ROXY MUSIC

I already reviewed some of the discography of Roxy Music on Progarchives. Everybody who knows me on this site and is used to read what I wrote about Roxy Music knows that I'm a big fan of the band. But, above all, I consider Roxy Music as one of the most important and innovative bands of the 70's and one of the most influential bands in the music of the 80's. Of course I'm referring of the many bands that belong to what was called the new wave movement and that where strongly influenced by Roxy Music's music. I'm talking especially about the music that belongs to their two first studio albums, their eponymous debut and "For Your Pleasure". Both were really two of the most avant-garde works.

"The Atlantic Years 1973-1980" is one of the many compilation albums of the band mentioned on this site. It was released in 1983. As its name indicates, this is a compilation album that is only focused in the Atlantic years of the band and that only covers the years between 1973 and 1980. So, it doesn't cover the entire musical career of Roxy Music.

"The Atlantic Years 1973-1980" is compilation album with ten tracks. The first track "Dance Away" is a song originally recorded on their sixth studio album "Manifesto" and that was released in 1979. Despite it has 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 second track "Angel Eyes" is also a song originally recorded on their sixth studio album "Manifesto". It's another very pop oriented song featuring a rock style. It's better than some of the many songs on "Manifesto". It's very well performed in spite of be a normal and very simple song. The third track "Over You" is a song originally recorded on their seventh studio album "Flesh + Blood" and that was released in 1980. It's a song with a high melodic guitar work, accompanied by pulsating drums and bass. This is another catchy pop song very well made reaching its objectives perfectly well. The fourth track "Love Is The Drug" is a song originally recorded on their fifth studio album "Siren" and that was released in 1975. It's an incredible song, very melodic and with good quality. It has an incredible performance. 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 fifth track "Oh Yeah" is a song originally recorded on their seventh studio album "Flesh + Blood". It's a very catchy pop song which is very well made and that improves, in general, the good commercial quality of the song writing of their album "Flesh + Blood". The sixth track "Ain't That So" is another song originally recorded on their sixth studio 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 seventh track "My Only Love" is a song originally recorded on their seventh studio album "Flesh + Blood". In my opinion, this is the type of songs that pushed Roxy Music into lush soundscapes. It's a song with a very simple and catchy melody and wistful lyrics and also with nice guitar and saxophone sounds. This is another great pop song, really. The eighth track "In The Midnight Hour" is another song originally recorded on their seventh studio album "Flesh + Blood". It's a cover of a song of Wilson Pickett and Steve Cropper originally performed by Wilson Pickett in 1965 and released on his 1966's album "The Exciting Wilson Pickett". Sincerely, I don't know the original song, but from what I've read, this version is completely different. It's a very good song with a cool sound that has become a cult classic Roxy Music's song. The ninth track "Still Falls The Rain" is one more song originally recorded on their sixth studio album "Manifesto". It's a very nice song with some funky influences. It's probably the most beautiful song made on "Manifesto", very simple and with some great musical moments on it. The tenth track "Do The Strand" is a song originally recorded on their second studio album "For Your Pleasure" and that was released in 1973. It's a perfect way to open "For Your Pleasure" brilliantly. This is a song with a fantastic vocal performance by Bryan Ferry that sung some strange and curious lyrics. It's also a track with a great guitar, keyboard and saxophone performances, very well accompanied by some strong and vigorous drums. This is an excellent song plenty of energy.

Conclusion: "The Atlantic Years 1973-1980" is a bit different compilation album of Roxy Music. As I mentioned before, this is a compilation album focused on their albums released to Atlantic Records, with only tracks that belong to their albums released between 1973 and 1980. Thus, "The Atlantic Years 1973-1980" doesn't cover all Roxy Music's career. So, it doesn't cover their debut and last studio albums, "Roxy Music" and "Avalon". But, besides of that, "The Atlantic Years 1973-1980" is essentially focused on their pop/disco phase. It has eight tracks from their two weakest studio albums, four from "Manifesto" and four from "Flesh + Blood". On the contrary, it has only one track from "For Your Pleasure", one track from "Siren" and it doesn't have tracks from "Country Life". So, "The Atlantic Years 1973-1980" is by no meanings a balanced and representative compilation album of the band. If you need one, there are better options.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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*)

Roxy Music had a huge significant influence in the early punk movement, providing a new model for many of the new wave bands and for some electronic groups that appeared in the early of the 80's. Of the many artists and bands who have claimed Roxy Music as an influence band on their music, we have an amount of them like Madness, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Cars, Grace Jones, Kate Bush, Adam Ant, The Human League, Japan, Duran Duran, ABC, Spandau Ballet, Depeche Mode, The Fixx, Men Without Hats, Annie Lennox from The Tourists and Euythmics, Morrisey from The Smits, Jarvis Cocker from Pulp and Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy, for instance. Of course, many of these bands and artists aren't really progressive, but some of them made some interesting musical works and were famous in those times. Still, we even can also find two of them on this site. I'm talking about Japan and Kate Bush.

"Greatest Hits" has eleven tracks. The first track "Virginia Plain" was a song that was released on their debut single. The song wasn't present on the original version of their debut studio album "Roxy Music", and hasn't been recorded when the album was released. However, after the success of their debut studio album, it was included on later reissues of it. It was also released as a new single, together with "Pyjamarama", in 1977. It's a very interesting song which was made originally to be released as a hit single. It has some good interesting appointments of Brian Eno. The second track "Do The Strand" is from their album "For Your Pleasure". It's a perfect way to open that album brilliantly. It's a song with a fantastic vocal work by Bryan Ferry that sung curious lyrics, and it has also great guitar, keyboard, and saxophone performances, very well accompanied by some strong and vigorous drums. This is an excellent song plenty of energy. The third track "All I Want Is You" is from their album "Country Life". It's a very powerful song full of energy, very melodic and with another absolute fantastic guitar work performed by Phil Manzanera. The fourth track "Out Of The Blue" is also from their album "Country Life". It's a rock song with plenty of energy with great vocals, good piano, great synthesizer effects, a fantastic violin solo and an amazing guitar work. Soon, it became as one of the favourite songs of the fans in their live concerts. The fifth track "Pyjamarama" was never released on any studio album of the band. It was released as a single to promote their album "For Your Pleasure". As I said before, it was also released as a new single, together with "Virginia Plain". It shows the true essence of Roxy Music. Like many of the early Roxy Music's tracks, it's fantastic and rocks nicely. The guitar work is great. The sixth track "Editions Of You" is from their album "For Your Pleasure". It's a song with a high rhythm, full of energy and very wild. The absolute fantastic moments by the saxophone of Andy Mackay, the guitar of Phil Manzanera and the synthesizer of Brian Eno are completely amazing. This is one of the most fantastic songs made by Roxy Music. The seventh track "Love Is The Drug" is from their album "Siren". It's an incredible song, very melodic and with great quality. It has an incredible performance. Andy MacKay and his saxophone are absolutely great, Phil Manzanera and his guitar work is great too and Bryan Ferry and his vocals are fantastic as always. The eighth track "Mother Of Pearl" is from their album "Stranded". It has the spirit of art rock and the avant-garde experimentation of their two previous studio albums. It's divided into two parts. The first part is a crazy rock rhythm, aggressive and chaotic and the second part is more a conventional slow ballad with very emotional Bryan Ferry's singing supported by some amazing chorus. The ninth track "A Song For Europe" is also from their album "Stranded". It's a quiet and beautiful song, one of the most loved songs by their fans and one of the most played live by them. It's a song with beautiful and emotional vocals by Bryan Ferry and has a fantastic and beautiful saxophone work performed by Andy MacKay. The tenth track "The Thrill Of It All" is from their album "Country Life". It's a great opener for "Country Life", which is usual with 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 eleventh track "Street Life" is from their album "Stranded". It's a song in the pop/rock style, enjoyable and composed in a commercial vein. It's well performed and Bryan Ferry's vocal style is good too, as usual.

Conclusion: "Greatest Hits" is another very good compilation album of Roxy Music. As happened with their other compilation album "The Early Years" released in 1989, it has also an amount of tracks that belong to some of their best studio albums. In this case, I'm talking about tracks that belong to their first five studio albums, "Roxy Music", "For Your Pleasure", "Stranded", "Country Life" and "Siren". These five albums belong to what is considered Roxy Music's golden era. So, we can say that "Greatest Hits" is really a nice introduction to Roxy Music's career. All these albums are essential, especially the first two ones which are considered, in general, two of the best and most innovative and influential albums in music. With "Greatest Hits" we can have a good picture of some of the best music made by them.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Founded by art students in the early of 70's, the band around Bryan Ferry initially made prog rock music before making radio hits in the 80's. Other important founding members were Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay. The music performed by Roxy Music is characterized by the use of nostalgic, contemporary and futuristic themes, which was one of the hallmarks of the band. Roxy Music is also known by the combination of the experimentation, innovation and refinement, by the lyricism in their lyrics, by instrumental virtuosos themes and a great and lush visual production.

"For Your Pleasure" is the second studio album of Roxy Music that was released in 1973. The beautiful art cover of the album features Amanda Lear, a singer and model who first came to the public attention as the model of the cover of this album and who would later dated David Bowie. All songs were written by Bryan Ferry. The line up of this album is Bryan Ferry (vocals, piano, Hohner Pianet, Mellotron and harmonica), Brian Eno (backing vocals and VCS3 synthesizer), Andy MacKay (oboe, saxophone and Farfisa electronic organ), Phil Manzanera (electric guitar), John Porter (bass guitar) and Paul Thompson (drums). There's a slight difference between the line up of this album and the line up of their previous debut album, because Graham Simpson left the group and was replaced by John Porter. "For Your Pleasure" is also their last musical work to feature the specialist synthesizer sound of Brian Eno. Brian Eno left the group after this album due to discussions with Bryan Ferry about divergences over the band's musical direction and also because Bryan Ferry's dominance of the band. Eno, who would later on gain high acclaim as a solo artist and musical producer.

"For Your Pleasure" has eighth tracks. The first track "Do The Strand" is a perfect way to open the album brilliantly. It's a song with a fantastic vocal work by Bryan Ferry that sings curious lyrics and it has also great guitar, keyboards and saxophone performances, very well accompanied by some strong and vigorous drums. It's an excellent song plenty of energy. The second track "Beauty Queen" is a song more experimental than the previous. It's a nice and cool melodic song but it has also a harder rock part. This is a song where the highlight goes to Bryan Ferry's vocals and Brian Eno's synthesizers. This is a great glam rock song. The third track "Strictly Confidential" is a dark and melancholic song very calm and slow. It's a song with Bryan Ferry emotional vocals, and musically, it has a nice oboe played by Andy MacKay, a stunning guitar solo by Phil Manzanera, and the drumming work by Paul Thompson is amazing too. The fourth track "Editions Of You" is, without any doubt, one of highest moments on this album. This is the best rock moment of the album. This is a song with a very high rhythm full of energy and very wild. The absolutely fantastic musical moments by the saxophone of Andy Mackay, the guitar of Phil Manzanera and the synthesizer of Brian Eno, are completely amazing. This is one of the fantastic songs of the group. The fifth track "In Every Dream Home A Heartache" is, once again, another dark and melancholic song. We may say that this song is divided into two different parts. In the first part the Bryan Ferry's voice dominates and the musical instruments glide in a kind of a limbo and in the second part the music explodes with good individual performances by all musicians, especially by Phil Manzanera. The sixth track "The Bogus Man" is one of the most original, experimental, adventurous and artistic songs on the album. The lyrics are dark and disturbing and the music seems to be very insane, but I like particularly of the excellent sound of the Mellotron played by Bryan Ferry. This is a great song. The seventh track "Grey Lagoons" is a much more traditional Roxy Music's song. This is a rock song very well balanced with great individual performances where we can hear a great guitar sound, an aggressive saxophone and also the beautiful sound of the harmonica of Bryan Ferry. The eighth and last track, the title track "For Your Pleasure", is the magnum opus of this album. This is a very weird and dark song with strange sound effects which leaves you surprised and confused with the end of this album. We can clearly see the Brian Eno's hand in this song and we may say that this is his farewell to the group. This is a fantastic track, one of my favourites from them.

Conclusion: "Roxy Music" and "For Your Pleasure" are the two Roxy Music's less accessible albums but they are also at the same time the best and the most experimental and avant-garde of their career. Both albums represent the most interesting phase of the band for progheads. Although I have rated both albums with 5 stars, "For Your Pleasure" is, in my humble opinion, better because is more balanced, mature and adult than their debut. Ferry took the reins a little more here than on the debut. So, Eno's influence diminished. There's no doubt this was the album which put the art into rock. With this album we can say that on the air, there's a new sensation and a fabulous creation in the music. So, sit on your couch, relax and listen this album because its music was made only for you pleasure. We can question what would have been Roxy Music if Eno stayed in the band. But, I really think there was no place for Ferry and Eno here.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Roxy Music was a prog art rock band from UK that was founded in London in the early of the 70's by Bryan Ferry. Ferry, who was graduated from art school, became the group's lead vocalist and the main songwriter. The band's name is a reference to the titles of old cinemas and dance halls and a pun with the worth rock. Ferry first named the band Roxy, but when he knew that there was a US band with the same name, he changed its name to Roxy Music. Roxy Music's debut features an entertaining mix of styles, even within the songs, which unrestrainedly crosses all genre boundaries.

Roxy Music isn't only interesting because Brian Eno was in the first albums, although I already share the opinion that the first two albums were the best of the band in terms of technology and progressivity. If you only know some hits of the band mainly from later years, you get a wrong picture. In reality, Roxy Music offers much more. Already on the first self-titled album everything is there, what comes later and much more. And the album sounds clearly progressive here.

So, "Roxy Music" is the eponymous debut studio album of Roxy Music that was released in 1972. The sexy cover of the album features the model Kari-Ann Muller, who later married Chris Jagger, the brother of Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. All songs were written by Bryan Ferry. The line up on this album is Bryan Ferry (vocals, piano, Hohner Pianet and Mellotron), Brian Eno (backing vocals, VCS3 synthesizer and tape effects), Andy MacKay (backing vocals, oboe and saxophone), Phil Manzanera (electric guitar), Graham Simpson (bass guitar) and Paul Thompson (drums). The album had also the participation of Rik Kenton (bass) on "Virginia Plain". "Roxy Music" has ten tracks. The first track "Re-Make/Re-Model" is the song that opens brilliantly this album in a great rocking style. We can say that this is a perfect card for what would become the type of the band's music, especially on their first two studio albums. It's also a song where each member of the band could shine at solo, especially Andy MacKay and Phil Manzanera which would be the two pillars of the group with Bryan Ferry. The second track "Ladytron" is another fantastic song. Despite having a bizarre start is a very melodic song where we can see the great influence of Brian Eno's hand. Also deserves emphasis the use of an oboe by Andy MacKay and the powerful sound of the drums of Paul Thompson. The third track "If There Is Something" is a different song with two distinct parts. It begins as a rock calm song but it changes and gradually becomes more intense. This is a song where the performance of Andy MacKay shines, very well supported by Phil Manzanera and Paul Thompson on the back. This is one of the highest points of this album. The fourth track "Virginia Plain" wasn't part of the original UK LP. It's a very interesting song which was made originally to be released as a single hit. It has some good interesting musical appointments by Brian Eno. The fifth track "2 H.B.", as the name says, is a song made to pay tribute to Humphrey Bogart, one of the great cult film stars. It's a very beautiful song where the main emphasis goes entirely to Bryan Ferry and his lyrics, and also by to the nice and very interesting spacey and futuristic keyboard work. The sixth track "The Bob (Medley)" is about the Battle of Britain in the World War II. It's a more experimental and original track than the previous one. It's a good and interesting song very original. The seventh track "Chance Meeting" is without any doubt one of the most original and bold songs of the band. This is one of the most avant-garde and experimental songs, thanks mainly to the spatial and futuristic sounds of Brian Eno's synthesizers. The eighth track "Would You Believe?" is probably one of the most atypical Roxy Music's songs on the album. It's a typical Rock'n'Roll song with very interesting individual performances by all the musicians. The ninth track "Sea Breezes" is a fantastic song, very beautiful but at the same time very strange. It's the lengthiest song on the album with a very quiet and slow beginning followed by a long experimental part. This is another most avant-garde experimental song of the group. The tenth track "Bitters End" is a very strange way to close this album. It's a nice and a bizarre song that seems be part of the ambience of a cabaret show. It brings a little bit fun to the end of this album.

Conclusion: "Roxy Music" is an excellent, original and a fantastic debut musical work of the group. "Roxy Music" and "For Your Pleasure" are the two albums that represents the first musical period of the band which corresponds to the most experimental and avant-garde period of them. They represent also the most interesting phase for all progheads. Some songs of this album remind me the new wave, especially "Ladytron" that reminds me the debut album of Simple Minds, "Life In A Day". That isn't surprising because Roxy Music is one of the greatest inspirations of the new wave movement. To finish, I strongly recommend this album to all fans of the progressive rock music, especially for those who don't have the idea that the progressive rock is only for the traditional progressive bands like Genesis, Yes, King Crimson and Pink Floyd. However, you must have your mind open to hear this original and unique progressive band.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

'The Best Of Roxy Music' is a compilation album of Roxy Music. This is a compilation album that represents all the musical phases of the group where all the studio albums of them are represented. Curiously, the band and their record label decided put the songs in a descending order, from the newest to the oldest, probably for commercial reasons.

'The Best Of Roxy Music' has eighteen tracks. 'Avalon' is from 'Avalon'. It has good lyrics and the music is perfect inviting us to dance slowly like when the party is over. The voice of Ferry is great and the female chorus is warm with a nice touch. 'More Than This' is also from 'Avalon'. It's a commercial pop song made for an easy radio listening. This is a hit pop song of the 80's. 'Jealous Guy' is a cover of an original of Lennon. It was originally released on 'Imagine' in 1971. It was released as a single, and was made after the dead of Lennon as a tribute to him. It was never released on any of their studio albums. This is a great version. 'Over You' is from 'Flesh + Blood'. It has a melodic guitar work with pulsating drums and bass. This is a catchy pop song, well made, reaching its objectives well. 'Same Old Scene' is from 'Flesh + Blood'. It has a strong bass line, nice vocals, great keyboards and a fantastic saxophone work by MacKay. This is a great Roxy Music's song. 'Oh Yeah' is from 'Flesh + Blood'. It's a very catchy pop song, well made, and that improves the good commercial quality of the song writing on 'Flesh + Blood'. 'Angel Eyes' is from 'Manifesto'. It's a pop oriented song featuring a rock style. It's better than many songs on 'Manifesto'. It's well performed despite be a merely a simple song. 'Dance Away' is also from 'Manifesto'. Despite it has nothing of progressive, it has good simple lyrics, a nice melody and a great dancing rhythm. 'Both Ends Burning' is from 'Siren'. It's one of my favourite songs, one of the most loved and one the most performed live by the band. It has a fantastic incredible performance. 'Love Is The Drug' is also from 'Siren'. It's an incredible song, melodic and with good quality. It has an incredible performance. MacKay and his saxophone are great, Manzanera and his guitar work is great too and Ferry and his vocals are fantastic, as always. 'Out Of The Blue' is from 'Country Life'. It's a great rock song with plenty of energy, nice vocals, good piano, great synthesizer effects, a fantastic violin solo and an amazing guitar work. It became as one of the favourite songs in their live concerts. 'All I Want Is You' is from 'Country Life'. It's a powerful song full of energy, very melodic and with a fantastic guitar work by Manzanera. 'Mother Of Pearl' is from 'Stranded'. It has the spirit and the avant-garde experimentation of their two previous studio albums. It's divided into two parts. The first is a crazy rock rhythm, aggressive and chaotic and the second is more a conventional slow ballad with emotional Ferry's singing supported by an amazing chorus work. 'Street Life' is from 'Stranded'. It has an enjoyable pop/rock style and is composed in the commercial vein. It's well performed and Ferry's vocal style is good. 'Do The Strand' is from 'For Your Pleasure'. It's a song with a fantastic vocal work by Ferry that sing curious lyrics, and that has also some great guitar, keyboards and saxophone performances, very well accompanied by some strong and vigorous drums. This is an excellent song plenty of energy. 'Pyjamarama' was never released on any studio album of the band. It was released as a single to promote their second studio album 'For Your Pleasure'. It was also released as a new single, together with 'Virginia Plain'. It shows the true essence of Roxy Music. Like many of the early Roxy Music's tracks it rocks nicely. The guitar work is great. '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 studio 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 made originally to be released as a single hit. It has some good interesting musical appointments by Eno. 'Re-Make/Re-Model' is from 'Roxy Music'. It opens nicely their eponymous debut in a great rock style. This is a perfect card for the music on their first two albums. It's a song where each member could shine, especially MacKay and Manzanera which would become the two pillars of the group, with Ferry, of course.

Conclusion: 'The Best Of Roxy Music' is a compilation album very well representative of the entire history of Roxy Music with the concern of having about two representative songs from each of their studio albums. We can say that the choice of the songs was very good. Most of them are some of the best songs written by the band and many of them were usually performed live by the group. However, it has some problems. I can't believe that 'A Song For Europe' has been excluded when it's one of the best songs written by them, an authentic hymn of the group. I can't understand why they choose a disco/pop version of 'Angel Eyes' when the original version is much better. Finally, and this is only a question of personal taste, I don't agree with the inclusion of 'Pyjamarama'. Despite good, I never liked particularly of that song. So, I can only rate this compilation with 3 stars. If it weren't for that, I probably would have rate it with 4 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

In my opinion Bryan Ferry is a whole lot better vocalist than John Lennon, and he really captures the passion of this regretful love song. His whistle solo is also fine. Phil Manzanera's elegant guitar solo is immediately followed by Andy Mackay's saxophone solo, both being very brief though. All in all the version remains pretty faithful to Lennon's somewhat weakly produced original. As a side note, I often feel a bit uncertain with my memory whether 'Jealous Guy' was a Roxy Music or a Bryan Ferry release. He released some solo albums already during Roxy's halcyon days, and concentrated on his solo career after the 1983 Avalon tour.

The B side offered a foretaste of the then upcoming final Roxy Music album Avalon: 'To Turn You On' is a good example of that album's finesse and charm. I've enjoyed Avalon since my youth and it's still much dearer to me than the 70's art rock output. Now, I'm faithful to my usual approach when reviewing non-progressive material and give a good rating for this single purely on the pop scale.

The first song, "The Thrill of It All", as always, is a rave up that follows the heat of the openings of the first three albums: it's better than Street Life, but is less inspired, too mechanical in comparison of ReMake ReModel and Do the Strand - although it's a song with a beautiful effect (Rating 8).

The second song is a rather glossy and harmless romantic ballad, where a country harmonica appears, Perhaps too relaxed. Rating 7+.

The third song is the faded copy of Virginia Plain, played with enthusiasm, reproducing Manzanera's rattling guitar, which seems to follow a trajectory all his own, separated from the rest of the group. The song is not entirely successful but it has a lot of potential, and an overwhelming rock rhythm. Rating 7.5 / 8.

Out of the Blue tries to reproduce a ballad with a vaguely electronic background, as Brian eno did, and manages to create a very refined, almost thriller atmosphere, with a great work on percussion and bass (Thompson and Gustafson). The music flows pleasantly, and if it is not entirely a new sound (it recalls that of the previous albums), it remains a music of master class. Excellent instrumental coda with solo by Manzanera and Gustafson. Rating 7.5 / 8.

The first side ends with a typically English vaudeville, very ironic, a catchy country-pop with a very inspired Ferry on the singing. Unpretentious commercial music but beautifully arranged and performed perfectly. Rating 7.5.

Second side.

It begins with Bitter Sweet, the disc's masterpiece. Refined ballad where Gustafson and Ferry make a great contribution with the sound of their instruments, it turns into a neurotic German cabaret with Manzanera's rattling guitar. The pathos does not reach that of A Song For Europe, but we are at very high levels, which other groups can only dream for an entire career. Ferry is now an experienced and wonderful crooner. What class Roxy Music has! Rated 8.5 / 9.

The album, however, no longer reaches these peaks and ends in a dignified but not exciting way. The masterpiece of pathos is followed by three short songs, Tryptich, a ballad with an almost Renaissance arrangement and a goliardic chorus (ratings 7+), Casanova, another danceable rave up with rattling guitar arrangements by Manzanera (rating 7,5)

- once again there is a neurotic sound that overlaps the elegant architecture of the song, and this is exactly the peculiarity that makes the first 4 albums of Roxy Music great: when only the sense of elegance and decadence remains, you can see the class but not the talented inspiration, as in the case of A Really Good Times, an elegant piano ballad, arranged as always very well but not so inspired ( Rating 7+).

The end: a long final song that, however, fails to capture the atmosphere it pursues, perhaps the least inspired of all, rating 7.

Thus closes an album of rare elegance, with an exceptional care of the arrangements (better than Stranded), played by a band of virtuosos (Gustafson, Manzanera above all) - in which Mackay's sax is heard too little - and sung magnificently by one of the greatest British crooners, Country Life is not a real successful album. What Roxy Music have acquired in skill and experience, they have lost in inspiration and innovation, so the result is a refined and pleasant music but largely heard in the previous albums.

Anyway, it maintains a high level of quality: the final judgment is 8 or 8+/10 that is between three and a half stars and four stars.

Let's go with 4 stars. We are in front of a talented band!

Bryan Ferry famously auditioned to replace Greg Lake as singer in King Crimson (had he been able to play bass he might well have got the gig and the history of rock music would have been.. well, different, obviously) which led to Roxy sharing management with Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The nascent band were raved about by Richard Williams in the very prog-friendly Melody Maker and resident BBC hippie John Peel booked them for his show after seeing them support Genesis at a Wimbledon venue called, and you couldn't possibly make this up, the Hobbit's Garden.

Mention of Genesis reminds me that dressing up in silly costumes, wearing badly applied makeup, generally making show, and all the sort of things frequently regarded as quintessentially glam rock activities, were by no means alien to prog rock outfits. Just like Genesis, Roxy took great pains with the artwork, though I think it is probably safe to assert that Genesis, unlike Roxy, never included a credit for the band's hairdresser on the sleeve of any of their albums.

The record was produced, somewhat less than perfectly it must be said, by Pete Sinfield, lyricist of legend to such prog rock giants as King Crimson, ELP and Bucks Fizz. Perhaps they should have hired a producer rather than a lyricist to produce it.

No matter, the inventive fire in the collective belly comes across splendidly. This is Roxy at their rawest and most audaciously avant-garde. Much has been written of this record as inaugurating a new era of post-modernist pop as the band artfully Re-Make/Re-Model the (then not very long) history of rock music. This is undoubtedly true but the thought occurs that such eclectic fusing of genres and creative plundering of found styles was also the very essence of progressive rock. They keep everything fairly concise, the longest number is just over seven minutes, but much of it has an epic feel and several tracks are your actual prog rock suites, shapeshifting things of wonder that constantly confound the listener's expectations and, indeed, musical logic.

I've just listened to this for the first time in aeons and I'd forgotten how exciting it is. Heralded as ahead of it's time on release it is now simply timeless (what was the date again? 1972? Or another millennium entirely?). It still sounds like something from a parallel universe and, though one could argue endlessly about whether it is Prog Rock, you would be blessed indeed to come across music more genuinely and thrillingly progressive than this in any genre.

This documentary DVD (with subtitles, thank god!) is pretty good. The main show (52 minutes) was originally broadcast by BBC in 2008. It's a bit short, yes, but it proceeds very effectively. Despite being mostly put together from interviews, there's not a moment you get bored of the talking heads. All the original members -- plus Eddie Jobson who joined the group later -- share their memories. Other interviewees are pop musicians influenced by Roxy Music, a music journalist, the graphic designer behind the album covers... The focus is however always sharp on the band and its music, spiced up by brief but numerous clips from live performances and music videos.

I could pick up several interesting facts on e.g. forming the band, but I leave them for you to hear. Also the stylistic progress from highly original art rock to smooth and lyrically sparse elegance of Avalon (1982) is summarized well. What actually COULD have been dealed with to some degree is the long interim between the break-up and the return to the stage. What Bryan Ferry did as a solo artist and where other musicians have played. The programme only should have been at least 1,5 hours long in that case.

The DVD bonuses are fine. On the Extended Interviews section (29 min) I especially I enjoy the in-depth view at Roxy Music's glamorous album covers! The three songs from the 2006 gig in London are 'Both Ends Burning', 'Editions of You' and 'Do the Strand'. This DVD is very recommendable to anyone with even a mild interest for Roxy Music.