Roxy Music Photos More from Roxy Music Country Life The Best of Roxy Music Avalon Roxy Music Stranded Siren

COMPOSER: Ferry YEAR: 1972 LABEL: EG Virgin TIME: 42'11 (original LP - 9 tracks) PRODUCER: Sinfield PHOTO: Karl Stoecker model Kari-Ann Muller - concept Ferry COUNTRY: UK GENRE: glam- & art rock Bryan Ferry vocals, piano, Hohner Pianet, Mellotron Brian Eno VCS3 synthesizer, tape effects, backing vocals Andy Mackay oboe, saxophone, backing vocalsPhil Manzanera electric guitarGraham Simpson bass guitar Paul Thompson drums Experimental glam rock!

The fourth Roxy Music lp, released in 1974 brings another strong effort from this art-rock band. Rockers like, "All I want is you "and "Prairie Rose" are backed by great ballads like "A really good time" and "Out of the Blue". Roxy was reaching the hieght of their career and "Counrty Life" is an important album in theur career. Second release of the U.S. version was minus the girls, but thankfully, they returned the cd's release.

All three volumes of highlights and performances from some of the best bands of the 1970s and 1980s on the seminal British music series. Presenters such as Bob Harris, Annie Nightingale and Andy Kershaw introduce acts such as Roxy Music, The Who, The Adverts, Aztec Camera, Style Council, Suzanne Vega, David Bowie, The Jam, Simple Minds, and Edwyn Collins, amongst many others. As well as classic performances, the Old Grey Whistle Test featured in-depth interviews with major stars such as John Lennon, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Plant, and Mick Jagger.

Released before Roxy Music became a de facto Bryan Ferry project, but after their Brian Eno-influenced art-rock stage, Siren is a snapshot of a band in flux, and loving it. There's little of the boundary-pushing primitivism that marked their self-titled debut. Still, Ferry's youthful edge and the band's rough-hewn melodicism will shock those expecting to hear the adult-contemporary silkiness found on 1982's massive-selling Avalon. Both camps should nevertheless admire this record for so recklessly and beautifully straddling that massive stylistic gap. Featuring their first modest hit in the U.S., "Love Is the Drug," the record overflows with choruses that reveal their hooks slowly while drawing on sunny, spare instrumentation and Ferry's loopy, still-developing croon. As the band wrestles between glam-pop, sleek dance tunes, and shiny, Moody Blues-esque rock & roll, they don't sound at all like a band running from its past. Ferry and his cohorts are just taking back the reins, revealing the brisk melodies and strong songwriting that were the one constant in Roxy Music's lifespan. --Matthew Cooke