Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

Oz SEPTEMBER 1972 - by Howard Frazer

ROXY MUSIC

"The next time's the best time, we all know, But if there's no next time..." The next time would certainly have to be a great deal better than this appalling first attempt by Roxy Music, and if there's no next time I doubt if many tears will be shed.

Unfortunately, given the current state of British rock, and the disproportionate quantities of hype and image bullshit we have to wade through before we get to any music at all, I'm afraid Roxy Music's synthesized riffs and rip-offs will be assaulting our ears for some time to come.

The packaging and production of this album are brilliant. The cover photos, both inside and out, pitch perfectly for the current frivolous, ambiguous divinely decadent mood of which Lou Reed (currently), Dave Bowie and Alice Cooper are the main exponents, and Jagger the honorary president.

However, once unwrapped and on the spot, with critical ears glued, Roxy Music's Roxy Music album is a waste of time. Imagine Curved Air exposing us to a whole side of their pretentious 'Conservatoire Trained' meanderings, with occasional attempts to Let It Rock by throwing in a few Doors riffs now and then, the whole cut at random with bursts of ill-considered synthesized trifles. "Notes" the lyrics tell us, "could not spell out the score"; despite their attempts to cover up the sterile banalities of their music with the ramblings of a self confessed musical illiterate twiddling the knobs, Roxy Music's musically cretinous. Their delivery is about as evil and menacing as the local youth club's answer to Cliff Richard, and the only time I tapped my feet was to the Johnny & The Hurricanes style sax on Would You Believe; seventy-five percent of the album, however, is taken up with tediously slow romantic posturing with pianos, oboes and a singer whose agonies should be ended summarily.

Make no mistake, this is no hastily assembled mish-mash thrown on the market to grab a few pennies. From the exquisite layout on the cover, through to the superb engineering on the record itself, and not forgetting the up-to-the-minute nostalgia of that chrome-plated name, Roxy music's first album is a well prepared, carefully designed attempt to grab more than a few pennies. So you poor, image hungry mothers - beware. Look twice at Karri Anne, doesn't she look just a little constipated?