Track Listing

1. Manifesto
2. Trash
3. Angel Eyes
4. Still Falls The Rain
5. Stronger Through The Years
6. Ain't That So
7. My Little Girl
8. Dance Away
9. Cry Cry Cry
10. Spin Me Round

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15468 in Music
• Released on: 1999-11-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
The key to Roxy Music's success is that from the start they were grown men playing rock & roll. Coming to stardom in his late 20s, Bryan Ferry had the knowledge and experience to invest his songs with novelty and depraved intelligence, but was sufficiently new to the whole thing that Roxy always sounded fresh. When they started getting on each others' nerves, they had the presence of mind to split up for a while, and reform when they felt like it--the result was Manifesto, a unique, compelling record that could well be their best album. Informed by the rhythms and radiance of disco, with a vicious edge that recalls their early recordings, and the effortless fluidity of Avalon and Flesh & Blood, it's the consummate Roxy record. The singles--"Dance Away", "Trash" and "Angel Eyes"--showcase the album's range, spanning saxophone suavity, fractious rock and hypnotic, disorientating disco. But the real jewel is the title track, a taut tapestry of rhythm and noise that they never topped. --Taylor Parkes

CD Description
MANIFESTO was Roxy Music's 1979 return after a hiatus of several years. This second phase of the band continued in the direction begun with their 1975 album SIREN. Lush romanticism now enveloped their sound, softening the barbs and burrs that had been a characteristic since their art school beginnings with Brian Eno at the start of the decade. MANIFESTO yielded several hits and songs of enduring popularity in the Bryan Ferry songbook, notably "Angel Eyes" and "Dance Away". The latter, in fact, sounds of a piece with Ferry's eighties solo work--gorgeous, lush, and exceedingly romantic. This album and its two successors (FLESH & BLOOD and AVALON) effectively form a bridge from the glam-rock of the early '70s to the more sedate, but rich and confident, sounds of pop musicfor adults.

Customer Reviews

Remix-hell
This was a great Roxy album when it first came out on vinyl, a mixture of hard edged art rock and suave ballads. The sad thing is that later pressings and the cds replaced the excellent original versions of Angel Eyes and Dance Away with inferior re-recordings or re-mixes. And what did re-mixes in the 80's mean? Mostly adding a metronomical beat-box and killing all dynamics. You'll find the original versions on The Thrill Of It All.
(This review refers to the original cd-version, I don't know which versions of the songs appear on the remastered CD)

The Best after their Rest
Manifest was Roxy's sixth album and came, after a four year hiatus, at the cusp of the seventies and the eighties. The band hadn't actually split, rather members undertook various other projects. They re-emerged with a fresh new sound and without Eddie Jobson who had been engaged by Frank Zappa and formed UK with Bill Bruford, John Wetton and Alan Holdsworth. Roxy had now picked up Gary Tibbs (ex Vibrators), Alan Spenner and Paul Carrack in place of Jobson and John Gustavson who had done studio bass duties on the previous three albums.

The time spent apart lead to a fresh new sound. More hard edge, with Ferry in Fine Fettle, right from the opening title track. This is a very strong album and projected Roxy back into the limelight.

I personally rate this album along with the first two (with Eno) "Roxy Music" and "For Your Pleasure" as Roxy's best. The previous three albums had been pretty good, with a slight downturn with "Country Life" but Manifesto showed new blood, more verve and no duff tracks. This was the end of the disco era and club mixes of "Dance Away" and "Angel Eyes" presented Roxy as funk-pop darlings of the dancefloor, with a New Wave sensation.

Most of Roxy's output after this album was overblown and too predictable for my liking. Their last best album. Treasure it.

So when did they ever do a bad album?
Roxy music are in the remarkable position of not having a single bad album to their name. This is conjecture of course, but keeping an open mind and a bit of time will bring you a deep appreciation for all their work. With the majority of bands, even the die hard fans will agree to certain albums being below par, but I can honestly say that all the Roxy Music albums are significantly above my original expectations.

Before Manifesto (1979), the previous album they made was Siren, several years before, and since then the band had a bit of a rehash. So you might mistakenly think this was destined to fail. Strangely enough, this album manages to captivate you beyond all musical possibilities, if you let it. The opening title track grows on you more and more until you find yourself loving every second of introduction until the guitar riff first comes in (which, by the way, is a good time to play "guess the guitar entry"). There is a perfect mix of style, enough to be eclectic but not so much that it's disjointed. It has rhythms that make you nod your head in an embarassing way, and it has melodies so tender and haunting that they never leave your head.

For me, this album sums up Roxy Music. The next two albums mark a big turn in their style, and rather than seeing this as an album to bridge the gap, I see it as a testament to the past and the future. Very musical, very clever, very fresh (still) and very essential. Don't make the mistake of ignoring this album, as I did for a while.

The tracks that stand out to me are Manifesto, Trash, Still Falls The Rain and Spin Me Round (perfect).

Buy it, and enjoy.