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Uncut DECEMBER 2024 - by Rob Hughes

PHIL MANZANERA: 50 YEARS OF MUSIC

Eleven-disc salute to Roxy Music guitarist's solo half-century

In the wake of solo albums by bandmates Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay and the departed Brian Eno, Phil took the plunge with Manzanera first 1975's Diamond Head, the entry point for this adventurous and eclectic retrospective, which gathers every solo album through to 2015's The Sound Of Blue. Manzanera's key directive, however, is very much collaborative, roping in famous friends (Robert Wyatt, John Wetton, Eno on free-spirited standout Miss Shapiro) for his avant-rock debut, thus setting the template for his entire career. And while Kanye West and Jay-Z sampled the title track of 1978's K-Scope on No Church In The Wild, Manzanera himself didn't take on lead vocals until 1999's commendable Vozero, a deeply personal set that reflects his British/Colombian heritage and childhood years in Cuba.

EXTRAS: Bonus disc of rarities from Manzanera's own archive, including previously unheard Pink Floyd demo One Slip (co-written with David Gilmour) and Impossible Guitar, recorded live with Roxy Music in 1982