STRANDED

Roxy music was an English progressive rock band that was formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry and the bassist Graham Simpson. Ferry became the band's lead vocalist and also the main songwriter of them. Roxy Music was involved in the art rock movement and had a great fascination with fashion, glamour, cinema and also with pop and avant-garde art, which was a different mark from the other contemporary progressive rock bands in the 70's. Dressed in a very bizarre way, the group played a defiant variation between art rock, avant-rock, pop sound and some electronic experimentation.

"Stranded" is the third studio album of Roxy Music and that was released in 1973. The splendid art cover of the album represents Bryan Ferry's then girlfriend Marilyn Cole, who was the Playmate of the Year in 1973. The line up on the album is Bryan Ferry (vocals, piano and electric piano), Andy MacKay (oboe, saxophone and treatments), Phil Manzanera (guitar and treatments), Eddie Jobson (synthesizers, keyboards and electric violin), John Gustafson (bass guitar), Paul Thompson (drums and timpani) and Chris Lawrence (string bass). On this album, John Gustafson replaced John Porter on the bass. The album had also the participation of The London Welsh Male Choir on chorus on "Psalm".

The album has eight tracks. All songs were written by Bryan Ferry except "Amazona" that was written by Bryan Ferry and Phil Manzanera and "A Song For Europe" that was written by Bryan Ferry and Andy MacKay. The first track "Street Life" was released as a single and is a good way to open the album. It's a song in the pop/rock style, very enjoyable and composed more in the commercial vein. The Bryan Ferry's vocal style is very good and musically it's very well performed. The second song "Just Like You" is one of best, soft and beautiful songs on the album. This is a typical song of what would be many of the future songs written by Bryan Ferry for the group and also for his solo studio albums. It's basically a song composed for the voice and piano of Bryan Ferry but it has also a very melodic and beautiful guitar work by Phil Manzanera. The third track "Amazona" is really a great song and is one of my favourites on the album. This is, in my opinion, probably the most experimental and progressive song on this album. The highlight point of this song is the fantastic guitar performance with great effects by Phil Manzanera that is kept all over the song. The fourth track "Psalm" is, for me, the Achilles heel of this album. It seems that this is the first song written by Bryan Ferry, is a religious gospel song and I always thought that it's quite long, repetitive and boring. Sincerely, I'm convinced that this song is one of the weakest of the group, and to me, it was better on a Bryan Ferry's solo album. The fifth track "Serenade" despite being one of the shortest songs composed by the group is a great song too. It's a very strong song with good vocals, great guitar, good bass and powerful drums. It's one of the strongest points of the album. The sixth track "A Song For Europe" is, in my opinion and without any doubt, the highest point on the album and I think that is probably the best song made by the group. It's a quiet and very beautiful song, one of the most loved by their fans and one of the most played live by them during decades. It's a song with beautiful and very emotional vocals by Bryan Ferry and with a fantastic and very beautiful saxophone work performed by Andy MacKay. It's a very European song where Bryan Ferry decided to unveil his linguistic skills on the song, singing in Latin and French beyond singing in his mother language, the English. On the final, the song ends with the charming whistling of Bryan Ferry. It's a fantastic song. The seventh track "Mother Of Pearl" is the other song with "Amazon", which appears with the same spirit of art rock, avant-garde, experimentation and the progressively of their two previous albums. The song is divided into two distinct parts. The first part has a crazy rock rhythm very aggressive and somewhat chaotic The second part is more a conventional slow ballad with very emotional Bryan Ferry's singing very well accompanied by one very safe and amazing chorus. The last track "Sunset" is a good way to ending the album. This is a typical song totally composed by the voice and the piano of Bryan Ferry. It's a very pleasant song which provides us a wholly enjoyable and enchanting listening, indeed.

Conclusion: "Stranded" represents a mark in the change of the musical direction of the group. Without Brian Eno their music lost the avant-garde and the experimentalism of their previous two studio albums and became more art rock and pop art rock. By the other hand it's the first album where all the music isn't all written by Bryan Ferry. This happened due to the complaints of the other members about Bryan Ferry's composition dominance. The musicianship of the album is excellent, the production is very professional and it sounds very well. "Stranded" is, for me, one of the most sophisticated and charming albums ever made. This is, without any doubt, their best musical work after the departure of Brian Eno. Even Eno later rated it as Roxy Music's finest album. So, if you're interested in the most progressive phase of Roxy Music, without the avant-garde of their two first albums, "Stranded" will be the ideal place to start, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Share this ROXY MUSIC review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to VianaProghead
• Report this review (#2943503)
• Buy ROXY MUSIC music online with PA partners
• Show all ROXY MUSIC MP3/Stream
• Go to ROXY MUSIC page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Stranded page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for ROXY MUSIC related discussions