Roxy Music: CD Reissues

by Stuart Maconie

Q, December 1999

Nouveau Romantics

Theirs was an on/off affair.

WHEN, WITHIN WEEKS in 1973, Eno quit Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry premiered his cover of Dylan's Hard Rain's Gonna Fall on the Cilla Black Show, it was obvious that big changes were afoot for rock's most successful weirdos. This second tranche of Virgin reissues covers the problematic era of Roxy II: languorous brilliance or etiolated fops?

Ferry had learned his standards at his Auntie Ethel's knee and they form the spine of his solo work, beginning with '73's These Foolish Things. A cracking start followed swiftly by Another Time, Another Place. That rarified voice invests the covers with an eerie combination of sarcasm and tragedy. One or two of the interpretations are duds, viz (What a) Wonderful World and Walk a Mile in My Shoes. But the readings of The In-Crowd as an icy rocker is inspired, as is You Are My Sunshine taken as heart-breaking gospel blues.

1976's Let's Stick Together is a hotch-potch. What was he thinking of, arsing about with Re-make/Re-model in this awful nouveau riche fashion? Two covers are its choicest moments: You Go To My Head, sultry, slightly demonic with an arrangement rich in sour twists and sweet nothings, and a lovely version of Gallagher & Lyle's Heart on My Sleeve. In Your Mind and The Bride Stripped Bare, written while soujourned in LA and Montreux in '77 and '78 respectively, are lifeless and it came as no surprise when Roxy reconvened for Manifesto.

Before tha though came the live swansong of Roxy Mark One: Viva! Roxy Music, culled from gigs between '72 and '75 and perfectly serviceable if pointless. With Ferry at the helm for '79's Manifesto, it was quickly apparent that they were still a great singles band: Trash, Dance Away and Angel Eyes the highlights. Next year's Flesh & Blood is similarly patchy, but Over You and Oh Yeah (On The Radio) are so gorgeous they excuse the dire version of The Byrds' Eight Miles High.

Increasingly bored, they bowed out with 1982's Avalon. A demi-monde of exhausted, ruined glamour is conjured by the title track. Forget 1990's useless second live album, Heart Still Beatin'. Avalon is their weary goodbye and as a farewell letter from a national treasure, it's a bittersweet treat.

(The albums are graded as follows...These Foolish Things: 4 stars, Another Time, Another Place: 3 stars, Let's Stick Together, In Your Mind, The Bride Stripped Bare and Viva! Roxy Music: each 2 stars, Manifesto and Flesh & Blood: each 3 stars, Avalon: 4 stars, Heart Still Beating 1 star )

Last Updated: 9 April 2008