 |  | Half of a Decent Roxy Music Album |  |
Though I'm a huge fan of Roxy Music, everything after "Manifesto" was pretty weak for my taste, especially the beloved "Avalon". I prefer "Flesh + Blood" to that disc because of the five gems that follow "Midnight Hour", an OK rendition of the old soul standard but couldn't Bryan have sticked to the covers on his solo albums? Aside from putting the Roxy touch on the Byrd's classic "Eight Miles High", the last songs find me wishing for the Roxy Music of old. But all is not lost! I love "Oh Yeah!"; the glam-disco of "Same Old Scene"; the lone rock song "Flesh And Blood" that sounds like it could have fit easily on "Country Life" or "Siren"; the gorgeous, heart-breaking balladry of "My Only Love"; and the sugary pop sweet "Over You". Both Bryan's vocals and the band's instrumentation are in top form but I miss the weirdness of albums 1 through 4. Still, there is some good stuff to be found here.
August 21, 2008Not much more to add ,,,Have alway liked thise guys,,can relive some good times !
July 15, 20084.5 stars
This is a great album, very much prefacing the sound and vibe of Avalon.
Funky rhythms, amazing production, sweet guitar sounds, and lots of excellent tunes from Ferry's pen as usual.
The original Eno Roxy feel is long gone by this point; F&B heralds the arrival of Ferry as a real popsmith without the early weirdness (no one will ever touch Virginia Plain for what it is, though). Yes, the early Roxy sound was superb and unique, but so is this.
September 26, 2007 | | A fine Roxy album for the non-roxy fan | |
The maturity of the band shows through in addition to a nod to thier roots by doing the covers of Midnight Hour and Eight Miles High. If you are not already a Roxy fan or you are and you'r indoctrinating some one who'es never heard of them this is the album to play. "OH Yeah" is my favorite cut and one that gives full expression to Ferry's vocal emotions.
February 19, 2007 | | More Than Hits (3.5 stars) | |
The reformed Roxy Music of the late seventies still released great singles, but somehow lost the knack for making great albums. Flesh and Blood, the band's second full-length from this period and their seventh total, is mostly comprised of worthwhile material, but has a few wretched fillers that drag the overall album down. Banal covers of The Byrds' Eight Miles High and Wilson Pickett's Midnight Hour are superfluous at best, while Rain Rain Rain stinks stinks stinks. The remainder of Flesh and Blood gracefully advances the maturation of Roxy's experimental glam rock into stylish, New-Romantic pop. Roxy were beginning to sound more like their imitators (Ultravox, Japan, Associates) by this time, but beneath the veneer of tousled, continental elegance lay that same aura of mystery, estrangement, and decay that characterized their pivotal earlier recordings. Avalon, the band's eighth and final studio album, may have been a more graceful, cohesive affair, but this often overlooked record has a higher concentration of truly great songs.
January 29, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
