The Atlantic Years 1973-1980
	previously released material
	Released on November 1983
	UK CHART POSITION #23 . . . US CHART POSITION #183
	Find it at GEMM
90122-1 cover [high resolution photo]

I f you’re expecting a pleasant aperitif, something to stimulate your appetite for the Atlantic adventures ahead, you’ll have to settle here for a dubonnet of dubious design. The Atlantic Years contains itself primarily to Roxy’s second act, or the whole wide world of 1979 to 1980. Maybe they meant to make the “3” in 1973 an 8. Atlantic did sign Roxy in 1973, in time to distribute Bryan Ferry’s first solo album, but that was after “Do The Strand” had been released. I’m not sure if that track’s inclusion here is the rationale behind the 1973-1980 timeline, but it was never part of The Atlantic Years, though Atlantic did acquire the rights to it. That song (evergreen oddness) and “Love Is The Drug” are the only inclusions from Roxy’s finest hours. The other 80% of the album comes courtesy of Flesh + Blood and Manifesto, the band’s two weakest albums artistically speaking. And if you’re not speaking about Roxy in the context of a musical art movement, then you’ve really got nothing to say. Making a case for the band as a doyen of the new romantic movement is obviously valid, but subordinate to the main discussion. It’s like using Let’s Dance as a launching point for David Bowie’s influence in music. Furthermore, Roxy’s best entry in the new wave genre, Avalon, is absent (the band had signed with Warner Bros. by then). Clearly, with the success of Avalon, Atlantic was hoping to profit from a little history lesson. After the flush of Avalon’s success had faded, so faded The Atlantic Years. Given the slight overlap with their first Greatest Hits album and the subsequent reconciliation of the Warner Bros. releases with their back catalog, The Atlantic Years is about as useful as a cupholder on a pogo stick. Yes, you do get the remixed single version of “Angel Eyes” on here, but certainly you have better things to do with your money. It’s in that context that I’ve given this album a red rating; I’m critiquing the medium, not the music.

90122-1 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. DANCE AWAY    (Bryan Ferry)    3:45
2. ANGEL EYES    (Bryan Ferry/Andy Mackay)    3:32
3. OVER YOU    (Bryan Ferry/Phil Manzanera)    3:30
4. LOVE IS THE DRUG    (Bryan Ferry/Andy Mackay)    4:05
5. OH YEAH    (Bryan Ferry)    4:50
6. AIN'T THAT SO    (Bryan Ferry)    5:39
7. MY ONLY LOVE    (Bryan Ferry)    5:00
8. IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR    (Cropper/Pickett)    3:11
9. STILL FALLS THE RAIN    (Bryan Ferry/Phil Manzanera)    4:11
10. DO THE STRAND    (Bryan Ferry)    4:00

CREDITS

Eric Boman, Peter Saville, Renee Simonsen, Sam McKnight, Linda Cantello, Tina Bossidy -- cover

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