I remember reading about Roxy Music, and I think I had heard Love is the Drug a million times (it was a big hit here on Cleveland FM radio), and I liked how they were described as Art Rock. I figured back then that anything with that kind of label meant that the music was more mature, and I was more likely to be able to pick someone's brain who knew way more about Rock music than me if I knew something like this. I had no idea what to expect when I bought this (it was the first Roxy album I ever bought), but the cover looked like modern art and Rock 'N Roll to me, and I loved how the back cover says Viva! Roxy Music - The Live Roxy Music Album. It seemed serious to me, and I wanted to listen to serious music. I don't know why I wanted to listen to serious music, in the bicentennial parade in our town I helped a friend tape a big smoke bomb to his bike seat, and we lit it right before the part of the parade where the most people would get blasted with that awful smoke while we rode our bikes around the float our families had made. Parents were pissed, but they had to admit, it was pretty funny to see kids in Tricorn hats riding in this giant plume of stinky, yellowish smoke. So I wasn't taking anything else seriously, but I wanted people to know that I took my responsibilities as a Rock Fan seriously, no matter the appearance of frivolity my life actually consisted of.
The best thing about this album is how loud it sounds. It always sounds loud, even if you're listening quietly. It sounds loud because the audience is loud. It sounds loud because when you turn it up to make it easier to hear the quiet parts, the loud parts come in really loud, the way Rock 'N Roll shows should be. I was never afraid of the Art Rock label again after hearing this record, because I figured it meant killer guitar solo's, pounding drums and weird, wild electric violins. I was all in (and I still am). I love the beginning of this record. The crowd is chanting in unison (I've never been to a show where that happened), and then the crack of that snare drum and it's so obvious that this band means business as it launches into Out of the Blue. Then that crazy finale with the electric violin - you have no idea how many nights I spent playing this record over and over. I had no idea that this was actually a somewhat less adventurous (or arty) band than they had been. All I knew is that this was one of my favorite records, and it still is.
I think the two things that I always thought were as much art as rock were Both Ends Burning and In Every Dream Home a Heartache (did you know that's about an inflatable doll? do you know what pervs do with those things?). Now I don't think my parents ever quite caught on to the adult subject matter of the former (because they just tuned it out, not because they were 14 like me), but I know they heard my little GE stereo blasting Phil Manzanera's epic solo after the line, but you blew my mind... I played that all the time, and it just had to be loud for that Maximum Rock Effect. In fact, my old record (which has been replaced due to abuse) was easy to find where that part of the song was, because I often just played that if I was in a hurry. Swimming took up a lot of my time, and I hated that I couldn't listen to music while I swam up and down the pool!
Both Ends Burning always just slays me when the girls come in and just shred their vocal cords. The juxtaposition against Bryan Ferry's always in control voice is perfect. I knew that that had to be the part that was art. I know now that just because it's music makes it art, but hey, cut me a break.
I'm still kind of proud of myself for starting my Roxy Music journey here. There's none of the FM staple songs on this album. It's a really weird song selection, and it's a pretty short album so you'd think they could have squeezed Love is the Drug on it if they had wanted to. But those were different times, and I think that Roxy felt (rightly) that these were great performances in their own right, and that people should listen to the record as a whole and get to know a different side of them. Obviously, no one would ever do that these days! I mean, how many 14 year olds even listen to anything but a song or two by any artist? And how fucked up is that? That means that a 14 year old today is missing out on the hairs standing up on the back of their necks when the girls shred Both Ends Burning. That kid never learns to love the absolutely epic, weirdly kind of Country meets Progressive Rock 10 minutes of pure delight that's If There is Something. I feel bad for those kids, and I know with my kids I spent a lot of time trying to explain why it's important to listen to an album. Not to just play songs. Because listening to an album is where one day, you find out that the quiet, moody Chance Meeting is one of the songs that has burned into your psyche. It would be such a shame to not have that happen to you. It's like trampling through a field of tulips in Holland so you can see a dandelion.
Well, that's enough of that old man shit. My record is exactly the same as my old one was, except it's playable and sounds terrific. I think I replaced it in the mid 80's, and I'm pretty sure mine is an original pressing. It's got the yellow ATCO label like my old one did, and even the cover is in great shape. I seem to remember wishing there was more stuff written on that cover for me to read while I listened, though!
Great album - pretty much at their peak I would say.
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