This was Roxy Music's third outing and their finest ever album. This was unusual because they had lost the creative talent of Brian Eno (due to a power struggle / personality clash with Brian Ferry as detailed in Eno's song "Blank Frank" from his "Here Come The Warm Jets" album) and replaced ... Read review
Advantages: "Mother of Pearl", Roxy's finest Album Disadvantages: Nothing
This was Roxy Music's third outing and their finest ever album. This was unusual because they had lost the creative talent of Brian Eno (due to a power struggle / personality clash with Brian Ferry as detailed in Eno's song "Blank Frank" from his "Here Come The Warm Jets" album) and replaced him with 18 year olf Eddie Jobson (from Curved Air, thus adding electric violin to their line up, demonstrated on "Street Life"). ... ...models , in this case draped over the whole original gatefold sleeve, in a torn red dress amonth the jungle vegetation look very hot (ie sweating) but with perfect make-up.
This was the first Roxy Music album to contain a single, the opening track "Street Life". It's a fast slice of pop rock, which then flows into the gentle ballad "Just Like You". This is followed by "Amazona" ,a South American tinged ... more
This was Roxy Music's third outing and their finest ever album. This was unusual because they had lost the creative talent of Brian Eno (due to a power struggle / personality clash with Brian Ferry as detailed in Eno's song "Blank Frank" from his "Here Come The Warm Jets" album) and replaced him with 18 year olf Eddie Jobson (from Curved Air, thus adding electric violin to their line up, demonstrated on "Street Life"). The cover maintained the Roxy Music predilection for scantily clad models , in this case draped over the whole original gatefold sleeve, in a torn red dress amonth the jungle vegetation look very hot (ie sweating) but with perfect make-up.
This was the first Roxy Music album to contain a single, the opening track "Street Life". It's a fast slice of pop rock, which then flows into the gentle ballad "Just Like You". This is followed by "Amazona" ,a South American tinged colloaboration between the now undisputed band leader Brian Ferry and guitarist Phil Manzanera. The first half of the album closes with the almost dirge like "Psalm" , which is Bryan Ferry's religious song.
The second half of the album , up the ante with the excellent "Serenade" , another fast pop /rock piece similar to the single. This is followed by "Song for Europe" a collaboration between Ferry and saxophonist Andy Mackay , containing some terrible puns ("The Bridge it Sighs"), but still a fine piece of music. This prepares you for the finest song that Roxy Music ever did, "Mother of Pearl". It has two distinct parts, the first a raucous guitar led intro sequenced in an achingly beautiful piano based coda. The album could have finished at that point but we are treated to a slow, but pleasant fade out with "Sunset", appropriately named.
Roxy Music have made a lot of fine albums, but this is the pinnacle of their achievement. Its available on mid price , so is a worthy purchase. the haunting "
Advantages: Some excellent cover versions, often interpreted very differently from the originals Disadvantages: Tracks 5 and 9 - well, what's the Skip button for?
'Another Time, Another Place' was Bryan Ferry's second solo album, and hit the shops in summer 1974 between the third and fourth RoxyMusic sets, 'Stranded' and 'Country Life'. I've got style, he said on the cover pic, attired suavely in a white tuxedo and bow tie beside his swimming pool. Much of the music inside reflects that as well – flirtations with cover versions of old rock, country and soul numbers, for the most part sung with just a hint of irony. Was the old lounge lizard sending himself and the songs up, or was it deadly serious? You, the listener, have to decide.
'The In Crowd', the opening track, is a much punchier retread of the old Northern soul hit from Dobie Gray. Chopping electric piano in the style of 'Virginia Plain', a few sneaky seconds lifted straight from RoxyMusic favourite 'Do The Strand ...
Advantages: A Best of Roxy Music Live, with some stunning tracks Disadvantages: Too Short
that album's stand out piece "In Every Dreamhome A Heartache", cruelly curtailed on the "For Your Pleasure" album, we get around ten minutes of it in it's live incarnation. This is one of RoxyMusic's finest moments and this beats the (admittedly excellent) studio version hands down.
This is followed by "Do The Strand", often an opener for the band, and the album finishes with a stunning version of "Both Ends Burning" , the stand out track from the "Siren" album.
This is an excellent live album, and if you llike RoxyMusic , should be in your collection. It's available at mid price. ...
Roxy Music: Bryan Ferry (vocals, piano); Phil Manzanera (guitar); Eddie Jobson (violin, keyboards, synthesizer); Andy Mackay (oboe, saxophone); Johnny Gustafson (bass); Paul Thompson (drums, timpani). Additional personnel: Chris Lawrence (acoustic bass); The London Welsh Male Choir (background vocals). Recorded at AIR Studios, London, England in September 1973. All tracks have been digitally remastered using HDCD technology. Roxy Music subverted a jaded progressive rock scene with an original blend of science fiction imagery, art-school nonce and eccentric music. Vocalist Bryan Ferry sang in a camp-styled croon, part Noel Coward, part Lou Reed, and having dismissed leadership rival Brian Eno, assumed full control of artistic direction for the group's third album. Stranded introduced violinist Eddie Jobson, whose contributions slotted in perfectly alongside reed player Andy Mackay and guitarist Phil Manzanera. A sense of cohesion permeates the set, group members contribute lyrically, but there was no denying that Roxy Music here represent Ferry's vision. Melodically strong, the album provides an ideal structure for his quirky intonation, resulting in a heady mix of experimentation and commercial acumen.
Album Reviews
Q (9/99, p.122-3) - 3 stars (out of 5) - "...more conventional, less progressive, and some, like 'Mother Of Pearl', seem extended for the sake of it..."
Titles on disc 1
1.
Street Life
2.
Just Like You
3.
Amazona
4.
Psalm
5.
Serenade
6.
Song For Europe
7.
Mother Of Pearl
8.
Sunset
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21/02/2001
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