Nobody apart from possibly Rod Stewart has ever maintained the group singer/solo artist dichotomy as well as Bryan Ferry, even though at times you couldn’t slide a petal into the difference between his solo work and that with Roxy Music, so close that he’s released joint Roxy and Ferry compilations.
Roxy Music are more anthologised, being a proper 70s rock band, but it’s finally time for this epic set: 80 or so tracks from 50 years of a solo career that’s gone from ironically loving covers of teen pop songs to ironically loving jazz band covers of Bryan Ferry songs, and from blasting Chris Spedding-led guitar rock to moody Johnny Marr-led guitar funk.
Sometimes Ferry seems about to disappear into a cigarette-lit ambient twilight (it’s often hard to tell his later solo albums apart), at others (as with his Bob Dylan covers) he’s emotive and passionate. At his best he’s always a doomed romantic, dry, distant and anguished.
All of his solo work is worth owning (These Foolish Things and The Bride Stripped Bare might be his best records), but this collection is a mighty big entry point (and there’s a great new track, Star).
