We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
With all of the weird and avant-garde music that has been recorded in the last 50 years it may be hard to appreciate how really “out there” the band Roxy Music was when their debut LP came out in the spring of 1972.
The band didnt even have a record deal when they recorded the album…their management company paid for it…getting former King Crimson member Peter Sinfield to produce and then Island Records signed the band and released it.
So…what is it? With David Bowie, Marc Bolan and others pushing the envelope…Bryan Ferry and his mates ripped the envelope apart. Critics used words like “totally original” and “a breath of bizarre air”.
Ferry’s tortured vocals and piano are mixed with Phil Manzanera’s snarling guitar, Paul Thompson’s drums, bass work from Graham Simpson & Rip Kenton, Andy MacKay on woodwinds (oboe as a solo instrument?) …and the synth stylings of Brian Eno, who would make himself ubiquitous through the art-rock world of the 70’s and 80’s.
And then there was the “look”…..
This isn’t going to be for everyone even though Colin Larkin ranks it at #57 on the All Time Top 1000 Albums.
I was surprised at how much of this I actually liked. The spacey synths of “Ladytron” and rocky back & forth of “Re-Make/Re-Model”. “If There is Something” is actually quite beautiful and was covered by Bowie’s band Tin Machine in the 80’s. Side two is even weirder but “Would You Believe” stands out for me.
Get out of your musical comfort zone and give this a listen. You may be pleasantly surprised too.
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