Search - Roxy Music :: Avalon

For Your Pleasure

Mr. Richard D. Coreno | Berea, Ohio USA | 11/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By the time of the band's final studio album in 1982, critics and some fans were howling that Roxy Music had become an extension of Bryan Ferry's solo career. But looks are very deceiving if one only glares at Ferry penning seven of the 10 tracks, while co-writing two with Andy Mackay and one with Phil Manzanera.



The smooth R&B is enhanced by the production of Rhett Davies and remains a cornerstone release in the wild ride of the music industry in the 1980s. The spectacular The Space Between - The way I see it/This relationship ain't right/The space between us - is a musical masterpiece, with bassist Neil Jason propelling the beat, while guitarists Neil Hubbard and Manzanera subtly dominate the mix. The powerful Take a Chance with Me - As they say, two can play/But keep that song away from me - is a timeless exploration into the game within the game in real relationships.



The majestic title cut, which features the dreamy background vocals of Fonzi Thornton and Yanick Etienne, merges into the first of two instrumentals - India - which slides into the slick While My Heart Is Still Beating, as Ferry the keyboardist plays off the bass lines from Jason. The sax by Mackay propels More Than This, while drummer Andy Newmark and percussionist Jimmy Maelen shine on The Main Thing. The interplay between Ferry and Manzanera on To Turn You On breathes freshness in the vocalist/guitarist standard in rock, with the clubland rhythms reaching incredible heights in True to Life. Mackay places a special coda on the album with his sax solo on Tara.



The 37:31 found the band going out on top of the game - the album earned platinum status, though it peaked at only #53 on the Billboard 200 album chart - and transcends the swiftness in pop culture time and genres, like the wonderment that delights each generation surrounding the memorable stories of King Arthur's last journey to the mythical land of Avalon."