283. Roxy Music | For Your Pleasure (1973)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Do the Strand
2. Beauty Queen
3. Strictly Confidential
4. Editions of You
5. In Every Dream Home a Heartache
6. The Bogus Man
7. Grey Lagoons
8. For Your Pleasure

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For Your Pleasure is an unruly album. The music is combination of glam rock and art rock. This album immediately charges out of the gate with the opening song. It's a manic ride for the first half of the album. There's pulsating drums, loud and frenzied guitar playing and moody synthesizers. Above it all is Bryan Ferry singing in the most dignified manner. The album takes a disturbed turn with In Every Dream Home a Heartache, which is about a blow-up sex doll. The remainder of the album is more mellow and ethereal.

Musically, Roxy Music reinforces my belief that glam rock bands and artists are the ones who remain the truest to original rock and roll. Lyrically, however, they demonstrate a greater maturity, much like David Bowie, which is not in keeping with the spirit of rock and roll.

Furthermore there seem to elements within the glam rock scene, like Brian Eno and even David Bowie, who are moving toward a more experimental kind of music. Both seem interested in expanding the boundaries of rock music, although Brian Eno doesn't seem so concerned about keeping himself within those boundaries, no matter how expansive they may become.

Thus, the real sleeper here For Your Pleasure. There's nothing awry at first. It's like any other slow rock song, but then it begins to morph a third of the way in to a repetitive, moody piece of piano and drums with mantric vocals. While this is not anything out of the ordinary—the Beatles were doing Tomorrow Never Knows nearly a decade ago, for instance—it's a herald to what's just beyond the horizon. In hindsight, it's easy to see how influential Brian Eno will become. The question then is: was it easy to see it then? I think so. He was no different from Peter Gabriel, in that his talent is undeniable and that by leaving Roxy Music he would be better able to actualize his potential.

This album is so good. There are quite a few things to like a lot about it: it's outrageous, it's moody and it's melodic. This is worth listening to and it belongs in every serious album collection. It deserves to be on 1001 Albums list because this album is a herald of big changes to come.

All the songs are amazing. The stand outs are Do the Strand, Beauty Queen, Strictly Confidential, Editions of You, In Every Dream Home a Heartache, Grey Lagoons and For Your Pleasure.

★★★★★★★★★★

264. Roxy Music | Roxy Music (1972)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Re-Make/Re-Model
2. Ladytron
3. If There Is Something
4. 2 H. B.
5. The Bob (Medley)
6. Chance Meeting
7. Would You Believe?
8. Sea Breezes
9. Bitters End

N.B. This is the track listing for the original UK release. The original US release and all subsequent releases contain the song "Virginia Plain" which is located between the third and fourth songs. 

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Roxy Music is an energetic album. The music is glam rock or art rock. What that means for Roxy Music is that they are a more accessible kind of progressive rock. The style is just as adventurous, but the songs are more manageable and it's more melodic. The topics are also more down-to-earth, like skirt chasing.

This album really just explodes out of the gate and maintains a hectic pace until it loses some steam and focus on the second half. It's been a while since music has been this animated.  They share the energy of The Stooges, MC5 and The Flamin' Groovies, but are more intellectually challenging.

I think this is a fantastic album. It seems to breathe life into the music world which is otherwise suffering from too many vapid pop artists, and too much dominance from bloated and introverted prog rock and hard rock bands. It's also another indication that music is finally getting away from the psychedelic, Beatles-dominated '60s. I don't what Roxy Music's relevance is to the future bands to come, but it is clear that, at that point in time, they belonged to the future rather than the past. (Certainly some of Brian Eno's electronic sounds appear in music two or three decades from this point as if it were something new and innovative.) This album is certainly worth listening to and most definitely belong on the 1001 Albums list.

All the songs are excellent. The stand-outs are: Re-Make/Re-Model, Ladytron, If There Is Something, 2 H. B., Sea Breezes and Bitters End. If the US release is included, then Virginia Plain is also among the stand-outs.

★★★★★★★★★☆