"Roxy Music is one of the most underappreciated groups in history. Most of their albums are superb, and their first four are among the greatest albums in rock. While not quite as raw as the first album, or as deliciously odd and sexy as For Your Pleasure, Stranded is still quite experimental is still Roxy reaching into new territories and improving those already explored. Their best album is, in my opinion, Country Life, which distills all of the great elements of their previous work into a potent brew, but there is also something exhiliriating about the artistic growth on Stranded. Several reviewers have gone in depth on individual songs, and each one is special and well-worth a listen, but one song on this album truly stands out (which is hard to do on such an excellent work)as (in my opinion) Roxy's greatest track and one of the truly monumental tracks ever recorded... drum roll ... please: "Song For Europe" is the song to which I refer, it defies words. Few songs have ever impacted me as it has, nor have received such heavy play over a long span of time. I have thousands of cds, thus hundreds of thousands of songs, it means something when a song is among my 10 favorites and "Song For Europe" is among them. It's the crowning masterpiece of a brilliant band, much as "Shine A Light" (for me) is for the Stones. Every track is worth the price of the album, but "A Song For Europe" is worth it and then some."
Once Upon A Time............
D. Baldwin | Left turn @Albuquerque | 07/05/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Once Upon A Time............
A Brit boy and an American girl fell in love......
It ended.....
Brit boy sent American girl a casette. It was played over and over again until it was worn to bits.......
American girl looked for years and finally found the cd here........
A Song For Europe........
A song to remember...........
:-}"
Ripest Offering!
Wayne Dawson | New Zealand | 10/05/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Stranded finds Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry's song writing in peak form. From start to finish this sumptuous album doesn't let up on the musical juices that shower Ferry's striking imagery and wide range of social, psychological commentary with so many colours.
Each song is complete in itself which makes the sum of its parts, the album in its entirety, one of the best in rock music. Of course the previous two Roxy Music albums with Eno undoubtedly need to be in everyone's collection but there is something special about Stranded that makes it stand out; a seamless symphonic fusion delivered with street savvy glamour and grit, Eno admitted this was his personal favourite.
Released in 1973 when radio music never sounded so good (until Punk and New Wave came along) with T.Rex, Roxy Music and Led Zeppelin, this blockbuster, with its fabulous HDCD remastering, hasn't dated at all!
"
Almost
B. E Jackson | Pennsylvania | 12/13/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I don't know guys- I feel Roxy Music's songwriting isn't that great this time around. You have "Psalm" which musically doesn't offer a whole lot to me. Just a slow build up and nice lyrics that repeat more or less the same vocal melody for eight minutes. Occasionally some instrumental chops are thrown in the background, but they aren't enough to interest me, I'm afraid. I guess the lead singer wanted to showcase his skills on this track. THAT he did, but not to my liking personally.
In fact the entire album sounds like a passable warm up until Country Life is made. That's a better album as far as songwriting and experimental ideas working correctly goes. Still, Stranded has a few nice moments, mostly from the shorter songs. I DO love "Mother of Pearl". You simply cannot forget a chorus like that! In fact one time I was humming the chorus while vacuuming my entire downstairs (living room, kitchen and den- the three most important rooms in my house). Also "Amazona" rules a LOT.
Just know the first two Roxy Music albums, along with Country Life, are a LOT better than Stranded.