{"id":41752,"date":"2009-10-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/taxi\/"},"modified":"2009-10-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-26T00:00:00","slug":"taxi","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/taxi\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taxi<\/i> was the first Bryan Ferry album I ever purchased; up until that point (about twelve years ago), I hadn\u2019t heard of him or his former band, Roxy Music. I just liked the cover because it reminded me of old Hollywood. It wasn\u2019t long before I finally got into Roxy and Ferry\u2019s other efforts, but I don\u2019t think it was due to Taxi<\/i> because quite simply, it\u2019s not good. Parts of it are slightly interesting, but too much of it sounds like \u201celevator music,\u201d which is a shame when you consider Ferry chose some absolute pop gems to rework here, along with some original material.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The opener \u201cI Put A Spell On You\u201d cruises along nicely, and Ferry seems to make it his own \u2013 that is, until I hear the original version by Screamin\u2019 Jay Hawkins, which makes Ferry\u2019s just seem lame. One of my all time favorite songs is the Goffin\/King classic \u201cWill You Still Love Me Tomorrow\u201d by The Shirelles. I never get tired of hearing it, and after having been covered by so many artists over the years, it is still the definitive version of this wonderful song.\u00a0 Usually a pretty shrewd interpreter, Ferry misses the mark completely with his banal attempt at soul-inspired crooning. The fact is, he took the \u201csoul\u201d out, reconstructed the song, but didn\u2019t put it back in.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cAnswer Me\u201d fares better as it\u2019s more on par with Ferry\u2019s best work throughout the \u201880s.\u00a0 The cavalcade of players that Ferry assembled for Taxi<\/i> manages to breathe some much-needed life into this track, and Ferry finally sounds at home. \u201cJust One Look\u201d would\u2019ve been comfortable on Roxy\u2019s Avalon<\/i>, but here the arrangement just sounds too dated to offer anything memorable.\u00a0 \u201cRescue Me\u201d (barely recognizable here) is more of the same, and by this point, I wouldn\u2019t blame anyone for hitting the \u201cstop\u201d button because it\u2019s just so damn boring.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Ferry then tackles Lou Reed\u2019s \u201cAll Tomorrow\u2019s Parties,\u201d which is a better fit for the album and the overall vibe Ferry was relying on to pull this off. It\u2019s dark and moody in all the right places, and I think I even prefer this take to the original version.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Girl Of My Best Friend\u201d is another track that Ferry would\u2019ve unleashed all of his powers on a decade earlier. Here, however, it receives the same treatment as the rest of the material with a smooth, stripped-back arrangement that is tailor-made for Ferry to swoon over. The problem is that where it\u2019s supposed to be completely intoxicating, it\u2019s just downright boring. It seems the vibrant, fancy-free former Roxy frontman was sliding into middle-age a little too<\/i> comfortably. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

A poppy and up-tempo take on \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d is sheer stupidity at its best, an absolute load of tosh that achieves nothing. The title track is easily the most inspired and original moment here, though, and finds Ferry sounding as cool and self-assured as ever. The record then closes with Ferry\u2019s own \u201cBecause You\u2019re Mine,\u201d which is really a reprise of \u201cI Put A Spell On You.\u201d You wouldn\u2019t know it, though, because it\u2019s just awash with soaring guitars and a monotonous, dreamy synth that just ends up confusing the listener when it should be confirming all that came before it.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I\u2019m completely confident in saying that Taxi <\/i>is the worst album that smooth operator Ferry has ever been associated with. It\u2019s dull, lifeless, and tries too hard to be atmospheric and even a tad menacing in places. Very little of it is even memorable after ten minutes of having listened to it, and I think it\u2019s going to be a long time (if ever) before I give this one another spin.<\/p>\n

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