Arty, classy, smug yet occasionally self-deprecating, Roxy Music took the excesses of glam and refined them into a beautifully stylized thing. Earning themselves a reputation as much for their fashionable attire as for the... more »ir haute couture rock & roll, Roxy Music earned a string of hits with "Pyjamarama," "Do The Strand," and their club classic, "Love Is the Drug." Roxy Music's sense of rhythm had a certain sophistication that was further enhanced by the vocal phrasings of the consummate rock sophisticate, Bryan Ferry. His handling of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" is a classic in and of itself. "Dance Away" and "Same Old Scene" had an aching sentimentality to them, with Ferry proving it was hipper than hip to romantically croon. In his solo career, Ferry sounded even more like a new-school Sinatra with "Slave to Love." Two of Ferry's finest moments though were with his band, the soaring "More Than This" and the stunningly beautiful "Avalon." Their inclusion further makes Street Life indispensable. --Steve Gdula« less
Arty, classy, smug yet occasionally self-deprecating, Roxy Music took the excesses of glam and refined them into a beautifully stylized thing. Earning themselves a reputation as much for their fashionable attire as for their haute couture rock & roll, Roxy Music earned a string of hits with "Pyjamarama," "Do The Strand," and their club classic, "Love Is the Drug." Roxy Music's sense of rhythm had a certain sophistication that was further enhanced by the vocal phrasings of the consummate rock sophisticate, Bryan Ferry. His handling of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" is a classic in and of itself. "Dance Away" and "Same Old Scene" had an aching sentimentality to them, with Ferry proving it was hipper than hip to romantically croon. In his solo career, Ferry sounded even more like a new-school Sinatra with "Slave to Love." Two of Ferry's finest moments though were with his band, the soaring "More Than This" and the stunningly beautiful "Avalon." Their inclusion further makes Street Life indispensable. --Steve Gdula
"This collection is older, but it's 20 tracks long, and does include most of the essential Roxy/Ferry songs. Included amongst all these killer songs is "Love Is The Drug", "More Than This", "Avalon", and "Slave To Love". It would truly be impossible to fit everything on one disc, but the only things I really miss is Roxy's "Mother Of Pearl", and Ferry's "Kiss And Tell" and "Limbo". Otherwise it actually does a great job as a "best of". This being currently out of print however, you may have to hit the used stores, or deal with another "hits" album."
A good but somewhat outdated hits set
Distant Voyageur | Io | 08/17/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This collection contains 20 of Bryan Ferrys biggest hits from both his band Roxy Music and from his solo career spanning from the glam rock days of the 1972 self-titled debut to the dreamier pop sounds of 1982s swansong Avalon all the way to Ferrys 1985 solo masterpiece Boys & Girls. Many fans will love this CD. I do. It's like a kaleidascope of many styles ranging from the campy glam-rock of the early 70s Roxy Music to the disco rock of Siren and finally the dreamy romantic pop of Flesh & Blood, Avalon & Boys & Girls. Unfortunately this set doesn't have anything from his strongest album Bete Noire nor anything from 1993s Taxi or 1994s Mamouna. Ferry had a top 40 hit called Kiss & Tell from 1987s Bete Noire but unfortunately that single isn't included on this set because even though there are 20 tracks on here this collection was released in 1986, a year before Bete Noire came out and because of that this set doesn't really offer the very best of Ferrys solo works in my honest opinion. The 1999 More Than This. 2000s Slave To Love: Best Of The Ballads & 2001s Best Of Roxy Music are stronger CDs that span Roxy Musics and Ferrys solo career mainly because Ferry made strong material long after this 1986 20 track set was released. That's probably why this CD is diffficult to find nowadays. I in no way am saying leave this CD alone, far from it. It's just not the best place to start your Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music CD collection. The other three compilations I mentioned are better bets even though they too aren't the best places to start either. Ultimately it's probably the wisest choice to eventually buy all of Ferrys solo albums and all of Roxy Musics albums too. This 20 track set is a CD worth owning but just that it's now kind of outdated."
Great Band, Average Compilation
Distant Voyageur | 08/03/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is one of the more intelligent bands of the 70s. They might have been served better if it was a Roxy only set. Editions Of You, Song For Europe, Mother of Pearl, Thrill of It All, etc should have been on this. Hopefully, they will see fit to make a Roxy Music anthology soon. This CD served its purpose when it first came out as an overview to Roxy and Bryan Ferry's career. However, with a lot of lesser bands coming out with boxed sets or anthology packages, surely Roxy deserves one now."
Have you listened to them for the musicianship?
Scott B. Saul | COOPER CITY, FL USA | 10/21/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Roxy music will always be a third tier band. Because they were so innovative and individualistic, they also placed themselves out of the mainstream. They also branched out a bit to much...were they a rock band, an ecclectic bunch or simply a vehicle for Bryan Ferry?
This is a good collection of songs. The beginning has the rock/avante guard stuff, the middle has more power pop stuff and the end is the Bryan Ferry "new romantic fluff".
When you listen to this repeatedy, you pick up on that the band were amazing, and I mean AMAZING musicians. SOunds that I had no idea were guitars are actually really cool innovative guitar riffs. They utilize impressive time and rythmic changes rarely scene in a rock band. The musicians must have had a strong sense of band since no one seemed to have an ego and step out as an instrumentalist. Phil Manzanera was such an underrated guitarist.
Listen to "street life" "pyjamarama" "over you" and "dance away" and tell me who else was making sounds like that (without synthesizers) in the
mid 70's!
Whom ever produced/arranged the material also was very talented and musically daring.
Their music was a bit more challenging then other 70's artist which may account for their lack of following in the U.S.
If you thought of them just as the "Love is a drug" band from the 1970's you will be surprised as to how musically accomplished and experimental these guys were. You will also be disappointed as to how Bryan Ferry steered the band away from the innovation and focused on being commercial."
An overall good compilation of Roxy Music's career...
Scott B. Saul | 08/17/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Though this compilation may lack a few songs (Thrill of it all being missing really makes this album lose a few points), it gives an overall good or general overview of the band's career. Though I can't say all the tracks were strong, I definitely liked Avalon and More than This. Street Life is rather interesting and I'd give a little more credit as it did include Pyjamarama which I think would be needed in any overview of this band. Not a bad compilation. I would recommend it to a few casual fans, someone who just wants a taste of Roxy Music (and Bryan Ferry), or perhaps a newbie to them."