{"id":41742,"date":"2009-10-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/lets-stick-together\/"},"modified":"2009-10-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-15T00:00:00","slug":"lets-stick-together","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/lets-stick-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Stick Together"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Roxy Music a year into what would become a four year break from recording, Bryan Ferry decided to get busy and keep the flame burning with a few solo albums. The first two of three albums released in as many years, Let\u2019s Stick Together <\/i>and In Your Mind<\/i> both offered glimpses of brilliance, while 1978\u2019s The Bride Stripped Bare<\/i> proves that even the most creative minds suffer from burnout from time to time.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

For this albuml Ferry recruited Roxy bandmate Paul Thompson on drums to join the likes of Chris Spedding (guitar), John Wetton (bass), and a cast of stellar session players to help record an album of covers and some reworkings of his own Roxy songs. The result is a fabulous blend of sounds that is much slicker and more polished than its predecessors. Here, Ferry is aiming for hit singles and a successful album, and he delivered on both accounts.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The title-track was a moderate \u201860s hit for Wilbert Harrison, but Ferry used all of his tricks to create the definitive version of this plucky song. Chris Mercer\u2019s sax is the star of the show, with Ferry delivering a much smoother style of singing over a punchy rhythm track. The song was rightfully a hit for Ferry, as was another superb cover of a classic \u201860s song. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Everly Brothers\u2019 \u201cThe Price Of Love\u201d is given a frantic makeover here, and in my opinion, it\u2019s all the better for it. Everything is thrown into the mix, with Ferry using a layered vocal track as well as backing singers; some great Mexican flavors throughout the track make it irresistible.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Jimmy Reed\u2019s \u201cShame, Shame, Shame\u201d is covered in a more authentic style; not far removed from its original state, it keeps the record jumping sweetly enough. Ferry also covers The Beatles with a great breezy version of \u201cIt\u2019s Only Love,\u201d on which he channels his inner Lennon for a pretty true likeness. Mercer again producers some more sax magic, and in fact, the more I hear this one, the more I like it.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The most brazenly creative moment on the record comes along in the form of a standard with \u201cYou Go To My Head.\u201d\u00a0 Ferry would explore these standards in much more depth with his patchy, jazz-influenced album As Time Goes By<\/i>, <\/i>released in 1999. \u201cHeart On My Sleeve\u201d is a run-of-the-mill \u201870s pop ditty that closes the album with style but unfortunately offers nothing memorable.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

What is memorable about Let\u2019s Stick Together<\/i>, <\/i>however, is Ferry\u2019s re-workings of his own tracks that previously appeared on Roxy Music albums. The Roxy frontman chose no less than four songs from their 1972 self-titled debut and one from the glorious Country Life <\/i>LP; that song, \u201cCasanova,\u201d is transformed from a glitter rock, guitar-driven gem into a sly jazz\/R&B style groove. Ferry\u2019s menacing tone compliments his poison-pen superbly (\u201cInnovator, it\u2019s in your mind and blood \/ I watch it simmer \/ I see you\u2019re courting more despair, no hope? \/ Not a glimmer.\u201d) <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cSea Breezes\u201d is given almost the exact same vocal delivery by Ferry but has much more atmospheric arrangement, which again I feel actually improves on the original. Ferry\u2019s tribute to Humphrey Bogart, \u201c2HB,\u201d is almost unchanged from its original incarnation, but it does fit well with the rest of the songs here.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cChance Meeting\u201d is toned down here, and I think it suffers a little because of it. It\u2019s not one of Roxy\u2019s strongest tracks to begin with, so it is easily this album\u2019s weakest link. \u201cRe-Make\/Re-Model\u201d is also toned down to fit with the overall slickness of this album, and although it still works well enough, the sheer exuberance of the original can never be bettered.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

With Let\u2019s Stick Together<\/i>, <\/i>Bryan Ferry achieved the solo success he craved and also kept the Roxy Music \u201cbrand\u201d out there during a down period for the band. This is a fun and polished \u201870s pop record that still sounds fabulous, if not a little too<\/i> careful in places that perhaps Ferry and Co. need not have been.<\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":30103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7984],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41742","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-bryan-ferry","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41742","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\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41742"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}