Thanks for that!
The yellow vinyl is only through their website, or so their website says.
I’m doing both colors in order to compare.
The Best Of Roxy Music 180g 2LP Set, Half-Speed Mastered by Miles Showell, Coming September 2
Roxy Music always did have a hook on me, and they’ve done it again with their upcoming 180g 2LP best-of collection. To wit: The Best Of Roxy Music is scheduled for release on September 2, 2022 via Virgin/UMe. It's the first time this official career-spanning Roxy Music best-of collection is being made available on wax.
The Best Of Roxy Music will be released in two versions: 1) 2LP 180g black vinyl, and 2) limited edition 2LP 180g yellow vinyl (as seen above). Both versions include restored and enhanced artwork, lyrics, and — even better — they've been half-speed remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios.
Arranged in reverse-chronological order, the track listing for The Best Of Roxy Music bookends Roxy's recording career between 1972-82. Though the official side breaks for these 18 tracks have yet to be confirmed, we do know the running order, which is presented in full at the bottom of this story.
The set opens with "Avalon" and "More Than This," two iconic compositions that propelled the band’s final studio album Avalon to multiplatinum success. Elsewhere, songs like "Love Is the Drug" and "Angel Eyes" pioneered a new fusion of rock and disco, while "Do the Strand" and "Street Life" blurred the lines between genres. "Re-Make/Re-Model" and "Virginia Plain" birthed and defined the art-rock movement, and have influenced multiple generations of aspiring young musicians from St. Vincent, Sex Pistols, and Grace Jones to Duran Duran, Chic, Franz Ferdinand, and countless others.
Also included on Best of are the ballads "Oh Yeah!," "Dance Away," "Over You," and a stirring interpretation of John Lennon’s "Jealous Guy," the latter becoming a UK No. 1 for Roxy in 1981.
Roxy Music in all their vintage glory, circa 1972. Photo by Brian Cooke.
Roxy Music will also be embarking upon their first tour in over a decade. Lead vocalist Bryan Ferry, saxophonist Andy Mackay, guitarist Phil Manzanera, and drummer Paul Thompson will perform together onstage for the first time since their sold-out 2011 For Your Pleasure tour. Ten arena shows across North America will take place in September before Roxy heads back to the UK on October 10 for three dates in Glasgow, Manchester, and London.
In addition to The Best Of Roxy Music, each of Roxy’s eight studio albums have also been reissued earlier this year in special 180g anniversary editions with new Miles Showell half-speed mastering, revised artwork, and a deluxe gloss laminated finish. These titles are, in chronological order: June 1972’s Roxy Music, March 1973’s For Your Pleasure, November 1973’s Stranded, November 1974’s Country Life, October 1975’s Siren, March 1979’s Manifesto, May 1980’s Flesh and Blood, and May 1982’s Avalon. (My personal favorites are the two bookends: Roxy Music and Avalon.)
A Music Direct purchase link for these eight Roxy titles appears below. Note that some of them are currently sold out and awaiting restock. If you've already gotten some or even all of them in hand yourself, let us know what you think about how they sound in the Comments section below.
ROXY MUSIC: THE BEST OF ROXY MUSIC
180g / 2LP (Virgin/UMe)
Track Listing (side breaks TBA)
1. Avalon
2. More Than This
3. Jealous Guy
4. Over You
5. Same Old Scene
6. Oh Yeah!
7. Angel Eyes
8. Dance Away
9. Both Ends Burning
10. Love Is the Drug
11. Out of the Blue
12. All I Want Is You
13. Mother of Pearl
14. Street Life
15. Do the Strand
16. Pyjamarama
17. Virginia Plain
18. Re-Make/Re-Model
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COMMENTS
Yellow Not Plain
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Tue, 2022-07-05 12:25
That does indeed seem to be the case re the availability of the yellow Roxy wax, yes. Pre-order there, then, since the yellow version is said to be a limited edition...
Abbey Road 1/2 speeds
Submitted by palasr on Wed, 2022-07-06 10:30
My experience has been terrible with the Abbey Road half-speed reissues. Sonically dead, as if cut from mediocre digital sources. After trying (and selling on) a half-dozen titles, I won't be buying any more. As always, YMMV.
There's a good reason...
Submitted by vinyl listener on Sun, 2022-07-10 21:35
... half speed remasters are often called "half-witted" remasters.
Showell cuts from a digital source so why not just buy the CD ?
:D
I've been listening to Roxy
Submitted by CG on Wed, 2022-07-06 11:32
I've been listening to Roxy Music for, well, almost as long as I've been listening to Jethro Tull. WGTB in DC used to play them constantly back when radio was worth listening to and before Father Healy gave the station away (OK - sold it for $1) to University of the District of Columbia. WGTB was too left wing for him.
This album has been available for a couple decades in digital format. Cassette, too, I guess. A lot of the remasters are actually pretty good and maybe a worthy upgrade from earlier versions. Of course, we don't know what this vinyl version will be like, but the potential seems to be there.
That's all just my opinion of course.
I'd love to see this tour, but none of the venues anywhere remotely close to me where they are playing are better than W+ (W for wretched) for sound. Hockey rinks. Oh, well... I'm guessing there will be a recording of this tour available sometime in the next year or two.
Heart Still Beating is a great live recording and a great start for somebody not really familiar with Roxy Music to get their feet wet with. Again, just my own mostly worthless opinion.
Roxy Still Beating
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Thu, 2022-07-07 23:09
Absolutely Y-E-S re how great Heart Still Beating is, agreed! I saw Bryan Ferry at the Beacon in NYC a few years back (with the always wonderful, always charming LP opening for him) and it was a great show in a great room. Not quite an A-level show, but a solid B / B+ ...
My semi-educated guess is they'll record one of the shows in the U.K. for the inevitable live album, perhaps the one that is considered "the final show." Time will tell, of course.
Maybe.
Submitted by CG on Fri, 2022-07-08 12:52
Maybe.
Isn't the usual approach to record every show and then patch together the cuts that sound the most marketable? I mean, sound the best? "At Fillmore East" was recorded over two days. Even "Live At Leeds" was planned to be two concerts, but one of the concert recordings got messed up.
Very modern artists might even patch together different segments of the songs to get what they'd like. I once read that one artist - very famous, but I forgot which one - had over 200 splices in each of the cuts (is that the right now?) of her most recent studio album.
Then again, these guys are olde fashioned in a very modernist 1970's way, so they might just record a concert in toto and go with that. If their label allows that.
The Beacon would be a marvelous venue for a show like this. But, alas...
Perhaps.
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Fri, 2022-07-08 14:33
True, most bands record all shows of their current tours off the board these days -- and I've watched FOH engineers literally hand over these recordings to the band's manager, tour manager, and/or frontman, usually after the audience has left the room/venue -- though the "patch together" method of official live releases seems less prevalent today than in decades past.
Some artists are content with releasing numerous shows from their current tours essentially as is (see nugs.net), but there are some artists who take a different approach when it comes to mastering a show (or shows) for a wider-distributed physical release. Either way, I think it's a safe bet Roxy will release something from this "final" tour, though what it will exactly be, and from where, is definitely still TBD.
I have an Abbey Road 1/2 Speed...
Submitted by Jazz listener on Wed, 2022-07-06 15:46
of the Tragically Hip. Not my best LP sound-wise, but certainly not bad quality either. I may have to pick this one up. I'm not a big enough fan to buy all of the albums individually.
Hip for Abbey
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Thu, 2022-07-07 23:13
You must be referring to Day for Night when it comes to that Hip half-speed Abbey Road LP, yes? The Tragically Hip are my all-time No. 1 band EVER, so we will have to discuss them further. In fact, if you look at the liner notes for last year's Road Apples box set, you'll find yours truly's byline in there...
Yes indeed…
Submitted by Jazz listener on Fri, 2022-07-08 18:43
I didn’t pick up the full box set of Road Apples last year but I did pull the trigger on the LP. Great band and one of my favourites as well. Fun fact - I auditioned my first real hi-fi system using their first studio album, “Up To Here”. I actually live near their hometown. Sadly, I didn’t make it there for their last concert before Gord passed away. Nautical Disaster, Gift Shop, Bobcaygeon, Wheat Kings, Grace too, Ahead by a Century, New Orleans is Sinking, It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken, 38 Years Old … pure musical poetry.
Up to Gord
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Fri, 2022-07-08 22:17
Up to Here certainly deserves its own box set, don't you think? Gord Downie (RIP) was a close personal friend of mine for many years, and I got to share a few stories about some of our regular aftershow pow-wows in those Road Apples liners.
I was lucky enough to see The Hip's second-to-last-ever show in Ottawa, one of the most personally affecting live nights I've ever experienced. All told, I saw The Hip live 92 times (yep, you read that right!) between 1991 and 2017.
You note a cavalcade of great Hip songs, but my personal favorite is, and always wiil be, "Springtime in Vienna."
God Bless Gord
Submitted by Steelhead on Tue, 2022-07-19 15:09
Absolutely Love the Tragically Hip.
Listened to a song on the radio way back and HAD to find out who the band was. I was in Rhode Island and the Hip played in Providence RI in either 1990 or 1991. It was some small mafia (I think) club and I do not believe there was even a 100 people there if that. Myself and two other folks were paying attention and I was right in front of Gord for the whole damn show (This was in his long hair, pajamas and combat boot phase) At the end we did a totally spontaneous hard high five and I was never the same. The band played like they were playing in front of thousands. One of the most memorable concerts of my life. Saw them at the Iron Horse for the In Violet Light tour and caught them in Kamloops B.C. in front of a Canadian crowd and it was almost as big as a Zeppelin concert. What a fantastic band.
It was great that you were such good friends with Gord, What a talent.
Just bought the recent Roxy show for the killer whale version jam.
OH, not to bury the original thread but I do plan on ordering the Roxy Music best of vinyl.
Hip Hip Hooray
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Fri, 2022-07-22 20:51
All this great Hip talk makes me think I just might need to do a vinyl-centric Hip feature here at some point, if y'all want to see one. As a completist -- quick, no Googling, what Hip album is "The Completists" on? -- I bought the Roxy vinyl as a standalone, even though I already have the copy of it that came in the Road Apples box set.
I could have easily asked to have a copy of Roxy sent to me, but I wanted to buy it on release day, and was pleasantly surprised that when I walked into my shop, the customer who entered right before I did made a beeline to the new releases rack to get his own copy. Once he selected his, I picked up the five that were left in that slot, looked at all the spines to see which one had the straightest, unencumbered band/title info on it, then went to The Hip slot over in the main alphabetized bins and replaced it with a different copy because I noticed the upper right corner was slightly dented on the first one. Sound familiar, o discerning in-store vinyl shoppers?
Speaking of the other Roxy this original post/thread is about, I'm reasonably certain I discussed Roxy Music with Gord at some point, and possibly with Hip guitarist Robby Baker as well. May just have to fact-check that in my "spare time". . . either way, I can confirm we all definitely talked about David Bowie, and I recall one time backstage in a dressing room where Robby had a portable player with him, and a vintage Bowie LP (Diamond Dogs, methinks it was) came out of the LP crate sitting next to it for a fine aftershow spin -- another Hip story for another time. . .
hip
Submitted by jlstrat on Mon, 2022-07-18 09:00
my wife and I live in central PA and caught the Hip a number of times here and in DC. One of the very best bands ever, and seeing them live is what made us fans. I need to see which copy of Day for Night I have, but it must be the one you're referring to, since I bought it as soon as it was available on vinyl. I've been pleased with all the vinyl releases of the Hip's recordings, except In Between Evolution, which should probably have been done over three sides. I wrote a piece about the band last year. https://www.soundstagexperience.com/index.php/features-menu/curator/1043...
Second time, shame on me, eighth thime, even more shame on me.
Submitted by Anton D on Wed, 2022-07-06 16:27
I got the remix set from a few years ago and just sprung for the new pressing of Avalon.
I'll try to remember to report back.
Pleased as Punch
Submitted by DigitalIsDead on Thu, 2022-07-07 07:33
I haven't been a huge fan of how Roxy sounded on both their original UK and US pressings so it was an easy decision to switch to the half speeds. I am super excited for the tour and will be seeing Roxy on the their final date in London. I am on the fence on this greatest hits as I prefer Street Life the greatest hits of Roxy and Bryan Ferry.
re-made / re-master
Submitted by dial on Thu, 2022-07-07 07:43
For me, vinyl should be reserved for the original albums to hear them as they came out. Which seems impossible for these reissues because they come from digitized master tapes.
But this best of was released almost 30 years after their first album. To capitalize on their second re-meeting.:
On the plus side. First pressings of their discs are affordable.
Submitted by Anton D on Thu, 2022-07-07 10:16
Still to be had in great shape at great prices.
That's easy for you to say.
Submitted by rich d on Fri, 2022-07-08 11:04
1 - what the hell is that up there?
2 - original Island pressings sound pretty darn good to me, and Anton's right: you can still pick 'em up for a reasonable tariff.
3 - Anton's out of his mind: why buy this when you already have everything? (said the man with 8 copies of Sgt. Pepper).
4 - please everyone save your money on this and buy the recently-released Robert Fripp album, Live at Washington Square Church.
5 - The above does not count as a thread hijack because Fripp once approached Bryan Ferry about joining King Crimson.
6 - have a wonderful weekend, almost everybody.
4-Square
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Fri, 2022-07-08 14:40
I'm all good for Frippetronics-related commentary here myself, as the thread connects. Agreed that WSChurch is a good call. Relative to that -- have you gotten his new Exposure (Fourth Edition) wax as well, or does that technically fall under point 3?
Regarding Point 3...
Submitted by Anton D on Fri, 2022-07-08 14:49
A) It's a disease.
B) Like Charlie Brown thinking he's going to kick the football, I keep thinking there may be new sonic revelations in new pressings....and I admit to almost always being wrong!
C) Multiple pressings....my son went through my LPs and found that, no surprise, Kind of Blue leads the pack for me, but Some Girls is second place! (I collect all the various color pressings and I guess it added up.)
C) Blue Girls
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Fri, 2022-07-08 15:18
Don't leave us hanging... exactly how many copies do you have of Blue, and how many of Girls???
Not at All...
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Mon, 2022-07-11 09:57
I bow to those numbers! I'll have to doublecheck since I still have a bunch of my wax in storage, but Moving Pictures might be the LP I own the most copies/most versions of...
you burn me up, I'm a cigarette
Submitted by rich d on Fri, 2022-07-08 19:10
Someone removed the spam which renders title and point #1 moot.
Thanks for the recommendation re: Exposure box set. I was a little reluctant because Fripp often releases 82-CD sets with out-takes of a session which was barely good enough to justify the original single LP release (take a bow, Earthbound). Having said that I'll probably reach for my wallet anyway. Oddly enough, the only time in my life I ever asked for an autograph was 42 years ago when Fripp was doing a lecture/Q&A/Frippertronics demonstration. He was kind enough to autograph a copy of Exposure for a kid (me). I still have and cherish it.
As for Anton's secret shame, I suspect he will not tell us how many copies as he might reasonably fear:
1 - howls of derision
2 - burglars.
Exposé / Exposure(s)
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Fri, 2022-07-08 22:24
Let me know if you do indeed pull the wallet, er, trigger on the big Exposures box set. I already bought the CD/DVD-A combo edition because I wanted Steven Wilson's 5.1 mix in hand first, and I'm planning on getting the Exposure LP on its own next before deciding whether I'll spring for the mondo box (though I probably will anyway).
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