Disco de Bryan Ferry: “Street Life: 20 Great Hits”

Though this compilation may lack a few songs (Thrill of it all being missing really makes this album lose a few points), it gives an overall good or general overview of the band's career. Though I can't say all the tracks were strong, I definitely liked Avalon and More than This. Street Life is rather interesting and I'd give a little more credit as it did include Pyjamarama which I think would be needed in any overview of this band. Not a bad compilation. I would recommend it to a few casual fans, someone who just wants a taste of Roxy Music (and Bryan Ferry), or perhaps a newbie to them.

While uneven, this compliation CD is a great representation of one of the most influential bands/singers of the last 20 years. Ferry's "Oh Yeah" is steller as is "Same Old Scene" but the inclusion of "Avalon" and "Love is the Drug" make it a must have. Brian Ferry is one of the coolest singers to emerge from the 70s and Roxy Music is a taste everyone should acquire.

Your opinion of this boils down to one issue: Do you think of "Roxy Music" as:

1. A band made up of five gifted and irreplaceable musicians, or

2. a backing group for lead singer Bryan Ferry?

If your answer is 2, it's an OK-- not great-- pickup. Otherwise, skip it.

Roxy Music released five albums between 1972 and 1975 before Ferry quit to pursue his solo career. Each featured Ferry, guitarist Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay (sax and oboe) and drumemr Paul Thompson. Two (ROXY MUSIC and FOR YOUR PLEASURE) featured Bryan Eno; three (STRANDED, COUNTRY LIFE and SIREN) had Eddie Jobson.

People argue about which releases are better (I prefer the songwriting in the Jobson era), but no one disputes that these are the band's best work. Only five of the 20 cuts from STREET LIFE are from this period.

In 1979, the big four released MANIFESTO with a bunch of studio musicians. It wasn't awful-- but it sounded more like a Ferry solo project. Thompson quit afterward. FLESH & BLOOD was even worse in that regard; AVALON got fairly close to SIREN-era stuff. STREET LIFE includes nine cuts from this era.

Ferry also had a solo career, where he presented straightforward crooning. It's quite good if you like that sort of thing (infinitely less cheesy than Michael Buble), but the innovations and edginess one finds in the band's albums is absent. Six of these tracks were included.

If you're looking for some understanding of what made the band great, get the 1977 GREATEST HITS (which is also in the bargain line and thus cheap). If you like some of the 1979-82 era, the 2001 THE BEST OF ROXY MUSIC has seven more tracks. (I'm assuming you're not a big enough fan to spring for the excellent 4-CD box set.)

But even if you're a big Ferry fan and wish those other guys wouldn't make so much noise while he's trying to sing, this isn't a great pickup. It's better than the the 1988 issue (THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION has five songs less) but 1995's MORE THAN THIS gives you Ferry's better work, I think. Also, there are three compilations purely of Ferry's solo work.

No rarities, nothing you can't find anywhere else. The music isn't bad-- the rating just means there are better collections in the oeuvre of both artists.

Street Life: 20 Greatest Hits being a compilation of both Ferry's and Roxy Music's hits and includes such hits as "Slave to Love", "More then this" and "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" to mention a few. The booklet is quite bad with a strange photo of Ferry. 4/5.

While the first 8 tracks aren't the greatest the last 12 make buying this album worthwhile. My wife and I love the song "Slave to Love" so much we used it as our wedding song.