No longer really a rock band, on
\nAvalon<\/i> Roxy Music deliver an understated, polished gem that
\ninfluenced many 80’s acts. With guitarist Phil Manzanera, saxophone
\nplayer Andy MacKay, and principal songwriter and lead singer Bryan
\nFerry remaining from the original Roxy Music lineup,
\nAvalon<\/i> proved to be an elegant swan song.<\/p>\n
“Much communication in a motion, without conversation or a
\nmotion,” croons Ferry in the title track, and this mood of
\nmysterious romanticism is featured throughout the album.
\nManzanera’s restrained, melodic guitar and MacKay’s lovely sax
\nprovide the graceful backdrop for Ferry’s suave declarations of
\nlove (and lust), such as when he states “the space between us
\nbetter close up tonight.”<\/p>\n
“More Than This,” “The Space Between” and “Avalon” start things
\noff perfectly. Each song is catchy but mellow, and the spacious
\nproduction suits Ferry’s cocktail lounge musings. This atmosphere
\nis briefly interrupted by the instrumental “India” (really just a
\nbreak in the action), before returning for the mournful “While My
\nHeart Is Still Beating,” on which Ferry asks “all of those people
\neverywhere, ever so needing, where’s it all leading?”<\/p>\n
The funky “The Main Thing” recalls David Bowie, while “Tara” is
\na beautiful sax showcase for MacKay. “To Turn You On” (“I’d do
\nanything to turn you on”) is another sumptuous showcase for Ferry
\nthe desperate romantic, and “True To Life” tells a quiet, lonely
\nstory propelled by timely guitar thrusts.<\/p>\n
On “Take A Chance With Me” Ferry admits “in my time too much
\nlove has made me sad for so long.” He just doesn’t know any other
\nway, though. “Heaven knows, I believe you can take a chance with
\nme,” he pleads, before defiantly adding “all the world, even you,
\nshould learn to live the way I do.”<\/p>\n
Throughout
\nAvalon<\/i>, Ferry adds distinct keyboard and synthesizer
\ntextures, along with some exotic percussion and prominent backup
\nsingers. If I have a warning about the album, it would be merely
\nthat such a subtle and polished album requires a certain mood to be
\nfully appreciated, like when night is at hand and the lights are
\ndim. Under such circumstances
\nAvalon<\/i> is an irresistibly classy pop album that seems bound
\nto endure. Though Ferry has spent his subsequent solo career trying
\nto duplicate this album’s understated excellence (remember “Slave
\nTo Love?”), there’s no substituting for the original.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5714],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-35590","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-roxy-music","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=35590"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=35590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}