Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

The Age JANUARY 4, 2008 - by Craig Mathieson

ROXY MUSIC: THE THRILL OF IT ALL

A collection of English television performances, concert footage (hello Stockholm!) and somewhat dodgy video clips from the pre-MTV era, The Thrill Of It All is an odds-and-ends package that nonetheless tells Roxy Music's story while spotlighting the diverse pleasures of their back catalogue. The two-disc set neatly bisects their productive years, with the first half spanning 1972-76, with a long-haired Brian Eno initially presented to offset Bryan Ferry's arty imperatives with curious frequencies and space-age eclecticism. In the first half of the '70s Roxy Music was the most inventive of British pop acts, exemplified by the sleek energy of Virginia Plain and Do The Strand. By the end of the disc Ferry's attendance to style was apparent and on the second half of the collection it explains the interest in disco and white soul. Reforming in 1979, they steadily worked towards 1982's Avalon, an album that glowed with hermetic perfection. In the latter cuts you can gear stirrings of ambient music and oceanic rock, although whatever the track, Ferry's Foreign Office refinement is perpetually offset by a burly session drummer inappropriately costumed. The look has dated, the music hasn't.