Your Mind - Bryan Ferry > Reviews > Ferry in party mode

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money

Advantages:	Probably his least arty, most commercial album
Disadvantages:	Not a critical favourite, sometimes derided for lacking depth

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

‘In Your Mind’ was Bryan Ferry’s third solo album, or his fourth, if you include the singles/EP tracks compilation ‘Let’s Stick Together’. It was also the first to be issued after he had placed Roxy Music on hold in 1976, and his first to consist entirely of original material. As such it was a logical follow-up to the (then) last Roxy set ‘Siren’. The art-school and progressive rock dabblings of earlier days had more or less gone, his ambient and crooning styles were some way ahead. In retrospect this was the most unashamedly pop album he ever made, and as such it’s probably the most fun.

The first track, ‘This Is Tomorrow’, which reached No. 9 as a single early in 1977, sets the scene for what follows. A deceptively slow intro and first verse slips into a belter of a song, a worthy successor to ‘Love Is The Drug’ and ‘Let’s Stick Together’, underpinned by chunky electric piano and horns, stinging lead guitar, and gutsy female backing vocals.

‘All Night Operator’ goes one step further into disco-funk territory, with brass to the fore and vocal backing almost swamping Bryan at times, but quite effectively. ‘One Kiss’ is the set’s only ballad, almost in waltz tempo, and with a strong hook and lead guitar, for me it’s one of the best slow songs he ever put his name to. ‘Love Me Madly Again’ is the closest this gets to early Roxy Music, and at over seven minutes the longest track. While the song itself isn’t that memorable, its mid-tempo mood and long dreamy instrumental section are reminiscent of ‘Out Of The Blue’, one of the most enduring cuts from Roxy’s ‘Country Life’.

‘Tokyo Joe’ was the second single and a No. 15 hit, full of mock-Japanese effects, like an eastern gong, and oriental strings. You might almost think he’d been listening to ‘The Mikado’ first. Corny, maybe, but catchy enough for us to forgive him. ‘Party Doll’ cruises along effortlessly, with Bryan’s harmonica dominating proceedings on the intro and at the instrumental break towards the end, plus organ that reminded me of Del Shannon’s ‘Runaway’; except that, with the brass and backing vocals, Bryan has a much fuller sound than Del ever had.

A touch of artiness introduces ‘Rock Of Ages’ a full minute’s worth of what sounds like a door opening, followed by musicians tuning up or warming up, until the drummer hits his stride and takes us into a song that sounds like it could be an old undiscovered 60s Motown or Stax soul oldie. A little slower than the previous two tracks, it soon grows on you.

Finally, the title track has another little trick to start off with. A few seconds of ambient drone, as Bryan sings “Hark the frozen chimes of winter <cue chiming bells> crystal shimmer in your mind” then bam! In come guitars and drums at full tilt, rather like the first few seconds of ‘Virginia Plain’ which hits the full decibel barrier after that famous quiet synth intro. Built mainly around a sequence of three chords, it might be a shade repetitive, but no matter.

Two years earlier David Bowie had released his own ersatz soul/disco album ‘Young Americans’. If you want to draw parallels, ‘IYM’ is Bryan Ferry’s own ‘Young Americans’. Frankly, I’d take ‘IYM’ any day. Admittedly I’ve always been more of a Roxy/Bryan fan, and have only just started listening to Bowie's early work again. But over twenty years later, this still sounds far superior to The Thin White Duke’s efforts to dress himself up as a soul boy.

‘IYM’; is an enjoyable album, and to coin a phrase, in the days before you could program your CD player to play specific tracks, this was a platter you could pop on the turntable at a party and let it play through. Detractors can argue that it lacks depth (or should that be pretentiousness?). Much of it may be stuck in that ‘turn up the backing vox and brass in the mix’ groove, and it might sound as much a product of its time as ‘Saturday Night Fever’ always has, but in my book (or in my mind), that’s no bad thing.

As regards the musicians and general team on this record, they include fellow Roxy Music members Phil Manzanera and Paul Thompson, guitarist Chris Spedding, Elton John sideman Ray Cooper, future Bananarama chanteuse Jacquie Sullivan, and Chris Thomas, who gets a co-writing credit on ‘Rock Of Ages’. Interesting thought - this album was recorded late 1976 and early 1977, about the same time that Chris produced the Sex Pistols’ ‘Anarchy In The UK’. At that time, few of us saw much common ground between the suavely-attired Roxy leader and those, ahem, foul-mouthed spiky tops.

With only eight tracks and a total playing time of just under 37 minutes, it’s not sparkling value for money, but as it’s now available mid-price, such arguments aren’t that important.