Customer Reviews

Boys & Girls

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Roxy Music issued "Avalon" in 1982 and despite its broad commercial success it was the last (studio) Roxy album. It became clear why, when 3 years later Roxy lead singer and composer Bryan Ferry issued "Boys and Girls", in all but name a straight sequel to "Avalon" (the implication being that Avalon probably was far more a Ferry solo album than a true Roxy album--comparions to Roger Waters/Pink Floyd "The Final Cut" come to mind.) "Boys and Girls" continues the dreamy soundscapes from "Avalon", mixing up more upbeat, dance-oriented songs ("Don't Stop the Dance", "The Chosen One" "Stone Woman") with slower songs ("Slave to Love" (which was the lead-off single), "Windswept", "Boys annd Girls"). And of course there is the short (1 min) "bridge song" (here "Wasteland", like "India" on "Avalon"). While the album covers no new ground, it still is the best Bryan Ferry solo album, because the sounds are lush and deep, and the entire album (clocking in at 38+ min) plays like one long dream-along song. In this remastered issue, the sound quality is remarkably better than before. The CD also contains the lyrics to the songs. Nevertheless I deck a star from my rating because there are no extra tracks such as single B-sides or live tracks and there are no liner notes. Enjoy the dreamy world of Bryan Ferry, though!

Bryan Ferry is one of those artists that is well-known among European music fans, but in the United States - Ferry's career has almost gone unnoticed. Ferry achieved success as the lead singer for Roxy Music - who also had established themselves in Europe, but not in the United States. During his Roxy Music years, Ferry also had a parallel solo career going In 1983, for all practical purposes - Roxy Music would split up and Bryan Ferry would focus on his solo career. In 1985, Ferry would release "Boys and Girls". 1985 would be one of the most competitive years in the music industry. Artists such as Sting ("The Dream of the Blue Turtles"), Phil Collins ("No Jacket Required"), Bryan Adams ("Reckless"), Tears For Fears ("Songs From the Big Chair"), Wham ("Make It Big"), and Dire Straits ("Brothers in Arms") would all release (or have released) landmark albums during that time would garner both commercial and critical acclaim. I think it's also safe to add Bryan Ferry and his "Boys and Girls" album to that list. "Boys and Girls" went unnoticed in the United States, but it became a Number One album in the UK.

Ferry employs the use of classical instruments with dance beats for several of his songs. "Boys and Girls" is definitely not a Disco album, but in 1985 many of the tracks could have easily been played in Dance Clubs. Ferry also has some of the most unique vocals in the music industry. I would put Ferry's voice as a cross between a haunting voice and a crooning voice. For "Boys and Girls", Ferry employs a musical style that was seen on his previous Roxy Music album entitled "Avalon". While this is a "solo project", Ferry brings in some major names - including Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler (guitar) and Guy Fletcher (keyboards); Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (guitar), Nile Rodgers (guitar); and jazz musicians Marcus Miller (bass) and David Sanborn (saxophone).

Here is a synopsis of the tracks:

"Sensation": The song opens with a classic sound before segueing into a dance-beat which will dominate this track. The instrumentation on this track is outstanding. As for the vocals, Ferry's unique voice really balances well with some of the outstanding background vocals. This track helps set the tone for the remainder of this album.

"Slave to Love": This track opens with more of a haunting feel. This is one of the songs where you really see that intersection between Ferry's haunting and crooning vocals. Once again, the background vocals are right on the money. A little over 2 minutes into the song, the bridge will also have a deeper haunting feel than the opening. The guitar work is underrated on this track.

"Don't Stop the Dance": This song also has a dance club feel - but I'd categorize it as a slower dance tempo. It could easily qualify as a song that could be played in the dance clubs. There is some great guitar and horn work on this track.

"A Waste Land": This track is a prelude to the next track - "Windswept". This might only be a minute long, but Ferry draws a nice analogy between a waste-land and when love is gone.

"Windswept": This song is outstanding. Once again, there is a haunting feel to this song, but this time Ferry constructs a haunting beach-like song. The instrumentation is going to be shine on this track - especially the way the horns are integrated with some of the percussion. There is a nice buildup to wrap up this track before the track fades into the ending.

"The Chosen One": This song also uses the slower dance tempo. Ferry employs more of a crooning style for his vocals. Like "Sensation", Ferry balances his voice with the background vocals. This song almost seemed like a creative sandbox as I could easily see Ferry speeding up the tempo as well.

"Valentine": For this track, Ferry employs somewhat of a reggae-like tempo into the melody - also giving this song a "beach-like" feel. This song features Mark Knopfler on guitar, but it will be the integration of the horns that will really make this song shine. Ferry's vocals shine on the chorus part when he sings "how many men in a world of their own".

"Stone Woman": This might be the strongest track on the album and I'm very surprised this was not released as a single. Despite the name "Stone Woman", this song is one of the collection's most up-tempo tracks. At times the melody almost has a Far Eastern feel to it. I love Ferry's vocals from start to finish on this track - they really shine on the prelude to the chorus when he sings "let's be cool about it". I also love all of the instrumentation on this track - especially some terrific guitar work and more horns.

"Boys and Girls": This is a segue from "Stone Woman". This has the most haunting feel of all of the tracks. The horns once again demonstrate a feeling on the beach. While this wasn't my favorite track, I do feel it are the horns that are the strong point.

Ferry has always had a reputation for strong instrumentation in his work. Co-producers Ferry and Rhett Davies with master mix engineer Bob Clearmountain clearly keep the bar high in the instrumentation arena. This is where the remastering really helps - as it makes the instrumentation shine on this album. A couple of minor gripes about the liner notes: - while the lyrics are somewhat incomplete, what really hurts are the credits of the all-star lineup of musicians are not matched up to the tracks. On an album that has such strong instrumentation, it would be really nice to see what musicians are credited to what track on the collection. This is a very good collection. Ferry fans will not only appreciate this collection, but also the fan of music in general. Highly recommended.

Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music fans seem to fall into two camps: those who prefer the "art-rock" experimentalism of Country Life and For Your Pleasure, and those who love the sleeker productions of Avalon-era Roxy. I firmly fall into the latter. This album, basically a further refinement of Avalon's aesthetic, is a masterpiece. Naysayers will call it pretentious, but this dark, incredibly seductive and romantic sets a mood so intense and sensual you can only listen to it at night. Along with Avalon, it's the ultimate sex album.

A technical note about this re-release: the remastering job is one of the best I've ever heard. Most remasters are just louder versions with a little extra detail. This (along with the other BF reissues from Virgin) has been remastered as a HDCD and sounds 1000 times better than the orignal 80s release. There was a UK import re-release last year which came in a tiny cardboard sleeve, (Roxy's back catalog was also reissued this way). It was louder and more clear than before, but I don't think it was HDCD (wasn't marked with the HDCD logo anyway). This release is the version to get, no question.

On a regular CD player you will already hear way more detail and clarity, reduced tape hiss, and better soundstaging. On an HDCD equipped high end player with decent speakers, the sound quality becomes just phenomenal. There's wonderful air around the vocals, the guitars lines "pop" more, and the 3D imaging and soundstaging just become breathtaking. It is Boys and Girls the way Bryan Ferry truly intended it.

My neighbor gave me a tape when I was in high school with Avalon on one side, and Boys and Girls on the other. When I heard Boys and Girls, I thought, "But, this is me on the inside, just how I feel and can never put into words." I'm 33 now, and yes, I still have that tape. My CD was stolen, among other things, but that was all I hated to lose. The whole album flows from one song to the next. Sometimes it's the words, sometimes it's the sound, but usually it's both working so perfectly together that make me catch my breath, smile, and make my heart ache that little bit that tells me, yes, I'm a human being, and the world is full of pain, but it's also full of beauty. Bryan Ferry's work touches me, always, at that basic human level that seeks love and yearns for perfection, but accepts that it's not always possible to find. I always find myself thinking after I listen to it (for the 600th time) this is just too good for words.

Although it may have taken Bryan Ferry three years to make an album after the swan song of Roxy Music's "Avalon," he picked up right where that album left off. "Never seem to touch, I didn't feel enough motivation," Ferry croons as "Boys and Girls" begins a slow burn through the sumptuous world of love and longing as few others can. Veering between desire ("Don't Stop The Dance") and disillusionment (the title track), this CD rates a close second in my top favorite Bryan Ferry solo albums.

It also contains one of Ferry's most notorious songs, "Slave To Love." Most people probably heard it through a classic scene in the psychogical/sexual drama "9 1/2 weeks." It certainly set the tone for the soon to be released "Boys and Girls" and also gets my vote for one of the best shoulda-been hits of the eighties. Ferry followed this album with his best solo album, "Bete Noir." My suggestion is to get them both, and throw "Avalon" on that stack if you don't have it already.

After 20 years, i sort of forgot about Bryan Ferry, and it took my interest in finding good 5.1 SACDs to rediscover him. Now this is what multichannel audio is all about! This is great music that is absolutely stunning in SACD surround. Yes, it's a bit gimmicky, but with the purpose of enveloping you and involving you in the music.... It's not just panning things around the room for no reason. Equally wonderful is the Avalon SACD, of course, and it is mixed in similar fashion.

Being new to multichannel music, i'm finding that less than half of them are any more enjoyable than a good stereo mix. Often, the 5.1 mix is worse. They'll just throw various instruments into the rear channels, and the solidity of the mix gets lost. I also noticed that the lead vocal is often drier (less reverb) in many surround mixes. I don't know why this should be. But that's not the case with "Boys and Girls" and "Avalon". Both albums are gleaming examples of how fun and beautiful multichannel audio can be. I hope to hear more like these.

I became a fan of Bryan Ferry when I first listened to Bete Noire with the enigmatic sounds of 'Limbo' and the Red Rain-esque 'New Town'. That album is one of my all-time favorite records by anyone. Boys and Girls comes in a close second. This album is not quite as dark as Bete Noire but just as good.
Avalon was a fantastic album to close out Roxy Music. It had a mix of jazz, pop, and rock.

Boys and Girls is like the continuation of where Avalon left off only this is a solo album.

This album is sweltering with passion, romance and music that expresses more desire and passion from the first 30 seconds of Sensation. The best songs are the passionate Slave To Love, the Latin tinged Windswept, the upbeat bluesy Stone Woman and the dark jazzy title track. Fans of real good music must include this hidden gem in their collection.

I call this one of the most influential albums I have ever owned. The album is short but just how incredible it is keeps it at a five.

Ferry would take this sound to an even greater height with the masterpiece Bete Noire after this one.

After purchasing Roxy Music's "Avalon", I next purchased Bryan Ferry's "Boys and Girls". Whereas there are similarities, "Boys and Girls" is a more dark work of art. The CD has a New York nightclub sound, somewhat decadent, somewhat jaded, and always looking for sensation.

Bryan Ferry's voice has a ghosty haunted painful undertone, soft and whispery. The lyrics also express the experience of love just out of reach. Instrumentation on this CD is excellent mystical rock and roll with superb male and female background singers.

Of course the hits, "Slave to Love" and "Boys and Girls" are contained here but the entire CD is full of well produced works of dark mystery and undercover longing for love. In "Slave to Love" we her 'to need a woman you've got to know how the strong get weak and the rich get poor' which is a theme throughout the work for love can be hard work in our modern disjointed times.

Ferry is a super talent, and 21 years after the release of this CD, it remains strong and penetrating.

Even almost 20 years on this is still one of the greatest recordings ever. Musically it has stood the test of time and represents some of the strongest songs Bryan ever wrote and recorded. Stylistically "Boys and Girls" picks right up where Roxy Music's "Avalon" left off with lush cinematic paeans to the pursuit of love. Rhett Davies production is sumptuous, warm and oh-so-well suited to Bryan's voice. Nothing here rocks too hard and yet it's still nice mid-tempo jazz inflected numbers with enough beat to pulsate to but yet overall calm subdued and restrained. A good friend of mine jokingly called this the granddaddy of Chill Out records and they're not far from it. Perfect for coming down from a night of partying or as I call it the "ultimate make out record". And try not to sing along...I dare you! There is literally not a dud track in the lot and the music washes over you like waves in the ocean, starting with "Sensation" and carrying on through. It's hard to pick personal favorites as they're all so strong, but "Don't Stop the Dance" is a killer track, especially when Bryan coos about "footsteps in the dark, come together". In my humble opinion Bryan Ferry hands down has one of the sexiest voices ever and this is probably his sexiest recording. "Boys and Girls" is the equivalent of slipping into something more comfortable, taking the phone off the hook, pouring a nice glass of wine, kicking back and doing something you really enjoy.

I purchased this album as an audio tape when it first came out because of how much I enjoyed Roxy Music's Avalon. I have since purchased the CD for myself and for several others as gifts. This CD remains one of my favorites and is almost always in the CD changer in the car so I can listen to it whenever I want. Bryan Ferry's voice is amazing. His vocals on this CD aren't just vocals. His voice is another instrument. My especial favorite is 'Windswept'. Slow dance to this song on a special, romantic date!