Bryan Ferry

Most Bryan Ferry compilations divide their time between his solo recordings and Roxy Music hits, so 2009’s The Best of Bryan Ferry is noteworthy in how it focuses entirely on his solo work, running from the ‘70s and into the new millennium. At 21 tracks, the collection is generous, so it’s not a surprise that it contains all the hits and staples, from “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and “Let’s Stick Together” to “Slave to Love” and “Kiss and Tell,” with the deluxe edition going one step further and collecting 28 music videos, including many singles that don’t show up on the CD. This DVD is an enticement for the diehards who already own everything on the CD, but seen as just an aural collection, this is the best overview of Ferry’s solo recordings yet assembled.

Bryan Ferry invests considerable time and energy in cover albums (he should, considering that they compose a good portion of his solo catalog), treating them with as much care as a record of original material. He's always found ways to radically reinvent the songs he sings, so it's easy to expect that his collection of pop standards, As Time Goes By, would re-imagine the familiar. Instead, As Time Goes By is his first classicist album, containing non-ironic, neo-traditionalist arrangements of songs associated with the '30s. That doesn't mean it's a lavish affair, dripping with lush orchestras – it's considerably more intimate than that. Even when strings surface, they're understated, part of a small live combo that supports Ferry throughout the record.

Having at last laid Roxy to bed with its final, intoxicatingly elegant albums, Ferry continued its end-days spirit with his own return to solo work. Dedicated to Ferry's father, Boys and Girls is deservedly most famous for its smash single "Slave to Love." With a gentle samba-derived rhythm leading into the steadier rock pace of the song, it's '80s Ferry at his finest, easy listening without being hopelessly soporific…