THE STORY OF ROXY MUSIC - MORE THAN THIS

Band documentaries. I like watching them from TV, even if the band in question wasn't among my favourites at all. Be it ZZ Top or whoever I have zero albums on my shelf, it's entertaining to hear their story and excerpts of their songs. When it comes to music DVD's, documentaries admittedly are not as suitable for repeated viewings as the concert films. But the production quality is very varied. The worst are those cheapie things totally unauthorized by the band/artists themselves.

This documentary DVD (with subtitles, thank god!) is pretty good. The main show (52 minutes) was originally broadcast by BBC in 2008. It's a bit short, yes, but it proceeds very effectively. Despite being mostly put together from interviews, there's not a moment you get bored of the talking heads. All the original members -- plus Eddie Jobson who joined the group later -- share their memories. Other interviewees are pop musicians influenced by Roxy Music, a music journalist, the graphic designer behind the album covers... The focus is however always sharp on the band and its music, spiced up by brief but numerous clips from live performances and music videos.

I could pick up several interesting facts on e.g. forming the band, but I leave them for you to hear. Also the stylistic progress from highly original art rock to smooth and lyrically sparse elegance of Avalon (1982) is summarized well. What actually COULD have been dealed with to some degree is the long interim between the break-up and the return to the stage. What Bryan Ferry did as a solo artist and where other musicians have played. The programme only should have been at least 1,5 hours long in that case.

The DVD bonuses are fine. On the Extended Interviews section (29 min) I especially I enjoy the in-depth view at Roxy Music's glamorous album covers! The three songs from the 2006 gig in London are 'Both Ends Burning', 'Editions of You' and 'Do the Strand'. This DVD is very recommendable to anyone with even a mild interest for Roxy Music.