Their best album ever, when they still rocked and had room for experimentation. The fact that it was one of the very first records I bought in my teens, way back in 1973, also has something to do with it. 😁
@@stevedriver1376 I agree with you. The debut was stunning back in 1972, nothing like it. It was a shame Eno left the band, though he went on to great things.
Their last encore number on their 2001 reunion tour shows. The tour is beautifully showcased on the "Live At The Apollo" concert DVD. I saw the show in Chicago, and was completely blown away by it - the setlist, the musicianship, the stage show, everything is just spectacular. I once forced the guitarist in my band (and best friend since 1977) to sit down and watch the DVD with me. He was a lifelong Roxy Music hater, but he came away from the concert DVD saying it was probably the best concert DVD he's ever seen. I promise you, if you ever watched it, you would NOT be bored by this song. Promise.
Old man - through every stare - I'll change - you watch me walk away - Tara !!! Sometimes to grasp the song, you must feel the meaning of its words. The old dying watching the new deserting them, walking off into a future they will never see, this is a brilliant, beautiful and moving song by Bryan. Thankyou !!!
I’ve been listening to this album for over 45 years regularly and still find it fresh, and still find something new to listen to. Saw them last month in Manchester England, and they performed Do The Strand, Editions of You and Every Dream Home: magnificent!
Such a perfect end to this album, with that Eno dark ambience fading out for what, in another context, could be too long. Here it captures so much of the feel of the previous songs, melancholy, decadence, that exhausted sensation of being out all night and not necessarily proud of yourself in the morning.
My favorite Roxy Music album and probably on my top 10 albums of all time. This song is also one of my favorites from the album. If you want to listen to more Roxy, you should continue with the self titled album. The next song you haven't heard is If There Is Something which is one of their best songs. And would be happy to see you continuing with Bowie. It has been a really long time since you've done him. Btw I love your reactions. Most people just pause the song all the time (which I hate) and just say "the song was cool" at the end. You spend half of the video analyzing and talking about the song(s) and actually put effort on it.🙏
When ROXY first came out Ferry's voice was jarring but when a voice fits the music then it becomes art. Roxy were on the cutting edge and were uniquely inventive in their stylish Glam pre-punky progressive way. This line up of the band was complete with unorthodox musicians. ONE of the best of the era then Ferry morphed into the 80's perfectly. ENO was a genius! Another reason to prove that the 70's was an incredible time to be an eclectic smart teenage music lover. Remember we were still trippin' and completing what the late 60's psychedelia started. What might seem too weird and intolerable artistically today was perfect for us then because our acceptance for extended music passages was the norm and comfortably appropriate head music.
"Old man...through every step a change...you watch me walk away...Ta-ra...ta-ra...." Great tune, and I love how the band would use it as a closing number live, with each band member taking a bow and walking off, gradually reducing the number of people on stage until there's finally no one left.
Delightfully psychedelic. Gimme a sugarcube, please! (I think I'll steal that piano-echo idea for my own record. It's been 50 years, I'm sure no one will notice...)
I didn't mind this track, it got ambient later on. I noticed you've reacted to some of their album, "Stranded", but not all -try "Amazona" from it. Also, from the first album, "If There Is Something", both good songs. Bowie did a rock version cover of the latter song when he formed the band Tin Machine. Hope the storm is passing for you over there. 😊
New to your channel and listened to your posts of the Talking Heads 'Remain in Light' and Eno's influence and then Eno with Roxy. This music was at the top of my list when they came out way back when. You also have to remember when these albums were made and the grass and acid that was floating around at that time. That might make a difference in how you relate to this type of music particularly this track. Now you need to listen to some current music that evolved/has some roots from the Roxy/ELP/Pink Floyd/Gentle Giant/prog era, such as 'Shpongle'. Enjoy your reaction show more than others I have seen, thank you!
What a song. Ive often heard that this song was Eno's farewell to the band. Don't know how true that is...but it does feel that way, right? Also how did Dame Judie Dench end up on this song?
Eno: "Hey Bryan, wouldn't it be awesome dude if we called up Judy Dench to speak the last two lines?" Bryan had a habit of externalising the "voices" he would hear rattling in his head, like on Strictly Confidential and his descent into "madness," and later on Mother of Pearl. I thought the line "don't ask why" was just another enigmatic headscratcher, like on Bitter's End "should make the cognoscenti think." In retrospect I can see why people might think it was Eno's way of saying goodbye...a kind of self fulfilling prophecy. I think it was on his mind that he would not be with them much longer. I know the feeling well, having been in a similar situation in a band with a similar dynamic with the singer. Two strong personalities, with only room for one. We made a video and I engineered that I would literally fade out of the picture at the end.
'Tis s wonderful and weird song from an amazing album performed by one of the most unique and creative bands. Thank you for featuring this album and appreciating Roxy Music.
You really need to check out a band that included Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera called Quiet Sun. They only put out one album in 1975, "Mainstream", but some of the music also appears on "801 Live".
This song always struck me as a love letter one sends to one's self 40 years in the future, as an apology for the decades of chemical abuses inflicted upon one's self. This notion first came to me when I was in my 20's and I was on the down side of a 3 day coke binge. I'm now 60, and I'm more convinced than ever at the accuracy of my interpretation.
Bloomin YT are bad at notifications and I didn't know you had even done this album till now! So. am going now to hunt down the rest of it and will be back.
@@JustJP Am back. Did the album up to here and came back for this. I don't think this is a RM album I ever played in full but still I know most of it. Editions and IEDHAH are still the standouts to me. RM doing The Strand live in 70s is pretty awesome. That song is made for a live gig. I also HIGHLY recommend Bryan's "Dylanesque" covers; absolute belter. Bryan has just the right sneery quality in his voice and his band are excellent.
JP , again thanks for doing this album . You gotta love these early RM albums . They simply didn’t care where they take the listener . So creative , influential and unique , particularly this album 👍 Now , may I please suggest again ‘ Priestess ‘ by AUDIENCE , from their second album Friends , Friend , Friend from 1970 . It has many of the characteristics that we like about the track ‘ The House on the Hill ‘ which you reacted to ( and thanks for that ). Brutally moody and atmospheric with A grade playing from the band once again. You will not regret it . Thanks JP 👏
I've said it before and I will say it again. The very best song that Roxy Music ever released is the "Viva!" live version of their song If There Is Something. Search youtube for "Roxy Music - If There Is Something [Viva! live version]" You don't need to hear the studio version first. Trust me.
Oh how I dig this more experiment side of Roxy, and need to explore beyond Avalon. The boys came to Charlotte around the time of this album, and Eno was still with them, looking like an alien lizardman with reptilic wings and flash. I wish I had paid better attention. It was a time when many bands would play together, and they were more social affairs than traditional concert fare. You might see Roxy Music, Foghat, Dr. John, Black Oak, Doobie Brothers and America on the same ticket. Less than 10 bucks. I know because I thought the 12 bucks they were asking at August Jam with a dozen bands including ELP, PFM and Allmans, was outrageous. I hear concerts are even more expensive now. Fripp & Eno made an album together for around 10 bucks, which is so strange it will melt your mind. Birth of Frippertronics I suspect. Called "No Pussypooting"...they do not pussyfoot. It is too weird for TH-cam or the radio.
Evening Justin. Dave from That There London. Goodbye My Friend (Who Knows When We Shall Meet Again) - Brian Eno was to leave the band after this album, and I think it lost some of its mystique. For Your Pleasure is my favourite album of theirs and 'Side B' is just fantastic. Yes, the title track is weird, but hypnotic. I don't think I've heard echo used to such great effect. P.S. my song ref Goodbye My Friend... is from Time by the Alan Parsons Project.
One of their best albums and probably the most experimental track. I don't think it quite succeeds in the latter part. I think the best Roxy albums are with Eddie Jobson, who replaced Eno. "Country Life" is great.
The first two or three Roxy albums held exciting promise and lots of out of the ordinary ideas. Ultimately, Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera were the players I went with, while Bryan Ferry became ever more mannered and stylistically unappealing to me.
After a bit of a Roxy rest, might I suggest you give a listen to their next album, Country Life? It’s the beginning of the post Eno era and be interesting to hear what you think.
I agree with what you say (and as usual now have much more such thoughts in my brain cavity than I would've just listening to it myself, after hearing your thoughts) about the creativity of the trippy part of the song. However, something tells me the main commercial purpose of it is to offer something literally trippy - some music to go with the drugs - so with the intention that much of the creation (not necessary creativity, but it's not something quotidian - for which word, thanks be to Salman Rushdie - and so down with the barbaric Ayatollah, I suppose) er ... much of the creation that will go with the various solitary audiences this song was intended to find will be automated, and constructed by some narcotic that does the job of one's imagination for one. (And saves the pain of going literally insane for the sake of it, too, I suppose.) Or with less circumlocution, it's trippy to be consumed with some trip. It's also all the other things one can say about it, but at the Point of Sale, it's something one tripper will have a nice trip in the company of, and then share it with a mate, who will then decide to have the same trip available in his or her collection, and so there will be Sales, and the purpose of life, itself, will be achieved. Ramen, as those who make too much of an issue of this would say.
I suppose I should as usual go to the bottom of the garden, sniff around, there, and see if I can bring back a nice old smelly bone to chew on under the dinner table. And Lo! Here's a live version of *Gamma Ray* , which I've mentioned here long, long ago, surely that's another kind of trip. th-cam.com/video/y7tDhS3Hlao/w-d-xo.html (By German prog rock/ krautrock group *Birth Control* - and it cuts short, so it's just a "sample". Their live renditions of this were jams that went on for up to 20 minutes. If it sounds like it has some potential, listen to the studio version. For which, seek, and ye shall find. )
The album FYP is firmly in my all-time top 10. The definitive version of the title track (to me) is the live 1975 version (b-side of the Both Ends Burning single). th-cam.com/video/VlrUgjFfpUY/w-d-xo.html
America never took to Roxy Music; but that's okay. Some bands just do not travel across to other musical cultural ecosystems well. I can think of a number of fantastic American bands who didn't translate very well over to the UK. That's life. It just happens like that for some bands and their music.
Roxy Music is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and was loved in Cleveland. They sold out shows every time they toured and Cleveland was a scheduled stop.
Their best album ever, when they still rocked and had room for experimentation. The fact that it was one of the very first records I bought in my teens, way back in 1973, also has something to do with it. 😁
@@stevedriver1376 I agree with you. The debut was stunning back in 1972, nothing like it. It was a shame Eno left the band, though he went on to great things.
My brother bought it. I was 13. Loved it then and now.
Their last encore number on their 2001 reunion tour shows. The tour is beautifully showcased on the "Live At The Apollo" concert DVD. I saw the show in Chicago, and was completely blown away by it - the setlist, the musicianship, the stage show, everything is just spectacular. I once forced the guitarist in my band (and best friend since 1977) to sit down and watch the DVD with me. He was a lifelong Roxy Music hater, but he came away from the concert DVD saying it was probably the best concert DVD he's ever seen.
I promise you, if you ever watched it, you would NOT be bored by this song. Promise.
I saw that show (tour) up near Chicago at the Rosemont Horizon (now the Allstate Arena). Fabulous show and I love the Apollo Theater DVD.
I saw them perform this at a large auditorium in London. When Bryan sang 'Old man...' unaccompanied, you could have heard a pin drop.
Old man - through every stare - I'll change - you watch me walk away - Tara !!! Sometimes to grasp the song, you must feel the meaning of its words. The old dying watching the new deserting them, walking off into a future they will never see, this is a brilliant, beautiful and moving song by Bryan. Thankyou !!!
The first 3 Roxy Music albums are sublime. You can hear all of them from side to side if you like this song.
JP would enjoy them for sure , Enos influence adds something .
@@toda304 **Eno’s
I’ve been listening to this album for over 45 years regularly and still find it fresh, and still find something new to listen to. Saw them last month in Manchester England, and they performed Do The Strand, Editions of You and Every Dream Home: magnificent!
Such a perfect end to this album, with that Eno dark ambience fading out for what, in another context, could be too long. Here it captures so much of the feel of the previous songs, melancholy, decadence, that exhausted sensation of being out all night and not necessarily proud of yourself in the morning.
My favorite Roxy Music album and probably on my top 10 albums of all time. This song is also one of my favorites from the album.
If you want to listen to more Roxy, you should continue with the self titled album. The next song you haven't heard is If There Is Something which is one of their best songs. And would be happy to see you continuing with Bowie. It has been a really long time since you've done him.
Btw I love your reactions. Most people just pause the song all the time (which I hate) and just say "the song was cool" at the end. You spend half of the video analyzing and talking about the song(s) and actually put effort on it.🙏
"You watch me walk away......tara".....Wow! Chainsaw guitar, meowing mellotrons and synths, and Paul Thompson pummelling away. Magic!
When ROXY first came out Ferry's voice was jarring but when a voice fits the music then it becomes art. Roxy were on the cutting edge and were uniquely inventive in their stylish Glam pre-punky progressive way. This line up of the band was complete with unorthodox musicians. ONE of the best of the era then Ferry morphed into the 80's perfectly. ENO was a genius! Another reason to prove that the 70's was an incredible time to be an eclectic smart teenage music lover. Remember we were still trippin' and completing what the late 60's psychedelia started. What might seem too weird and intolerable artistically today was perfect for us then because our acceptance for extended music passages was the norm and comfortably appropriate head music.
"Old man...through every step a change...you watch me walk away...Ta-ra...ta-ra...."
Great tune, and I love how the band would use it as a closing number live, with each band member taking a bow and walking off, gradually reducing the number of people on stage until there's finally no one left.
No matter how many times I’ve heard the song, I’ll always take time to watch a Roxy Music reaction video. Keep ‘‘em coming.
Ty Roland :) Will do
'Ta-ra' is Northern English slang for 'Goodbye'
Yes we did watch Cilla Black down south as well.
@@barriehull7076 Yes, but my explanation was really for those outside of the UK.
Delightfully psychedelic. Gimme a sugarcube, please! (I think I'll steal that piano-echo idea for my own record. It's been 50 years, I'm sure no one will notice...)
I didn't mind this track, it got ambient later on. I noticed you've reacted to some of their album, "Stranded", but not all -try "Amazona" from it. Also, from the first album, "If There Is Something", both good songs. Bowie did a rock version cover of the latter song when he formed the band Tin Machine. Hope the storm is passing for you over there. 😊
Ty CC, storm has huffed and puffed but no gusto :)
New to your channel and listened to your posts of the Talking Heads 'Remain in Light' and Eno's influence and then Eno with Roxy. This music was at the top of my list when they came out way back when. You also have to remember when these albums were made and the grass and acid that was floating around at that time. That might make a difference in how you relate to this type of music particularly this track. Now you need to listen to some current music that evolved/has some roots from the Roxy/ELP/Pink Floyd/Gentle Giant/prog era, such as 'Shpongle'. Enjoy your reaction show more than others I have seen, thank you!
Thank you Craig!
That part where the music pauses, “old man…” always had a David Sylvian quality to it, I’m sure he was fan listening to this…
I remeber the ads for this album in the music press when it first came out. "It isn't rock, it's Roxy. For your pleasure".
I saw them in 76' at the Hollywood Paladium. Ferry acted like the coolest guy in the room. Which he was!
"You don't ask why ...."
What a song. Ive often heard that this song was Eno's farewell to the band. Don't know how true that is...but it does feel that way, right? Also how did Dame Judie Dench end up on this song?
Eno: "Hey Bryan, wouldn't it be awesome dude if we called up Judy Dench to speak the last two lines?" Bryan had a habit of externalising the "voices" he would hear rattling in his head, like on Strictly Confidential and his descent into "madness," and later on Mother of Pearl. I thought the line "don't ask why" was just another enigmatic headscratcher, like on Bitter's End "should make the cognoscenti think." In retrospect I can see why people might think it was Eno's way of saying goodbye...a kind of self fulfilling prophecy. I think it was on his mind that he would not be with them much longer. I know the feeling well, having been in a similar situation in a band with a similar dynamic with the singer. Two strong personalities, with only room for one. We made a video and I engineered that I would literally fade out of the picture at the end.
'Tis s wonderful and weird song from an amazing album performed by one of the most unique and creative bands. Thank you for featuring this album and appreciating Roxy Music.
The live version on flip side of both ends burning much better! In fact rate it as one of my favorite live tracks!
You really need to check out a band that included Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera called Quiet Sun. They only put out one album in 1975, "Mainstream", but some of the music also appears on "801 Live".
This song is magical. F’ing brilliant.
I like you not interrupting the music, and just getting into it.
This song always struck me as a love letter one sends to one's self 40 years in the future, as an apology for the decades of chemical abuses inflicted upon one's self. This notion first came to me when I was in my 20's and I was on the down side of a 3 day coke binge. I'm now 60, and I'm more convinced than ever at the accuracy of my interpretation.
The first 3 Roxy Music albums are Great , more Roxy reviews please JP
Bloomin YT are bad at notifications and I didn't know you had even done this album till now! So. am going now to hunt down the rest of it and will be back.
Hope you enjoy! Theres a playlist in the "playlist" section of the channel :)
@@JustJP Am back. Did the album up to here and came back for this. I don't think this is a RM album I ever played in full but still I know most of it. Editions and IEDHAH are still the standouts to me. RM doing The Strand live in 70s is pretty awesome. That song is made for a live gig.
I also HIGHLY recommend Bryan's "Dylanesque" covers; absolute belter. Bryan has just the right sneery quality in his voice and his band are excellent.
One of the best songs on their best album ever.
JP , again thanks for doing this album . You gotta love these early RM albums . They simply didn’t care where they take the listener . So creative , influential and unique , particularly this album 👍
Now , may I please suggest again ‘ Priestess ‘ by AUDIENCE , from their second album Friends , Friend , Friend from 1970 . It has many of the characteristics that we like about the track ‘ The House on the Hill ‘ which you reacted to ( and thanks for that ).
Brutally moody and atmospheric with A grade playing from the band once again. You will not regret it .
Thanks JP 👏
I think they new we were high back in the day.
I've said it before and I will say it again. The very best song that Roxy Music ever released is the "Viva!" live version of their song If There Is Something. Search youtube for "Roxy Music - If There Is Something [Viva! live version]" You don't need to hear the studio version first. Trust me.
Oh how I dig this more experiment side of Roxy, and need to explore beyond Avalon. The boys came to Charlotte around the time of this album, and Eno was still with them, looking like an alien lizardman with reptilic wings and flash. I wish I had paid better attention. It was a time when many bands would play together, and they were more social affairs than traditional concert fare. You might see Roxy Music, Foghat, Dr. John, Black Oak, Doobie Brothers and America on the same ticket. Less than 10 bucks. I know because I thought the 12 bucks they were asking at August Jam with a dozen bands including ELP, PFM and Allmans, was outrageous. I hear concerts are even more expensive now.
Fripp & Eno made an album together for around 10 bucks, which is so strange it will melt your mind. Birth of Frippertronics I suspect. Called "No Pussypooting"...they do not pussyfoot. It is too weird for TH-cam or the radio.
That annoying end is perfectly beautiful
Hey J, just hoping you're still considering an exploration into Brian Ferry's - 'Girls and Boys', 'Bete Noir' ✌️
Evening Justin. Dave from That There London. Goodbye My Friend (Who Knows When We Shall Meet Again) - Brian Eno was to leave the band after this album, and I think it lost some of its mystique. For Your Pleasure is my favourite album of theirs and 'Side B' is just fantastic. Yes, the title track is weird, but hypnotic. I don't think I've heard echo used to such great effect.
P.S. my song ref Goodbye My Friend... is from Time by the Alan Parsons Project.
Ty as always for the comments Dave :)
@@JustJP And thank you for your brilliant channel, Justin.
One of their best albums and probably the most experimental track. I don't think it quite succeeds in the latter part.
I think the best Roxy albums are with Eddie Jobson, who replaced Eno. "Country Life" is great.
Did you hear the "Don't ask why" at 7:21?
It took me several listens before I heard it.
It's a sample of Dame Judi Dench
The first two or three Roxy albums held exciting promise and lots of out of the ordinary ideas. Ultimately, Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera were the players I went with, while Bryan Ferry became ever more mannered and stylistically unappealing to me.
After a bit of a Roxy rest, might I suggest you give a listen to their next album, Country Life? It’s the beginning of the post Eno era and be interesting to hear what you think.
I agree with what you say (and as usual now have much more such thoughts in my brain cavity than I would've just listening to it myself, after hearing your thoughts) about the creativity of the trippy part of the song. However, something tells me the main commercial purpose of it is to offer something literally trippy - some music to go with the drugs - so with the intention that much of the creation (not necessary creativity, but it's not something quotidian - for which word, thanks be to Salman Rushdie - and so down with the barbaric Ayatollah, I suppose) er ... much of the creation that will go with the various solitary audiences this song was intended to find will be automated, and constructed by some narcotic that does the job of one's imagination for one. (And saves the pain of going literally insane for the sake of it, too, I suppose.)
Or with less circumlocution, it's trippy to be consumed with some trip. It's also all the other things one can say about it, but at the Point of Sale, it's something one tripper will have a nice trip in the company of, and then share it with a mate, who will then decide to have the same trip available in his or her collection, and so there will be Sales, and the purpose of life, itself, will be achieved.
Ramen, as those who make too much of an issue of this would say.
I suppose I should as usual go to the bottom of the garden, sniff around, there, and see if I can bring back a nice old smelly bone to chew on under the dinner table. And Lo! Here's a live version of *Gamma Ray* , which I've mentioned here long, long ago, surely that's another kind of trip. th-cam.com/video/y7tDhS3Hlao/w-d-xo.html
(By German prog rock/ krautrock group *Birth Control* - and it cuts short, so it's just a "sample". Their live renditions of this were jams that went on for up to 20 minutes. If it sounds like it has some potential, listen to the studio version. For which, seek, and ye shall find. )
🤗..."old man"...
The album FYP is firmly in my all-time top 10. The definitive version of the title track (to me) is the live 1975 version (b-side of the Both Ends Burning single). th-cam.com/video/VlrUgjFfpUY/w-d-xo.html
Its a panic attack in sound. Needs the repetition to folliw the pace of the attack.
And featuring trans icon Amanda Lear on the cover❤
I hope you react to the album life fantastic, by the band Man Man.
America never took to Roxy Music; but that's okay. Some bands just do not travel across to other musical cultural ecosystems well. I can think of a number of fantastic American bands who didn't translate very well over to the UK. That's life. It just happens like that for some bands and their music.
Roxy Music is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and was loved in Cleveland. They sold out shows every time they toured and Cleveland was a scheduled stop.
Live it is a 'gas'. The studio version, could not end soon Eno-ugh! A nice exercise in tremulous engineering, but doesn't hold my attention. Peace.