Roxy Music
February 14th, 2010 | 
Author: You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “Roxy Music”.
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I liked it but a lot of songs were terrible. They started off on the wrong note and ended a lot better. Avalon is a great CD and there best one is Siren. if you’re looking for the best one don’t buy this. but if you’re a collector you need this
Rating: 3 / 5
If ever there is elegance and beauty on an auditory plane, it is in the machinations of Roxy Music. Never more elaborate then on this first manifestation of delicacy by the group. Romanticism of 19th century England returns and we again understand the pinings of Shelley and Keats and the existential love affair with an uncertain existence filled with the passion of deepest adoration of the sensual experience, as only the English artist may understand. This album will take you through all the psychic subconscious weavings we all to often try to gloss over through a superficial meaningless existence and force an emotional upheaval unlike any album may ever be able to accomplish. “…I dreamed last night about your face, your star shone all night, over the moon it shone brighter, star shining so bright…and still we walked in the moonlight, and looked down over the calm, lake hand in hand, the stars shone in our eyes… so in my dream you still loved me, gave time reason -last night…but this was just lifes story made simple – that’s right…”
Rating: 2 / 5
Based upon the other reviews posted here at Amazon regarding this album, all I can say is that I must be really missing something!
I first encountered this album in the early 1980’s (it was ten years old then) owing to the fact that it was produced by King Crimsonite Pete Sinfield. After listening to the album, I couldn’t understand what the big deal was, didn’t see the cause for all the rave reviews, or “get” what it was supposed to be about – aside from Bryan Ferry, et al. striking poses, sounding like a bunch of amateurs, and trying overly hard to appear avant garde.
I recently re-encountered the remastered version of this CD in a store. My thought was that perhaps the passage of time had perhaps changed me enough so that I might now be able to appreciate the music contained on this CD. So, I bought it, took it home, and gave it a spin.
Guess what? I still don’t “get” what this album is supposed to be about, and I still don’t see/hear any justification whatsoever for the raves this album receives! (The only difference in my book is that the music contained on this CD is now thirty years old as opposed to just ten years old.)
The Emperor’s New Clothes at its finest!
Rating: 1 / 5
This is a nice beginning for Roxy Music. The group was doing a lot of experimentation and ventured into the avant garde arena. Some of it worked and some of it didn’t. It starts out very nice with Re-Make/Re-Model. But other tracks just don’t quite make it. The atttempts at being avant garde or something new and special just sound juvenile and amatueristic. Some songs were done much better later on live albums. The worst part is Brian Ferry’s undulating, yodelling vocals on some songs. Fortunately, Ferry will drop the affected vocals after the third album.
Roxy Music was late to the progressive/art rock party. The avant garde sound wasn’t anything new. When this came out in 1972, it was already sounded a bit dated. Iggy Pop had already peaked in creativity. David Bowie had already moved out of Ziggy Stardust and was going on to Alladin Sane. Caravan had now switched over to jazz with Waterloo Lily. Pink Floyd had moved out its avant garde stage was experimenting with the more structured Dark Side of the Moon. Frank Zappa had already gone through 4 different stages. And Deep Purple had moved on to hard rock two years earlier.
Roxy Music always had the best publicist. The way these things worked was when Roxy Music would do a concert in some city, the record company would send out a press release describing the band. In it, the band’s exploits and importance to rock would be greatly exaggerated. A newspaper reporter, not knowing much about rock or Roxy Music would repeat the information. This would happen in town after town, and soon these exaggerated claims would become fact in the minds of the rock press. I have seen articles crediting Roxy Music with the invention of almost every type of rock form, including Art Rock, Glam Rock, Punk Rock, and New Wave. If you look at the chronology of the band, it is easy to see that they were just followers. Brian Eno has been credited as inventing electronica, when all he ever did was coin the phrase Ambient.
Although they might not have invented the internet, Roxy Music is still a very talented group. It is to their credit that they would push the boundaries of the musical styles and try to innovate. They weren’t always successful, but at least they were interesting when they tried. When they tried to do more conventional pop, they could be down right boring. The group continued to evolve and peaked with Avalon and then broke up.
My copy of this album is an older CD, made in Germany. The sound quality is poor and a little harsh. Hopefully this remastered version is better.
Rating: 3 / 5
Good stuff the early years. You won’t be disapointed from Mich.
Rating: 5 / 5