One of the strongest aspects of Roxy Music is their sheer eclecticism and style that irradiates the album - from the Bond woman on the front cover to the sound of many songs on the album, Roxy Music is painted in a sort of futuristic nostalgia, only emphasized by the tightness and overall playing of the band itself. Lead singer Bryan Ferry is the best case of this, and he's also quite the vocal chameleon - on a number like the opening "Re-make / Re-model", his frantic sing-speak brings to mind a proto-David Byrne from Talking Heads, while other moments sound like Berlin-Era David Bowie half a decade before Low, and others like "2 H.B." have him sounding like a fusion of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. Ferry is one part of the equation, as the rest of the group is an incredibly tight set of musicians that holds incredibly true to the standard rock mold, but versatile enough to be adaptable to anything Ferry saw fit, as well as having one special member that takes things to a new level - Eno is Roxy Music's ace in the hole. While Eno doesn't contribute a massive amount to Roxy, his fiddling with synthesizers undoubtedly is responsible for a lot of the album's futuristic sound and most out-there production.
All of this experimentation and sonic fiddling results in a kick-ass album that is simultaneously forward-thinking and still largely accessible to some extent. Generally, the first half is more filled with memorable hooks than the more experimental second half, but what does it matter when that side is a brilliantly out-there section. "Re-make / Re-model" is a fucking excellent opener that is very possibly my favorite thing here - it's so filled with energy and little musical references to the point where it's one of those songs that I can listen to countess times and still find new things. The three-part suite "If There Is Something" has tinges of country, glam, and progressive throughout its 6-and-a-half runtime, and it's possibly the album's crowning achievement of genre mashing. "Virginia Plain" is probably the closest thing the album has to a traditional pop hit, and yet it still sounds like nothing I've heard from 1972, even in the realm of glam rock - less "Ziggy Stardust" and more "Psycho Killer". The suave "2 H.B." is a sweet enough tribute to movie star Humphrey Bogart, even quoting his most famous line from Casablanca. Side B is, as already mentioned, far more out-there with its synth seas on moments like "The Bob (Medley)" and the seven-minute "Sea Breezes", but it's just as inspired up to the bizarre yet lovable closer with "Bitters End".
Roxy Music, both band and album, are remarkably ahead of the curb. An already tight and motley crew of a group comes together to create one of the most aesthetic, boundary-pushing, and futuristic albums of the year it came out. For reference, this album did in fact come out on the same day as The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, and yet it's somehow ahead of what even Bowie was doing - did I mention that this was recorded in two weeks? Roxy Music is a monster of a debut album that is continuously fascinating and innovative throughout, and it remains one of the sharpest releases of its time to this very day.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯Listen to Roxy Music.
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