New album: Avonmore
Artist: Bryan Ferry
Label: BMG
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
For some reason, Bryan Ferry opted not to record new music with the reunited Roxy Music after their successful reunion tour back in 2005. Most of the band appeared on his acclaimed solo album Olympia — his best in decades — but that’s as close to a new Roxy Music album as we’ll ever get.
As a member of Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry created a creepy/cool personae that carried over into his solo career. Although Roxy had a few stateside hits with “Love Is The Drug” and “Avalon,” they never exploded in the United States. Ferry’s solo career carried over a large chunk of the chilly pop/soul sound that Roxy perfected near the end of their run in the early 1980s, but the absence of the Roxy members Phil Manzanera (guitar) and Paul Thompson (drums) left much of Ferry’s solo output sounding a bit like Roxy-Lite.
On Avonmore, Ferry has dialed in the vibe of his most successful solo album, Boys and Girls and it’s hit single “Slave To Love.” This is sophisticated pop to be sure, but Ferry’s delivery is too eccentric to ever let it lapse into anything less than artful. Ferry has pretty much stuck to his signature sound on Avonmore, but the funny thing is that it sounds thoroughly modern.
The icy, martini groove of “Loop De Li” will delight any fan of latter day Roxy Music or early Ferry solo work. Whether you want to sit at the table and soak in the atmosphere or strut around the room like a stone-passing mime, “Driving Me Wild” and “A Special Kind of Guy” will facilitate your desire.
Avonmore is not the genius art rock of the first four Roxy Music albums, but as far as sleek, smart pop goes, this is as good as it gets. One would hope Ferry would come to his senses and make one final album with his original band, but in the mean time his new solo album is a decent substitute.
Classic album: Nothing Has Changed
Artist: David Bowie
Label: Parolophone
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
This new David Bowie anthology is largely unnecessary to anyone who owns any of the great multi-disc Bowie compilations that have surfaced since the 1990s. If you don’t own any of these and are looking for a gateway into the world of Bowie, you’re going to love it.
Kicking of with the fantastic new song “Sue (Or In A Season of Crime)”, this three-disc set (don’t wimp out with the shorter versions) begins with Bowie’s most recent recordings and works backwards through his catalog. The songs from his most recent album aren’t particularly earth shattering, but things start to get interesting when “Slow Burn” from Bowie’s the underrated Heathen LP pops up.
On a personal note, this compilation could have done with more material from the Heathen album, but with so much music to choose from this is a minor quibble at best. “Thursday’s Child” is another latter-day Bowie classic that should perk the ears of anyone who checked out on Bowie after the 1980s. And yes, the big radio hits from the 80s (“Let’s Dance,” “China Girl” and “Modern Love”) are here as well. Bowie’s guitar-squall project that was Tin Machine is nowhere to be found.
Bowie’s much lauded Berlin period isn’t overly represented, but thankfully the compilers still had the good sense to include the monumental “Heroes,” along with powerful Queen collaboration, “Under Pressure.” Other key middle period songs such as “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)” and “Ashes To Ashes” still sound fresh decades after their creations.
The third disc of Nothing Has Changed focuses on the Ziggy Stardust-era and some early singles, including his very first 45, the very rock and roll “Liza Jane.” The leap from the straight-up rock of “Liza Jane” to the cosmic balladry of “Space Oddity” and “The Man Who Sold The World” is nothing short of remarkable.
David Bowie is one of the true artists of the rock era, and for the uninitiated Nothing Has Changed is a great place to start.
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Tuesday and Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at www.jondawson.com.