The first Roxy Music album contains some strong material, but it is badly produced. Re-recorded versions of some tracks are on Bryan Ferry's solo album, Let's Stick Together, and they sound a bit sharper. Pete Sinfield was blamed, but his own Still and Stillusion albums are not badly produced. Some adventurous singles were released around the time of the first two albums, Pyjamarama and Virginia Plain (although they were not included on the albums).
For Your Pleasure is an all-time great album. It had various producers, but the problems on the first record are no longer present. Do the Strand and In Every Dream Home are famous, but Editions of You is a punchy track. There is some great bass-playing too, especially on Grey Lagoons, credited to John Porter.
By Stranded, Johnny Gustafson (Big Three, Quatermass, Hard Stuff) had joined on bass, along with Eddie Jobson from Curved Air. The album is less conceptual and more rock orientated. Gustafson and Jobson remained for Country Life, which is probably their closest to a full hard rock album. It is full of outstanding tracks, including All I Want is You, Out of the Blue and the fantastic Bitter-Sweet.
Siren continues the hard rock theme, with the excellent Love is the Drug and Both Ends Burning. John Wetton also plays bass on the live album Viva! Roxy Music, which includes a barnstorming version of Both Ends Burning. Incredibly, this was a hit single too. Soon after, Wetton and Jobson regrouped to form the earth-shattering progressive rock band, UK.
During the punk rock-era, a pretty good Greatest Hits album was released and then Roxy made the comeback album, Manifesto. This was slick, but with less of a rock feel than its predecessor, Siren, although it is not as disco-inclined as it is made out to be. Tracks released as singles were re-mixed or re-recorded with a disco production.
Flesh and Blood is even glossier, with covers, making it more of a Bryan Ferry solo album. Long-term Roxy member and Ferry collaborator, drummer Paul Thompson, left the band prior to Flesh and Blood, making this seem a slightly vacuous album. Avalon and Ferry's Boys and Girls were improvements, but the high sheen on the production made the break with the original Roxy complete.
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