Roxy Music
by Roxy Music

Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno make this album one of the most brilliant that I've ever heard. You generally don't see this one in best album charts, and that's a shame. Here we have some of the most important songs in Roxy Music's history. There is some great work here with sythesizers and sound clips as well. I actually wore my copy of this CD out.

One of the all time great debuts. A brilliant fusion of glam, avant-garde, rock, and, pre-Beatles pop. Bryan Ferry's voice has a bit of Bowie about, with a sprinkling of the young Presley and Sinatra. Opener, re-make/re-model, still blows you away with it's power and it's quirkiness, while, Virginia plain, is a stunning track, one of the best singles of the seventies, and the first of many fine 45's from Roxy over the next decade. Other standouts are, ladytron, and 2H.B. Closing track, bitters end, is a jazz pop ballad, the kind of which Ferry loves. One of the most important factors of the success of this album is Brian Eno's simplistic keyboard flourishes, they really are the icing on the cake. All in all, an excellent record, with more brilliance still to come.

For sure my favorite record of theirs. It's not to pop or new wave, and it's not to over produced. Much more raw than their later work.

An album that starts out with so much energy and passion, but it slowly dwindles the further into the album you go with the majority of side 2 feeling like quite a drag. That first side is simply fantastic and is Roxy Music at their best with Ferry's vocal taking us on a ride with his clever manipulation of his voice. The way he exaggerates his singing is so enjoyable to me and it boosts the first side up massively. Every song is at least great on that first side with some reaching levels above that. They are all so infectious and just seem to trigger something inside of me that makes me happy. The production is brilliant as well and is consistent throughout the whole record. However, that second side, after The Bob (Medley), just feels so slow and like we are just counting down to the end of the album. The energy and quality seem to just fall of quite a lot, and it impacts the listening experience significantly. You could cut all 4 of the last tracks and I think the record would be better for it as it would feel more compact and not elongated. It really needed a revival at that point and it never arrived which is such a shame as the other part of the record is so good. Overall, there is a tremendous amount of quality on display here and it is close to being an elite level album but is held back by those weaknesses. (Edited)

I have the first four Roxy albums and this is the one I turn to the most. I'm not old enough (!) to have been aware of these when released but the Avalon era I do remember and wasn't keen at the time. Later I got into early RM mainly because my favourite band (Men Without Hats) covered Editions of You (off album 2), and I like it. Virginia Plain wasn't on the original UK release...but it's a great track. Something a bit different, and definitely an enjoyable album (although I admit The Bob (medley) is a bit oddball and Chance Meeting's kind of weird too. Would have rated it higher but for these two tracks.