* * * * *
This album gets played more often than any other in my car. It's my favourite Bryan Ferry solo album, although I don't know them all. For once the album is truly consistent with no dud tracks at all. Even "A Waste Land" passes muster, although I suspect it was originally planned as a longer track based on TS Eliot's "The Waste Land" (see http://www.bartleby.com/201/1.html for the full poem).
My favourite song here is the title track where Bryan sings artfully about a "wailing saxophone" accompanied by no sax at all! Later on in the track of course there is plenty of sax courtesy of the incomparable David Sanborn. Rather better known are the hit singles "Slave To Love" and "Don't Stop The Dance". A third single "Windswept" was a flop, undeservedly. All the material here is strong. Even "Valentine" manages to make a success despite its unpromising reggae foundation. The cast of musicians is a Who's Who of session players. Particular mentions must go to Chester Kamen and David Gilmour on guitars.
The album is on the short side at just 38 minutes, but this makes it ideal for burning onto a CD with another album for in-car listening. For example it fits with albums as diverse as the Dacoits and Oxygene! You can find some nice online video of Ferry and Gilmour performing songs from this album at Live Aid.
There was briefly a Hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) of this album, but that is long deleted. The standard CD is more than good enough, so treat yourself to a copy. More Bryan Ferry here.
