter, as himself, to develop, no matter where or how, as long as it had to do with "musical perfection" , his 'personal" quest.

The essential founders, P Manzanera, A Mackay and B. Ferry, are as always still there. Phil Manzanera's guitar playing enhances the electrified part of the project, alongside new guest Eddie Jobson's debut appearance (electric violin and keys) with this crowd. Mackay's "wind' touch, as usual, appears majestically and briefly, until it explodes entirely in the spectacular and dramatic "Song for Europe", a Roxy jewel among many. There is also the Roxy frenzy as the previous two efforts,and a renewed angle in Ferry's piano playing approach and composition.

What works, what not:.... Creativity as such, is not this band's problem, neither extraordinary and heartfelt performances. Intelligent irreverent lyrics are there (as always), first class arrangements to first class songwriting still a must with the "roxy" style.

On the other side Bryan Ferry's return to his youth's admired legends as he himself has admitted, like Bob Dylan and others, brings along two of the most long winded and boring Roxy's songs in the rather small studio discography (8 albums), "Psalm", (progressive country music?) and the last song "Sunset", a Dylan like reflection, that runs too long.

So...considering this review is intended for all kind of listeners

. ***3.5 PA stars (if not for those 2 songs an easy 4!)

Brian Eno said that "Stranded" was his favorite Roxy Music's record. Paradoxical. But elegant to recognize that without him RM have produced a work of great quality. Is it really like that?

The first song, "Street Life" (rating 7) tries to trace that of the first two albums: a song in the upbeat, a rave up at great speed, but in this case the result is only passable. There is no genius of "Do The Strand" or "Re-make Re-model", there is a good rhythm but it is not as amazing as its predecessors, it lacks the sound orgasm, it lacks in fact almost everything. The second song, always following the scheme of the first two albums, is a piano ballad ("Just Like You", rating 7+), where we see the innate elegance of the composer and singer, who with his voice embellishes a piece that is musically quite trivial. But there is also a nice bass sound: the ex-Quatermass John Gustafson, a great talent, has arrived.

The third piece, "Amazona" (rating 8) is a syncopated pop-rock where the guitar treated by Manzanera (author with Ferry) produces experimental effects worthy of Brian Eno. Until now you don't miss Eno much: Instead, it is Mackay who misses you: where did your saxophone end up? The touch of class of his sound is so far the greatest loss of the record. The fourth piece arrives ("Psalm", rating 7,5), another piano ballad with a slow rhythmic progression, which stunted but ends in crescendo. And above all: finally you can hear Mackay. A good first side ends here. Good but definitely inferior to the excellent quality of the two previous albums.

The second side begins with a two-and-a-half-minute song at a sustained pace (Serenade, rating 7+), a rave up better than the initial track, but the song is too short and it is not as accomplished as "Virginia Plain". A surprise, after this start a bit 'defective, comes the absolute masterpiece that you don't expect: "Song for Europe" (authors Ferry and Mackay, rating 9,5). A dreamy, epic, romantic ballad, from German and French cabaret, where the voice of Ferry, the sound of the piano, the bombastic drums (Paul Thompson) combine to seal an evocative pathos of very high levels, especially when the saxophone of Makay arrives together with the part in French sung by Ferry (for a moment we also heard the violin played by Eddie Jobson). We are talking about a romantic song of evocative quality that few artists can hope to achieve. "Mother of Pearl" is another long track with a rave up beginning that fade away too soon in a ballad without real strength (rating 6,5). The last song, "Sunset" is a slow piano ballad with a beginning similar to "Sea Breezes". The song is too static and does not take off (rating 7). Here maybe you really miss Eno because there is a lack in the arrangements.

Eno ultimately was not right: it's not the best Roxy Music's album. The first two were masterpieces, this is "just" a good album, expecially thank to "Song For Europe".

Medium quality of the songs: 7,5. Rating album: 8+. Four Stars

Review Nº 673

Roxy music was an English progressive rock band that was formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry and the bassist Graham Simpson. Ferry became the band's lead vocalist and also the main songwriter of them. Roxy Music was involved in the art rock movement and had a great fascination with fashion, glamour, cinema and also with pop and avant-garde art, which was a different mark from the other contemporary progressive rock bands in the 70's. Dressed in a very bizarre way, the group played a defiant variation between art rock, avant-rock, pop sound and some electronic experimentation.

"Stranded" is the third studio album of Roxy Music and that was released in 1973. The splendid art cover of the album represents Bryan Ferry's then girlfriend Marilyn Cole, who was the Playmate of the Year in 1973. The line up on the album is Bryan Ferry (vocals, piano and electric piano), Andy MacKay (oboe, saxophone and treatments), Phil Manzanera (guitar and treatments), Eddie Jobson (synthesizers, keyboards and electric violin), John Gustafson (bass guitar), Paul Thompson (drums and timpani) and Chris Lawrence (string bass). On this album, John Gustafson replaced John Porter on the bass. The album had also the participation of The London Welsh Male Choir on chorus on "Psalm".

The album has eight tracks. All songs were written by Bryan Ferry except "Amazona" that was written by Bryan Ferry and Phil Manzanera and "A Song For Europe" that was written by Bryan Ferry and Andy MacKay. The first track "Street Life" was released as a single and is a good way to open the album. It's a song in the pop/rock style, very enjoyable and composed more in the commercial vein. The Bryan Ferry's vocal style is very good and musically it's very well performed. The second song "Just Like You" is one of best, soft and beautiful songs on the album. This is a typical song of what would be many of the future songs written by Bryan Ferry for the group and also for his solo studio albums. It's basically a song composed for the voice and piano of Bryan Ferry but it has also a very melodic and beautiful guitar work by Phil Manzanera. The third track "Amazona" is really a great song and is one of my favourites on the album. This is, in my opinion, probably the most experimental and progressive song on this album. The highlight point of this song is the fantastic guitar performance with great effects by Phil Manzanera that is kept all over the song. The fourth track "Psalm" is, for me, the Achilles heel of this album. It seems that this is the first song written by Bryan Ferry, is a religious gospel song and I always thought that it's quite long, repetitive and boring. Sincerely, I'm convinced that this song is one of the weakest of the group, and to me, it was better on a Bryan Ferry's solo album. The fifth track "Serenade" despite being one of the shortest songs composed by the group is a great song too. It's a very strong song with good vocals, great guitar, good bass and powerful drums. It's one of the strongest points of the album. The sixth track "A Song For Europe" is, in my opinion and without any doubt, the highest point on the album and I think that is probably the best song made by the group. It's a quiet and very beautiful song, one of the most loved by their fans and one of the most played live by them during decades. It's a song with beautiful and very emotional vocals by Bryan Ferry and with a fantastic and very beautiful saxophone work performed by Andy MacKay. It's a very European song where Bryan Ferry decided to unveil his linguistic skills on the song, singing in Latin and French beyond singing in his mother language, the English. On the final, the song ends with the charming whistling of Bryan Ferry. It's a fantastic song. The seventh track "Mother Of Pearl" is the other song with "Amazon", which appears with the same spirit of art rock, avant-garde, experimentation and the progressively of their two previous albums. The song is divided into two distinct parts. The first part has a crazy rock rhythm very aggressive and somewhat chaotic The second part is more a conventional slow ballad with very emotional Bryan Ferry's singing very well accompanied by one very safe and amazing chorus. The last track "Sunset" is a good way to ending the album. This is a typical song totally composed by the voice and the piano of Bryan Ferry. It's a very pleasant song which provides us a wholly enjoyable and enchanting listening, indeed.

Conclusion: "Stranded" represents a mark in the change of the musical direction of the group. Without Brian Eno their music lost the avant-garde and the experimentalism of their previous two studio albums and became more art rock and pop art rock. By the other hand it's the first album where all the music isn't all written by Bryan Ferry. This happened due to the complaints of the other members about Bryan Ferry's composition dominance. The musicianship of the album is excellent, the production is very professional and it sounds very well. "Stranded" is, for me, one of the most sophisticated and charming albums ever made. This is, without any doubt, their best musical work after the departure of Brian Eno. Even Eno later rated it as Roxy Music's finest album. So, if you're interested in the most progressive phase of Roxy Music, without the avant-garde of their two first albums, "Stranded" will be the ideal place to start, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)