Search - Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music :: Slave to Love: Very Best of the Ballads

Bryan Ferry gets the package treatment.

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 06/27/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Without question, Bryan Ferry is one of the most sublime singers of the past 30 years. And if you subtract the work with Roxy, he rates as one of the all time best interpretive artists, ever. Which is what makes a collection like "Slave to Love" frustrating. While it certainly spotlight's Ferry's extraordinary skill as a romantic singer, it jumbles and juxtaposes styles from the various stages of Ferry's career. One of the greatest things about latter day Roxy was that the albums (in particular, "Flesh + Blood" and "Avalon") had such seamless flow to them. Even his more recent solo material had that silky continuity, making them best heard as whole albums. On a CD touted as "The Best Of The Ballads," having the wistful romance of "More Than This" pressed against the endearingly campy "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" becomes something of a distraction rather than an enhancement.Them's the minuses. The plusses are that you do get a really slick 74 minutes of coolly delivered songs to while away the time to. There are a few harder to find single and soundtrack songs here as well. Roxy Music's tribute to John Lennon, their cover of "Jealous Guy," is reason alone to buy "Slave To Love." You'll also find "Is Your Love Strong Enough" and "Sonnet No 18" for those who don't have the originals.So while I wouldn't disavow this collection to anyone searching it out, I'd also recommend "Avalon," "Boys and Girls" and "Siren" as albums to explore above this one."