Bryan Ferry Album: “Boys and Girls [Remaster]”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!