Roxy Music The Best of Roxy Music

Abandoning the intoxicating blend of art rock and glam-pop that distinguished Stranded and Country Life, Roxy Music concentrates on Bryan Ferry's suave, charming crooner persona for the elegantly modern Siren…

The Best of Ultravox is a fairly comprehensive compilation that disregards the era during which guitarist Robin Simon and vocalist John Foxx were in the group. It's actually comprehensive to a fault, since it's a little too fair to the group's later and lesser singles off 1986's U-Vox – an album that was almost as poor as its title…

1995 anthology, originally released to coincide with the release of the four disc box set Thrill Of It All. Roxy Music began life as a British Art Rock band in the early '70s but by the time they split a decade later, they had matured into a smooth Rock outfit capable of creating some of the most lush, romantic and beautiful music on the Pop charts. Lead vocalist Bryan Ferry carried on the Roxy tradition on his solo albums recorded during and after the band's original 10 year career.

When Slave to Love: The Best of the Ballads was released in 2000, there hadn't been a true Roxy Music compilation in print for years. Street Life and More Than This were both grab bags of Roxy Music singles and material from Bryan Ferry's solo career. While it's logical to assume that fans of one artist would certainly be interested in the other, the approach never made for a unified compilation – Roxy Music's sound shifted quite a bit over the years, and their earlier, edgier singles never sat well next to the smooth balladeering of Ferry's companion career.

Abandoning the intoxicating blend of art rock and glam-pop that distinguished Stranded and Country Life, Roxy Music concentrates on Bryan Ferry's suave, charming crooner persona for the elegantly modern Siren. As the disco-fied opener "Love Is the Drug" makes clear, Roxy embraces dance and unabashed pop on Siren, weaving them into their sleek, arty sound. It does come at the expense of their artier inclinations, which is part of what distinguished Roxy, but the end result is captivating. Lacking the consistently amazing songs of its predecessor, Siren has a thematic consistency that works in its favor, and helps elevate its best songs – "Sentimental Fool," "Both Ends Burning," "Just Another High" – as well as the album itself into the realm of classics.

An even slicker record than Manifesto, Flesh + Blood precariously balances between alluringly seductive, sophisticated soul-pop and cloying, radio-ready disco-pop…

Continuing with the stylistic developments of Stranded, Country Life finds Roxy Music at the peak of their powers, alternating between majestic, unsettling art rock and glamorous, elegant pop/rock. At their best, Roxy combine these two extremes, like on the exhilarating opener "The Thrill of It All," but Country Life benefits considerably from the ebb and flow of the group's two extremes, since it showcases their deft instrumental execution and their textured, enthralling songwriting…