The Eno, Ferry and Roxy Music thread

Yeah, I agree.

I also think head to head, the Eno solo albums from the 70s crush the Roxy albums. That makes me wonder how good Roxy Music could have been if Brian Ferry didn't have to write all the songs or have his crooner personality ruin/dominate things. Warm Jets through Before and After science are way better than those Roxy albums. Just a matter of taste, however. I think.

 

"Flesh + Blood" and "Country Life" are my favorite Roxy albums. I can't even listen to "Avalon" . . .

 

I love "Avalon," but Ferry spent too much time trying to repeat its success, IMO. He more or less succeeded with "Boys and Girls" but by the time he got to "Mamouna" he was spending years in the studio and ending up with music so amorphous and wispy it almost evaporated as it left the speakers. "Frantic" reintroduced some grit to his music and the recent Roxy tours have focused more on the band's early years, so I'm hoping their reunion album will be more than just pleasant mood music.

 

I would have thought that anyone who liked Avalon would like Flesh + Blood and the early Brian Ferry albums (especially Boys and Girls and Bête Noire).

 

All I know is before the term New Wave hit, Eno was one of the first to have a synth sound that I heard on the radio. Metal Waves, Kings Lead Hat, Baby's On Fire were all on heavy rotation here in Los Angeles on KROQ in the mid 70's. Also IMO North Star is possibly the first ambient LP.

Regards
Robert

 

I don't know if anyone could ever really love the early and the late Roxy. They are so different. I love Avalon and almost love Flesh and Blood as much (especially the very cool cover of Eight Miles High with Phil wailing). Anything before The Bride Stripped Bare loses me, especially his vocal style before that--it's like nails on a blackboard.

The sax player Andy Mackay, released a very cool solo cd called In Search of Eddie Riff; it has some very cool covers on it, which shows Bryan hasn't cornered the market on inspired song choices.

I'd love to hear what The Bride Stripped Bare was like as a 2 lp set; a few of the missing tracks are out now.....

 

Love Roxy Music. I had heard of them, but I think I purchased the Country Life album when it first came out, mainly for the cover Picked up the 7 LP box set on Ebay a couple of years ago and it sounds great.

Cool Note: Last night on the show "How I Met Your Mother", they had a scene accompanied by "Mother of Pearl" .

 

Stranded and Country Life are two of the greatest, most literate rock albums ever made. Perfect, simply perfect. Fantastic wall of sound production as well. What a band they were then!

 

Phil Manzanera - "Diamond Head"

 

My personal favorite album of theirs is 'Stranded'. it came out in 73. it has street life on it, but it also has my all time favorite song by them called 'mother of pearl'. you should really look into just getting a compilation to start out with. ya can't go wrong with a comp!!

Listen to Mother Of Pearl by Roxy Music : http://www.napster.com/player/tracks/10237868

 

I like 'Diamond Head' enough (well, most of it, anway - 'Same Time Next Week'? really?) but I'm just never convinced that it's a cohesive album, to me it just sounds like a various artists compilation that just happens to have Phil on guitar as the common element. Remember the Rick Grech 'Last Five Years' album? DH always reminded me of that. There's a Robert Wyatt song, a Quiet Sun song, a couple of Eno songs, a John Wetton song, and less than half are actual Manzanera pieces. Guest stars should be supportive, not hog (or be handed) the spotlight.

 

If you have an SACD player you can't go wrong with getting the new SACD hybrid of Best of Roxy Music - has all the singles (A sides) and best cuts in great sound. UK only.

 

I really like Mother of Pearl, what a great song! thanks for the link Lexxy...

 

I didnt know that The Bride Stripped Bare was originally going to be a double set. Any idea of how many extra tracks there were going to be and what they were?
Also, Ive seen the SACD of Frantic but havent heard the album. Is it any good, and is the SACD any good? Im seriously thinking of picking it up but havent heard anything about it at all. Any help and opinions much appreciated.
Cheers

Steve

 

I don't agree, but I must be more of a fan of this album than you are ('Same Time Next Week' is great). It's very eclectic; a real grower. It's a solo album in the sense that he is doing his own thing away from Roxy. Who cares if he collaborates with others? I think of "Diamond Head" as a side project and not a solo album. Can't live by your rules, dude.

The core band on the album is Manzanera, John Wetton on bass and Paul Thompson on bass. 'The Flex' and 'Lagrima' sound like Roxy tunes because of Andy Mackay's sax (and the guitar in 'East of Echo'). 'Alma' reminds me of late sixties Pink Floyd.

4 of the songs are written by Manzanera and the 5 others he co-wrote with the singers who appear on the album - not like he's sitting on his hands. Manzanera isn't singing, so if he only had one singer on the album it would be more like that singers album and not a Manzanera album.

 

I also like 'Diamond Head' a lot, but feel "Quiet Sun" is the best of the Roxy 'spin-out' efforts (I don't put Eno in that category). According to Manzanera's liner notes, Diamond Head and the Quiet Sun tracks were all recorded in the same sessions. The more 'mainstream' results went to Diamond Head, and the more experimental stuff went on the Quiet Sun (sometimes titled "Mainstream", how ironic) album. If you've never heard it, you're really missing something special.

 

For my money (and I may be in the minority here), Country Life is much better than Avalon, but they are very different.

 

I agree. They're very similar.

 

Well, I like both, but I much prefer the early stuff to the late stuff. I absolutely love the early stuff. Of the later stuff, I like Flesh + Blood the best, but I still like Avalon. I almost think of them as 2 different bands.

 

FLESH + BLOOD contains, arguably, roxy's greatest song, "no strange delight".

later, chris

 

well, I don't know if I'd agree about the song, but Flesh and Blood is an unjustly ignored album that is really really good.

 

Funny, I can't even remember that song at all. It's been years since I've actually listened to F+B. Guess I need to go back to it!

 

I like the first 5 studio albums.

 

Agreed. The title track has always been my favorite song on the album.