Bryan Ferry / Roxy Music – Street Life - 20 Great Hits

Ego tripping with Bryan the Crooner. Other than the bizarre inclusion of Bryan's fanciful and cringe inducing 'grooning', the best tracks are the originals. Fantastic mastering on this edition.

Quiet pressing, dynamic and great songs. One of my favourite compilations

This is an absolute go to for me and the missus. Side C is easily in my top ten 'sides' of anything I own. Buy it just for that side if you don't have it already!!

Might be blind but I am only seeing a MD version from Virgin. I have a CD version barcode 0077778635628

Initially constituents of the art rock movement, Roxy Music loosened themselves from the constraints of the scene by adopting the heavy guitars and eye-catching glam fashions of the time. Upon this reshaping of the band's vision during the early '70s, frontman Bryan Ferry clashed with synthesizer whiz Brian Eno vis-a-vis which direction the group should go in. Ferry sought to incorporate accessible antecedent musical elements, namely art pop and soul, into their repertoire, whereas Eno wanted to remain cutting-edge and operate outside of the mainstream. Subsequent to the recording of the group's edgy debut, Ferry felt that the spotlight was puling away from him. He would continue to battle for supremacy with a frustrated Eno, who left the band in 1973. Eno's departure led to the group venturing beyond the cult favourite route. Ferry assumed control and gradually petered out the arty proclivities whilst retaining the provocative album cover model motif and adventurous, layered musical backdrops. From 1974, the group continued to gain momentum, eventually finding their groove with the seductive, disco-flavoured "Siren", which introduced Ferry's slick lounge lizard image and increasingly dramatic crooning vocal style to a global audience.

By the 1980s, Roxy Music was effectively a machine for Ferry to disband mercilessly and then reform once his solo output turned out to be less commercially viable than he anticipated. In 1982, the group embarked on what would be their final (and by all accounts, most thematically consistent and melodic) album, the lyrically and vocally elegant, immaculately produced and musically refined "Avalon". Roxy Music had completed the transition from a primitive if unashamedly ambitious avant-garde outfit to a sophisticated rock vehicle augmented by several proficient faceless musicians. Considering Ferry's indecisiveness and the public perception of Roxy Music as a mere extension of his solo work, the fact that he had displayed such a high level of technical skill and creative power on "Avalon" took many by surprise. Ferry could now rest on his laurels in the knowledge that he had a wealth of radio staples to capitalize on for decades to come.

1977's "Greatest Hits", notable for its inclusion of non-LP singles "Virginia Plain" and "Pyjamarama", was an elementary hits collection that familiarized a great deal of neophytes with Roxy Music's stylistic lability. By 1986, the vastness of both Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry's discography necessitated a more complete overview than its tantalizingly concise predecessor. "Street Life - 20 Great Hits" covers all eras of the group as well as Ferry's snaky solo divergences, from the proto-punk majesty of "Do The Strand", sax-driven eclecticism of "Let's Stick Together" to the contemporary pop radio-readiness of "Slave to Love", no cultural touchstone is omitted. This exemplary, vividly packaged and satisfyingly compiled 20-track collection provides the casual fan with the definitive material embodiment of the group's (and Ferry's) distinctive artistry.

4.5/5

A music have for classic rock / pop of that period. Roxy music. I am more into the earlier stuff / Virginia Plain etc. Like the later Ferry / smooth 80's stuff, but is in some ways of it's time. This album pretty covers everything you need to enjoy relating to Roxy Music.

as this is listed as Bryan Ferry / Roxy Music (and not the other way around) on the cover, label, etc, shouldn't it also be listed that way here?

very good compilation, all the pieces are excellent.
of the great Roxy Music

Virgin reissues may be released in 1987 after Ferry moved to Virgin.

Best sounding pressing I ever heard, well worth looking for. I previously owned an American original pressing.