posted
Does anyone else here like this band? I just got through making a CD of an album I've owned since back in the old days (1975). Siren.
Anyway, they had a unique sound with Brian Ferry as the lead vocalist. Depending on when you caught them, they also had people like Eno, Jobson, Manzanera, McKay and a few others hanging around. Wonderful songs. Usually a bit twisted.
But I think the Siren album holds up remarkably well considering it is 27 years old.
Love is the Drug Sentimental Fool She Sells Both Ends Burning Just Another High
posted
I adore Brian Ferry's voice, but Roxy music has always almost-but-not-quite done it for me. Maybe it's just a little too mellow. However, you can overlook a lot of imperfections with a voice like Ferry's.
It's like cream being spread all over your body. So decadently rich and just a little naughty.
posted
I don't think I have, but I will have to now.
Bob - have you noticed that you and I have a very similar taste in music? Here I am the only poster on your Roxy Music thread, and I believe you were one of the only people to appreciate my plug for Alana Davis.
Which proves, once again, how much cooler we are than everyone else.
Do you like "bells and whistles," so to speak, in your music? Or do you prefer to the soothing over the complicated? Or a good mixture of both?
posted
It all depends. I'm a big fan of some very complicated sounding bands (Shadowfax, Roxy Music, early Genesis, Peter Gabriel).
But I have to say I really like simple sounds as well -- Sarah McLachlan, Dire Straits, Susan Tadeschi).
I tend towards the powerful emotions, good lyrics and a "unique" voice.
But I'm not sure I was the one in your Alana Davis post because I don't know who she is. Maybe I knew who she is back when you posted and now I've forgetten. It's possible. Really! How sad.
Yes, we have a very similar taste in music. We'll have to do some music trading. I'll find another link to the Alana Davis mp3 that I posted before, for you.
posted
I had some pause before writing that. I guess I'd call Dire Straits "deceptively simple." Most of Knopfler's songs use a rockabilly beat, but he always manages to layer things exquisitely.
I'm really dying to get his latest album (or his new release whenever it comes out).
Ralphie--Roxy isn't all nice-nice. Listen to Remake/Remodel on their first album. Also on the aformentioned Siren Sentimental fool includes a feedback solo that just goes on and on.
No one knew what to make of these guys when they came out. Much of it is the foundation of modern engineering....
posted
You know, there's a great Sevendust song called Licking Cream featuring a female vocalist.
Rowr.
Anyway.
>> I tend towards the powerful emotions, good lyrics and a "unique" voice. <<
Me too, but it's led me in vastly different directions from you, probably as a result of my being much too young to appreciate most early-to-mid 80's music, with a few exceptions.
Complex: Tool, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, I Mother Earth, Jane's Addiction, Rage Against the Machine
Simple: Nirvana, Bush, The Music, Evanescence, Eve 6, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Audioslave
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posted
Roxy was slapping out a few hits in the 1980s as well. I wasn't listening to them, though, as my tender ears were tuned to Heavy Metal, up until I looked around and saw all of these bands wearing day-glo, their Mom's make-up and lifetime supplies of Aquanet. (I still crack up when someone refers to Jon Bon Jovi's artistic merits).
Perhaps I was missing out on Roxy Music, Spandau Ballet and their sorts. At the time it just seemed like music that was perfect for sharing a bottle of white zinfindel with a loved one over a handful of downers. But then again, all I heard was what was on the radio or MTV.
It wasn't until after high school that I decided to wander out and find music that I liked and not just what was being played over the airwaves. Wow, what a difference that made. And how often I felt like a buffoon when I stumbled across something, made a discovery, only to find out that so many other folks I respected had been listening to those artists for years.
Was I late getting up on the morning that the musical taste bus drove by? I seemed to be running a few years behind the curve.
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She was in Yaz and then has had a not-super-successful-in-the-U.S.-but-moderately-so-elsewhere solo career. Some of the instrumentation for her songs is not super-sophisticated (heavy on the synths), but her voice is still awesome.
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Correct me if I am wrong, but if I remember correctly, the original band members of Roxy Music were the remaining members of the band that was Frank Zappa's. That could explain their birth out of the 70s and that out-of-the-ordinary sound of theirs.
I too did not discover them until the 80s though!
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posted
I've never heard the Zappa <---> Roxy connection before, but it should be easy enough to check. Roxy was:
Brian Eno (later Eddie Jobson) keyboards Phil Manzanera (guitar) ______ McKay (forgot his first name) (Andy, I think) and Bryan Ferry (vocals).
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry rule. As does Alison Moyet.
I was just listening to Duran Duran's first album, and I can't hear it without thinking how much of a Japan rip-off they were. But that's ok, there's room in my heart for both.
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There definitely was an influx and efflux of musicians from Roxy Music and Frank Zappa, and this link explains at least one of them. I was more familiar with the Zappa side of the equation, and when I saw this post, it sparked that kernal of useless knowledge about the Zappa connection.
posted
Thanks for the link Alucard. I didn't know Jobeson played for Zappa.
But what I really liked was the statement at the end of the article.
quote: Playing "Six Degrees of Separation" with any of these artists will lead you everywhere...
Which is why I follow these guys. Zappa gave Adrian Belew his first break, and he's playing for King Crimson now (since the early eighties). That threads right back through Eno and Bowie too.
posted
I saw them in concert touring after the release of Siren. It was incredible. We stood outside listening to the warmup and thought "Oh my GOD! They sound awful." Brian Ferry's voice was off something terrible.
We got inside, and it was GREAT, GREAT, GREAT.
Jobson was amazing. His electric violin was sort of a novelty at the time and he really is/was a virtuoso.
His brand of synthesizer work was much more accessible than Enos, I have to say, but I still think Eno is amazing.
Never seen a Jobson solo album. Hmm...
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posted
I know Eno's coming out with his first rock(ish) album in several decades, but I'm pretty sure it was a solo album. I hadn't heard about him re-forming with Roxy.
Maybe I'll have to do some research.
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This thread sooo takes me back. I've been in love with Roxy Music since forever. It's simply the best makeout music ever. Sigh.
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posted
For twinky and other Radiohead fans: Eno and Ferry, if memory serves, were heavily involved in the production of the soundtrack to Velvet Goldmine, which features several songs from 2HB, the fake glam-rock band of Thom and Jonny.
(I'll have to check for sure but I'm fairly certain this is accurate)
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New album? I gotta get me one.
