Your Favourite Roxy Music Album

Well.... do you view Ferry as songwriter? In the same way you view Dylan or Bowie as songwriters?

What do you think: Why are there comparatively few Roxy/ Ferry covers by other artists?

I love Ferry and Roxy but I think style is as important as substance.

 

My favourite Roxy is probably the debut, which I rank above Bowie's Low/Heroes quite easily (came earlier, was more imaginative and aged better IMO). I don't care for the second album at all, but love the third one. Manifesto (the original album) is cruelly underrated. And then, there's Avalon. First time I heard it, I thought it was some cheap 80s adult pop, and then I realised much later how beautiful it was...

 

I'm mostly a fan of Roxy's first several albums. They kinda lost me at "Siren", which I like OK, but felt like that by then they had said all they had to say. Subsequent album kinda went in one ear and out the other. "Avalon" is one I did like pretty well because it sounded so beautiful, but seemed so slick and well-oiled that it never managed to stick in my brain. There seemed to be little to hold onto.

Well, a few nights ago, maybe because I had this thread was in mind, I listened to it in headphones as I was going to sleep. I finally noticed much of the charm of the album that had eluded me. I now think that there's more musical substance here than I realized. I guess it was so "nice" and homogeneous that I wasn't inspired to dig into it. It invited superficiality. I now look forward to spending more time with it. I still don't think it will ever rank above my early favorites, but I now see it as their last great artistic statement, and one that is interesting for being different than the first albums.

 

OK, I've had Country Life and Sirens for almost a week now (hadn't previously heard any early Roxy Music ever before, except perhaps once or maybe twice (at most) 25 years ago in college (maybe a few tracks from a greatest hits CD). I'm completely sold on about 2/3rds of each (all of the more upbeat/faster material).

And so as of just yesterday, I've got a copy of Stranded on the way now too from Amazon -- and then just today I'm enjoying For Your Pleasure here at work (which I'm just streaming off of YouTube). Their debut can't be far behind, at this rate.

I'm not YET in love with Ferry's voice, but this whole experience is reminding me of when I first discovered the band Television (maybe 10 years ago), where I didn't have any idea what to think of the vocalist's qualities (which were a bit perplexing), but then by spin #5 (and definitely by spin #10), I was completely and utterly sold. I think I'm only on spin #3 of each by this point (so 7 more spins each, and I'll be completely indoctrinated).

Some of it is Ferry's phrasing (which, to be honest, I still think is weird). But part of it is also how I associate his voice with Roxy Music's later (much SMOOTHER) output, and Ferry's own 80's solo material -- all of which I've had a tiny bit of exposure to as well (from roommates in college), but NONE of which I've like all that much. So it's really surprising the heck out of me that I'm connecting so strongly with this early 70's material of theirs.

 

My first Roxy Music album was Avalon. Up until then, I had heard bits and pieces of various albums, but a good friend of mine had Avalon when it was released and I like it right away. Since it was my gateway album, it has remained a favourite.

 

For me, For Your Pleasure, is Roxy Music's finest, followed closely by the eponymous debut, then Stranded.

Eddie Jobson, was a very good replacement for Eno, particularly with what he bought with electric violin from Curved Air.

I like 'em all, though...even the schmoozy stuff.

 

Not to mention the great guitar work by Phil Manzanera on Avalon. He shines not by being flashy but by being understated and doing exactly what the music calls for.

 

Avalon has to my favorite overall, but each album has something unique and completely individual on it that it makes picking just one extremely difficult. I suppose if backed into a corner and asked to pick another album it’d have to be Country Life, but, honestly, I’m in the middle of getting back into their discography right now, so even these choices could change.

 

Siren. It's full of good to great songs (as per composition, not performance) more so than any other Roxy/Ferry album. Also the best cover artwork

 

Probably the best sounding vinyl LP I have, even when compared to the audiophile favorite Avalon. So crisp and glossy sounding, with nice deep bass to boot.

 

Style IS substance for Ferry and Roxy. It's all about the vocal style and affectations, the musical quirks that echo the lyrics, the attitude and the romantic, jaded viewpoint of the singer. Nevertheless many of the songs stand up on their own, particularly the lyrics. Just Like You is an amazing love poem without the music.

 

you may never get used to that voice (Bobby Boris Pickett crooning, as RS said) . I haven't, but I've found at least 2 songs on the each of the earlier lps, maybe that'll grow as I play them more.

 

Really remarkable discography. Their least compelling album is Flesh + Blood IMO, and even that consists of 60% absolutely KILLER classics (Same Old Scene, Oh Yeah, Over You, Running Wild, No Strange Delight, My Only Love).

 

You forgot In The Midnight Hour. 70%.

 

I wonder if we'll ever get the Complete Bryan Ferry boxset??? Might be tempted to give it a try if we did......

 

Avalon...the only one I have.

 

OP nails it. When Avalon came out we wondered what had happened to one of our favorite bands? It's a soundtrack for a post discotheque coital interlude.

Not that there is anything wrong with that... But it sure is far removed from the first four of the classic 5.

 

I'm surprised at how much of a lead Avalon has, and also that For Your Pleasure is in second place.

It's amazing to see, considering every Roxy fan I've known previously considers Country Life as their crowning moment. To each his own, I guess!

 

Interesting post. Beginning the journey at the end of the road and working through the earlier catalog in reverse chronological order.

I had no choice but to start at the beginning and lap them up as they were released across the '70's and into the next decade.

It does take multiple spins to appreciate this music. I get your reference to Television. 5-10x gets you in the groove.

Don't forget the latter day Roxy "The High Road". More like a 12" EP in that it only has 4 songs.

Also, Mr Ferry's solo outing "the bride stripped bare" is worth seeking out as is "In your Mind"

Also worth seeking out is Phil Manzanera'a Diamond Head. Lots of the band members turn out and Robert Wyatt takes a turn as lead vocalist for a song. A couple great Eno numbers too.

 

My fave record has changed over the years. For your pleasure was the early winner, later country life. I didn't care for siren but now I like it quite a bit. It's good driving music. Stranded has come from behind and gets quite a bit of play.

And Avalon gets the nod when my stereo is sounding particularly good and things are winding down and I seek a master tape epiphany. A splendid production. I have had the Original Japanese pressing for many years and a uk first pressing just arrived today. Can wait to cue it up this weekend.

...and yes I stand by my comments I made a few posts up. This record is too slick by half.

 

Just waiting for the reissue of the first album to make its way to me when I came upon this post. Country Life for me . Siren sometimes knocks it off the top spot. Stranded was the first Roxy I purchased so it has a special place too. I have a few vinyl copies of Country Life though (first UK pressing too). That has to mean something. The cover didn't sway me though. I remember being a kid and going to Sam the Record Man and spending a whole lot of time looking at Roxy Music and Scorpions (Lovedrive) album covers. Those were the days.

 

I second the idea of owning just about the whole catalog plus a few Bryan ferry discs. And diamond head

The price of the new first album reissue is absurd

 

I really dig Side 1 of Country Life as my favorite Roxy Music but for the complete Roxy album experience it has to be Stranded.

Everything is perfect on this Roxy LP.

Stranded is the Roxy LP I played the most when released.

The pinnacle of English Decadence on vinyl.

Much more intelligent than Bowie and extremely engaging they were at that time in their career.

 

1. Stranded
2. For Your Pleasure
3. Roxy Music
4. Country Life
5. Siren
6. Manifesto
7. Flesh + Blood
8. Avalon

The top two are practically tied. Stranded's the stunning, perfectly realized final draft of Pleasure's gobsmacked genius blueprint. Country Life's been gaining on the debut for years, but I'll keep Roxy Music in third while I'm enjoying the incoming 45th anniversary set. I'd say I love the top four and like the bottom four.

Avalon in last place seems willfully contrarian (@yarbles' nearly identical list notwithstanding!), but from the moment I heard it I found the songs really hard to hold. 1988 was my RM year zero (I bought all eight on in-print sealed vinyl between July and November in an obsessive hurry, knowing only the '77 comp and The Atlantic Years (1973-1980) beforehand), and even as a gushing new teenaged fan I thought the blood had drained from the stone here. I last saw Bryan in '16 and couldn't place Take A Chance With Me for two minutes, even though I still spin Avalon every five years. Basically, the album's lovely, but it's no fun.

 

I would rank Manifesto dead last, with Flesh and Blood just above it.

For me its Avalon, Boys and Girls (to me that is Avalon Part Two), First Album, Siren, Country Life, For Your Pleasure, Eno - Another Green World, Eno - Before and After Science, Phil Manzanera Diamond Head, 801 Live, Stranded, Flesh and Blood, then Manifesto.

Yes, I feel that the solo albums need to be worked into the list. Not quite sure where to put the two live albums. I alternate between later smooth glam and early retro decadence.