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Title: Bryan Ferry – Frantic (2002)
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Frantic manages to touch upon virtually every musical style of Bryan Ferry’s career. Ferry has proved to be as interested in covering other artists’ material as penning original songs, and he straddles a smart mix of originals and covers here. Two brilliant Bob Dylan songs appear among the opening tracks: “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” sees a return to the eclectic, energetic experimentation of Ferry’s early albums with Roxy Music as a lush modern swirl of instruments mingles with the singer’s stylized vocals and throwback harmonica; “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” completes the Dylan pair, as Ferry intones with confidence and again takes up harmonica over Colin Good’s rolling piano. The reverent Leadbelly cover “Goodnight Irene” reimagines Ferry as a kind of blues troubadour. “One Way Love” sees the Drifters’ song reworked as a squall of distorted guitars and keyboards. Almost half of Frantic’s songs originated from late-’90s sessions with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, and Stewart is given a co-writer credit for these songs. Though the Stewart songs tend to favor edginess over songwriting, a few of them manage to break through the bombast. “Goddess of Love” is probably the best song about Marilyn Monroe since Kitchens of Distinction’s “When in Heaven,” and there’s a passing musical resemblance to that great song. “Hiroshima” works like an ominous take on Roxy Music’s synth-heavy Avalon period, with raging guitar dynamics contributed by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. Roxy Music fans will find more reasons to rejoice with the superb album closer, “I Thought,” which was co-written with Brian Eno, who sings backing vocals and plays keyboards. Some listeners might suggest that an album this varied has an identity crisis, but with standout tracks as glorious as the Dylan covers and the Eno closer, Frantic is a fascinating addition to Bryan Ferry’s accomplished discography.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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Title: Bryan Ferry – Boys And Girls (1985) [Reissue 2005]
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Having at last laid Roxy to bed with its final, intoxicatingly elegant albums, Ferry continued its end-days spirit with his own return to solo work. Dedicated to Ferry’s father, Boys and Girls is deservedly most famous for its smash single “Slave to Love.” With a gentle samba-derived rhythm leading into the steadier rock pace of the song, it’s ’80s Ferry at his finest, easy listening without being hopelessly soporific. As a whole, Boys and Girls fully established the clean, cool vision of Ferry on his own to the general public. Instead of ragged rock explosions, emotional extremes, and all that made his ’70s work so compelling in and out of Roxy, Ferry here is the suave, debonair if secretly moody and melancholic lover, with music to match. Co-producer Rhett Davies, continuing his role from the latter Roxy albums, picks up where Avalon left off right from the slinky opening grooves of “Sensation.” The range of people on the album is an intriguing mix, from latterday Roxy members like Andy Newmark and Alan Spenner to avid Roxy disciples like Chic’s Nile Rodgers. Everyone is subordinated to Ferry’s overall vision, and as a result there’s not as much full variety on Boys and Girls as might be thought or hoped. The album’s biggest flaw is indeed that it’s almost too smooth, with not even the hint of threat or edge that Ferry once readily made his own. As something that’s a high cut above the usual mid-’80s yuppie smarm music, though, Boys and Girls remains an enjoyable keeper that has aged well.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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Title: Bryan Ferry – Boys And Girls (1985) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Having at last laid Roxy to bed with its final, intoxicatingly elegant albums, Ferry continued its end-days spirit with his own return to solo work. Dedicated to Ferry’s father, Boys and Girls is deservedly most famous for its smash single “Slave to Love.” With a gentle samba-derived rhythm leading into the steadier rock pace of the song, it’s ’80s Ferry at his finest, easy listening without being hopelessly soporific. As a whole, Boys and Girls fully established the clean, cool vision of Ferry on his own to the general public. Instead of ragged rock explosions, emotional extremes, and all that made his ’70s work so compelling in and out of Roxy, Ferry here is the suave, debonair if secretly moody and melancholic lover, with music to match. Co-producer Rhett Davies, continuing his role from the latter Roxy albums, picks up where Avalon left off right from the slinky opening grooves of “Sensation.” The range of people on the album is an intriguing mix, from latterday Roxy members like Andy Newmark and Alan Spenner to avid Roxy disciples like Chic’s Nile Rodgers. Everyone is subordinated to Ferry’s overall vision, and as a result there’s not as much full variety on Boys and Girls as might be thought or hoped. The album’s biggest flaw is indeed that it’s almost too smooth, with not even the hint of threat or edge that Ferry once readily made his own. As something that’s a high cut above the usual mid-’80s yuppie smarm music, though, Boys and Girls remains an enjoyable keeper that has aged well.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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Title: Bryan Ferry – The Bride Stripped Bare (1978) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

When Jerry Hall, front-cover model on Roxy’s Siren, left Ferry for Mick Jagger, his response was this interesting album, not a full success but by no means a washout. In part Ferry returned to the model of his solo work before In Your Mind, with half the tracks being covers of rock and soul classics. Thus, Sam and Dave’s “Hold On (I’m Coming),” Al Green’s “Take Me to the River” (which arguably sounds like a strong influence on Talking Heads’ near contemporaneous version) and even the Velvet Underground’s “What Goes On,” among others, take a bow. Unfortunately Ferry’s backing performers, mostly drawing on studio pros like Waddy Wachtel, don’t seem to have the real affinity for the material like his earlier solo-effort cohorts did. If anything, though, there’s also the sense of Ferry channeling his romantic gloom through a number of the songs, giving them a strong personal bite. The guitar and bass-only version of the traditional folk tune “Carrickfergus” works best of all, its lovelorn sentiments and slow pace connecting just right. As for Ferry’s originals, his sentiments are all the more clear, right from the abbreviated charge of the opening “Sign of the Times,” its fractured sentiments of disturbed, vicious romance matched by the clipped punch of the music and Ferry’s own brisk delivery. The other originals don’t cut quite so bloodily, but the sense of loss and confusion is all there, from the opening line “Well I rush out blazin’/My pulse is racin’” on “Can’t Let Go” to the lonely sense of mystery on “This Island Earth,” the album’s conclusion.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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Title: Bryan Ferry – In Your Mind (1977) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

With Roxy Music set aside for the time being, Ferry took the solo plunge with an album of totally original material. As such, the underrated In Your Mind makes a logical follow-on from Roxy’s Siren, especially since usual suspects — Thompson, Manzanera, Wetton, and many more — assist him in the brief eight-song effort. While lacking early Roxy’s long-gone freakouts In Your Mind still burns more fiercely than both the later solo and group albums, at least on certain tracks – like Siren, it balances between rockier and smoother paths, most often favoring the former. Ferry’s lyrics remain in his own realm of intelligent, romantic dissipation, and are some of his best efforts. The strong opener “This Is Tomorrow” starts with Ferry and keyboards before moving into a big, chugging full band arrangement and a wistful chorus: “This is tomorrow callin’/Wish you were here.” When Ferry aims for a calmer mood, rather than stripped-down melancholia, he lets everyone play along. Sometimes the arrangements almost swamp the songs, but “One Kiss’” combination of female backing vocals, sax, and straight-up rock for instance, make it a great woozy, end-of-the-night singalong before the bars close. There are a few blatant misfires — “Tokyo Joe” has the chugging, dark funk/rock beat down cold, but the lyrics play around too much with Asian stereotypes (and let’s not mention the opening gong and all too obvious attempts at “atmosphere” via the strings). On balance, though, In Your Mind remains the secret highlight of Ferry’s musical career, an energetic album that would have received far more attention as a full Roxy release.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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