{"id":41761,"date":"2009-10-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/live-11\/"},"modified":"2009-10-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-28T00:00:00","slug":"live-11","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/live-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Live"},"content":{"rendered":"

After nearly twenty-years apart, the four original members of Roxy Music (minus Brian Eno) decided the time was right for a reunion. While there were steady rumors of new material, the main objective was to put the band back together and take the show on the road. So, Bryan Ferry, Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay, and Paul Thompson \u2013 along with a stellar cast of backing players \u2013 hit the road in mid-2001 and delivered what has to be one of the most satisfying reunion shows ever seen. Roxy proved they had lost none of their glam, and although Brian Eno was absent, they managed to recreate those wild and wacky sounds that glorified their first two records.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

This two-disc set was put together using the best recordings of every song taken throughout the tour; this means, of course, that every one of these twenty-two songs sounds absolutely divine. The running order is also exactly the same as the tour setlist, which gives us the full show experience. The production is first class and there\u2019s just enough crowd noise to create the right type of atmosphere for a live album. The song selection again cannot be faulted; it covers every period of their career, highlighting some of their best moments as well as showcasing a few of their abstract gems.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Disc one opens with frenetic workouts of \u201cRe-Make\/Re-Model\u201d and \u201cStreet Life\u201d before hitting the first of many highlights, a glorious rendition of \u201cLadytron.\u201d Ferry, having long been a solo performer, sounds right at home with the band that sounds so good it\u2019s like they never went away.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Manzanera is joined by Ferry\u2019s longtime guitarist Chris Spedding, which makes for some awesome dueling throughout the show. \u201cWhile My Heart Is Still Beating\u201d (from Avalon<\/i>) has never sounded better, with Ferry clearly eclipsing his performance on the original track with this version. This is also the first time that Paul Thompson\u2019s powerful drumming style is prominent, giving the band a slightly harder edge than on their past live efforts.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cOut Of The Blue\u201d is pure bliss to hear at the best of times, but again Roxy outdoes themselves with this superb offering. \u201cA Song For Europe\u201d is more at home in a live setting than on record, so they gave it an updated and extended workout that sounds beautiful. A loose, groovy \u201cMy Only Love\u201d is also given more time here with an awesome eight-minute version that I again prefer to the original on the patchy Flesh + Blood<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

A personal favorite of mine, the creepy \u201cIn Every Dream Home A Heartache,\u201d is here in all of its sordid splendor. It has odd lyrics about a lonely man and his \u201cperfect companion\u201d (a lover of the inflatable kind), which no doubt would require some nerve to sing live, but Ferry seems to revel in it and it remains one of the strongest performance pieces here.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The mood is then lightened with fabulous version of \u201cOh Yeah,\u201d which finds the band at their most carefree with Ferry singing about love again. A blistering \u201cBoth Ends Burning\u201d is followed by the instrumental piece, \u201cTara\u201d (essentially a duet between Mackay\u2019s sax and Lucy Wilkin\u2019s violin) to close out the first brilliant disc. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The second disc <\/b>begins with a faithful versions of \u201cMore Than This\u201d and \u201cIf There Is Something,\u201d both of which sound as fresh as the day they were recorded. \u201cMother Of Pearl\u201d (from Stranded<\/i>) is here in its original form, and it remains one of Roxy\u2019s strangest moments \u2013 they do strange well, though, so it\u2019s a good thing. \u201cAvalon\u201d is about as smooth as anything I\u2019ve ever heard; its lush arrangement and Ferry\u2019s romantic crooning are still a match made in heaven.\u00a0 On \u201cDance Away,\u201d Ferry is backed superbly by Sarah Brown\u2019s sensual tones.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

John Lennon\u2019s \u201cJealous Guy\u201d is given another airing here, and although it\u2019s never been a favorite of mine, Roxy manage to make it their own.\u00a0 A frantic workout of \u201cEditions Of You\u201d is vintage Roxy and another high point of this incredible set. \u201cVirginia Plain\u201d (from their 1972 debut) is pure craziness, but no one seems to care because it\u2019s so much fun. \u201cLove Is The Drug\u201d is possibly their most enduring hit, and it still packs a mighty punch. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

For Your Pleasur<\/i>e<\/i>, my favorite Roxy LP, is represented again with a glorious take on \u201cDo The Strand\u201d before the band closes out the set with \u201cFor Your Pleasure\u201d to rapturous adoration from a crowd of thousands. The fact is that this entire set has absolutely no weak spots; it is exceptional from start to finish. A DVD of the tour was filmed in London in 2001 titled Roxy Music Live At The Apollo<\/i>, <\/i>and I can tell you it is every bit as colorful and exciting watch as it is to hear. If this turns out to be the last thing Roxy ever does, then at least they went out better than ever in all their glitter rock glory.<\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":30122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5714],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-41761","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-roxy-music","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41761","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=41761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41761"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}