FOR YOUR PLEASURE

Founded by art students in the early of 70's, the band around Bryan Ferry initially made prog rock music before making radio hits in the 80's. Other important founding members were Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay. The music performed by Roxy Music is characterized by the use of nostalgic, contemporary and futuristic themes, which was one of the hallmarks of the band. Roxy Music is also known by the combination of the experimentation, innovation and refinement, by the lyricism in their lyrics, by instrumental virtuosos themes and a great and lush visual production.

"For Your Pleasure" is the second studio album of Roxy Music that was released in 1973. The beautiful art cover of the album features Amanda Lear, a singer and model who first came to the public attention as the model of the cover of this album and who would later dated David Bowie. All songs were written by Bryan Ferry. The line up of this album is Bryan Ferry (vocals, piano, Hohner Pianet, Mellotron and harmonica), Brian Eno (backing vocals and VCS3 synthesizer), Andy MacKay (oboe, saxophone and Farfisa electronic organ), Phil Manzanera (electric guitar), John Porter (bass guitar) and Paul Thompson (drums). There's a slight difference between the line up of this album and the line up of their previous debut album, because Graham Simpson left the group and was replaced by John Porter. "For Your Pleasure" is also their last musical work to feature the specialist synthesizer sound of Brian Eno. Brian Eno left the group after this album due to discussions with Bryan Ferry about divergences over the band's musical direction and also because Bryan Ferry's dominance of the band. Eno, who would later on gain high acclaim as a solo artist and musical producer.

"For Your Pleasure" has eighth tracks. The first track "Do The Strand" is a perfect way to open the album brilliantly. It's a song with a fantastic vocal work by Bryan Ferry that sings curious lyrics and it has also great guitar, keyboards and saxophone performances, very well accompanied by some strong and vigorous drums. It's an excellent song plenty of energy. The second track "Beauty Queen" is a song more experimental than the previous. It's a nice and cool melodic song but it has also a harder rock part. This is a song where the highlight goes to Bryan Ferry's vocals and Brian Eno's synthesizers. This is a great glam rock song. The third track "Strictly Confidential" is a dark and melancholic song very calm and slow. It's a song with Bryan Ferry emotional vocals, and musically, it has a nice oboe played by Andy MacKay, a stunning guitar solo by Phil Manzanera, and the drumming work by Paul Thompson is amazing too. The fourth track "Editions Of You" is, without any doubt, one of highest moments on this album. This is the best rock moment of the album. This is a song with a very high rhythm full of energy and very wild. The absolutely fantastic musical moments by the saxophone of Andy Mackay, the guitar of Phil Manzanera and the synthesizer of Brian Eno, are completely amazing. This is one of the fantastic songs of the group. The fifth track "In Every Dream Home A Heartache" is, once again, another dark and melancholic song. We may say that this song is divided into two different parts. In the first part the Bryan Ferry's voice dominates and the musical instruments glide in a kind of a limbo and in the second part the music explodes with good individual performances by all musicians, especially by Phil Manzanera. The sixth track "The Bogus Man" is one of the most original, experimental, adventurous and artistic songs on the album. The lyrics are dark and disturbing and the music seems to be very insane, but I like particularly of the excellent sound of the Mellotron played by Bryan Ferry. This is a great song. The seventh track "Grey Lagoons" is a much more traditional Roxy Music's song. This is a rock song very well balanced with great individual performances where we can hear a great guitar sound, an aggressive saxophone and also the beautiful sound of the harmonica of Bryan Ferry. The eighth and last track, the title track "For Your Pleasure", is the magnum opus of this album. This is a very weird and dark song with strange sound effects which leaves you surprised and confused with the end of this album. We can clearly see the Brian Eno's hand in this song and we may say that this is his farewell to the group. This is a fantastic track, one of my favourites from them.

Conclusion: "Roxy Music" and "For Your Pleasure" are the two Roxy Music's less accessible albums but they are also at the same time the best and the most experimental and avant-garde of their career. Both albums represent the most interesting phase of the band for progheads. Although I have rated both albums with 5 stars, "For Your Pleasure" is, in my humble opinion, better because is more balanced, mature and adult than their debut. Ferry took the reins a little more here than on the debut. So, Eno's influence diminished. There's no doubt this was the album which put the art into rock. With this album we can say that on the air, there's a new sensation and a fabulous creation in the music. So, sit on your couch, relax and listen this album because its music was made only for you pleasure. We can question what would have been Roxy Music if Eno stayed in the band. But, I really think there was no place for Ferry and Eno here.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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