More Than This: The Best Of Bryan Ferry And Roxy Music [Import]

Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 5, 1999)
• Original Release Date: October 5, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B00001QGQA
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,234 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Virginia Plain

2. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

3. Street Life

4. These Foolish Things

5. Love Is The Drug

6. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

7. Dance Away

8. Let's Stick Together

9. Angel Eyes

10. Slave To Love

11. Oh Yeah

12. Don't Stop The Dance

13. Same Old Scene

14. Jealous Guy

15. Kiss And Tell

16. More Than This

17. I Put A Spell On You

18. Avalon

19. I'm In The Mood For Love

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The selection of tracks for this single-disc retrospective works on the premise that Roxy Music group records and frontman Bryan Ferry's solo efforts were pretty much of a whole. As the distance grew from the time founding member Brian Eno left the fold, that was more and more the case. (Eno quit Roxy with the release of the band's second album, 1973's For Your Pleasure; about the same time, Ferry put out his first spin-off collection, These Foolish Things .) Commonly dubbed art-rockers (in large part because their flirtations with glam, prog, and something approximating mood music for moderns made them tough to categorize more specifically), Roxy's music has aged far better than that of most of their '70s contemporaries, thanks to inventive playing and Ferry's elegant persona and graceful vocals. Granted, this isn't the thorough retelling of the Roxy/Ferry chronicles that devotees long for, but it's a fine primer for more casual Rox fans. --Steven Stolder

Product Description

Import only compilation on EMI features 20 hits from 1972-1994 by Ferry as both a solo artist & as leader of Roxy Music. Includes 'More Than This', 'Love Is The Drug', 'Slave To Love', 'Dance Away', 'Avalon', 'I Put A Spell On You', 'Jealous Guy', 'Is Your Love Strong Enough?', 'Kiss And Tell', 'Same Old Scene', 'Your Painted Smile', 'Virginia Plain' and many more. EMI.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hodge podge singles collection, February 4, 2000

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: More Than This: The Best Of Bryan Ferry And Roxy Music (Audio CD)

I'm not sure what Virgin was thinking of when they put this collection together. It's not exactly new (the same CD was released overseas a couple of years ago)and the song selection is curious. Clearly this was designed for those folks who had heard Roxy's (and Ferry's) most popular singles.

While the choice of Roxy tracks are fairly predictable, the Ferry tracks are downright bizarre. The solo tracks aren't representative of Bryan's best songs. Instead, we see a couple of popular singles, but no songs from his best album (The Bride Stripped Bare)and latest album (Mamouna). Ferry's 5 albums with original material could easily be condensed into a single, great Best of collection. The same is true of Roxy Music. The band's 8 studio albums (and three live albums) would be represented better by a 2 disc retrospective. The key word here is marketing, marketing and, oh yes, marketing.

What More Than This lacks is depth. Sure Ferry and Roxy crafted some terrific singles (most of which are overlooked on this collection)but by focusing on the singles the strongest album tracks are neglected. Clearly someone at Virgin didn't feel that there were enough "hits" to sell the package. That fact alone hints at the real reason this package exists--it's product.

Streetlife (the previous Roxy/Ferry greatest hits combo) has a stronger selection of tunes and has a couple of surprising album tracks (although it, too is far from definitive). For Roxy Music fans that came on board with Avalon, Manifesto or Flesh & Blood this collection will probably be the perfect compilation. Unfortunately for the bulk of fans and casual listeners this CD isn't the best place to start.

If you like Bryan Ferry I'd suggest The Bride Stripped Bare, In Your Mind (it has a stronger R&B feel than Ferry's Roxy stuff), Boys & Girls, Bete Noire and Mamouna. I'd suggest Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure, Stranded, Country Life, Siren and Manifesto as these are some of the stronger albums from the band. If your a fan of Roxy's dreamy romantic Avalon sound I'd suggest that album along with the r&b tinged Manifesto and new wavish dance album Flesh & Blood.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as it gets..., February 8, 2000

By 

Jennifer L. Payne (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: More Than This: The Best Of Bryan Ferry And Roxy Music (Audio CD)

It's nice to see that this has been re-released, I bought this greatest hits CD when it was first released probably about 10 or so years ago, and I can attest from the travels and plays that it has endured that it is one of my all time favorites. For those hopeless romantics, Ferry's dreamy voice is enough to make you want to fall in love all over again. And for those fan's of his classic Roxy Music era it has it all.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's More Than This CD can offer, September 28, 2002

By 

Distant Voyageur "Nicholas Computer" (Io) - See all my reviews

This review is from: More Than This: The Best Of Bryan Ferry And Roxy Music (Audio CD)

This CD is a 19 tracks taken from both Bryan Ferrys solo career and the ten year career of Roxy Music.

The track selection as another user said is quite predictable especially when it comes to the Roxy Music selections but where as the Streetlife CD still is a good sampler of Roxys songs, it at the same time is somewhat outdated when it comes to the best of Ferrys solo works.

More Than This does some work on that by including a track grabbed from Bete Noire and Taxi but even then the 'best of' title isn't always true. The 'best of' title is more of an individuals opinion than a fact because while it may be called 'The Best of Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music' too much of Ferrys strongest solo songs are left off particularly the enigmatic New Town, the shimmering The Right Stuff & the danceable classic Limbo. There is an import version of this CD that does include the beautiful Your Painted Smile that is not included on the US version and it's a pity because the US has been deprived of so much great music. Another thing about this CD that makes it so flawed is that it doesn't include anything from In Your Mind or Bride Stripped Bare.

On the other hand it does include a track from the 30s oriented As Time Goes By which I found dissapointing but have now come to gradually appreciate.

Veteran fans may not see much point in getting this CD because a good share of them might own most or all of these songs on their parent albums. For those who've never heard of either Roxy Music or Bryan Ferry, this CD is a great collection for the newbie fanbase. Still though it doesn't do either Ferry or Roxy a lot of justice.

I give this CD a five anyway because it's jam packed with just plain great music.