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For Your Pleasure

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This article is about the album. For the TV show, see For Your Pleasure (TV series).

For Your Pleasure
Studio album by
Roxy Music
Released23 March 1973 (1973-03-23)
RecordedFebruary 1973
StudioAIR (London)
GenreArt rock[1]
Length42:24
Label
Producer
Roxy Music chronology
Roxy Music
(1972) 		For Your Pleasure
(1973) 		Stranded
(1973)
Singles from For Your Pleasure
  1. "Do the Strand"
    Released: July 1973[2]

For Your Pleasure is the second studio album by the English rock band Roxy Music, released on 23 March 1973 by Island Records. It was their last to feature synthesiser and sound specialist Brian Eno. The album expanded on the experimental nature of their self-titled debut, featuring more elaborate production and experiments with phasing and tape loops.

The album proved to be even more commercially successful than their debut, peaking at number 4 in the UK Album Charts, eventually being certified gold by the BPI. It also yielded one single released outside of the UK, "Do the Strand". The album received positive reviews from critics, and is today regarded as Roxy Music's best album, and one of the greatest glam rock albums of all time.

Background

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Bryan Ferry had studied at Newcastle University under prominent pop art painter and theorist, Richard Hamilton. Hamilton saw a painting, "not as a canvas, but a mood board, an array of inspirations and goals that could as easily clash as blend together", which were adapted by Ferry on For Your Pleasure, taking him from "the past and into what still feels like the future".[3] Hamilton's work "Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?" got its mark on "In Every Dream Home a Heartache", a song about illusions/"glimpses of modern sophistication" and horrors behind them.[3]

"Grey Lagoons" and "For Your Pleasure" were conceived during the recording sessions in 1971, and later developed in 1973 for the release of their sophomore album.[4]

Production

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The group spent more studio time on this album than on their debut, combining song material by Bryan Ferry with more elaborate production treatments. For example, the song "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" (Ferry's sinister ode to a blow-up doll) fades out in its closing section, only to fade in again with all the instruments subjected to a pronounced phasing treatment. The title track fades out in an elaborate blend of tape loop effects.[5]

For Your Pleasure was recording in February 1973, at London's Air Studios in Oxford Circus. At that time, Roxy Music recruited new bassist, John Porter. Porter took part in the For Your Pleasure sessions and joined the band for the subsequent tour.[6] Roxy produced the album themselves with the aid of Chris Thomas, while John Middleton and John Punter worked on the engineering side. At first the band wanted to be the sole producers, but the label convinced them otherwise.[7]

The original UK LP cover credits "Produced by Chris Thomas and Roxy Music" for the entire album, but only the side one label repeats that; the side two label credits "Produced by John Anthony and Roxy Music". Various foreign editions and reissues have confused the matter with random variations.[citation needed]

Artwork

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The cover photo, taken by Karl Stoecker, featured Bryan Ferry's girlfriend at the time, model Amanda Lear, who was also the confidante, protégée and closest friend of the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí.[8] Lear was depicted posing in a skintight leather dress leading a black panther on a leash.[9] The full sleeve art features a smiling Ferry dressed like a chauffeur and waits next to a limo", parked on left side from Lear.[3]

The image has been described as "as famous as the album itself".[10] Pitchfork put the feeling captured by the sleeve art as "an enthralling, modern image of desirability, danger, sexual satisfaction, and luxe living. Like a lot of rock, the cover offers adolescents a misleading fantasy of what adult life is like."[3]

Original pressings of the album featured a gatefold sleeve picturing the band members, except bassist John Porter, posing with guitars.[citation needed] Porter was credited as a "Guest artiste" in the credits, but joined the band for the subsequent tour.[6]

Music and lyrics

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Roxy "aimed for a melding of American R&B and avant-garde European traditions".[3]

Of the more upbeat numbers on the album, "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You" are both based around rhythms in the tradition of the band's first single "Virginia Plain". "Do the Strand" has been called the archetypal Roxy Music anthem.[by whom?]

On "Beauty Queen" Ferry was "drawn to the anxious, feminine side of R&B", where he sings about parting ways with a woman who has "swimming pool eyes, but it sounds more like he's pitching woo". Ferry promises she'll be fine without him, carefully catering her with purple prose using his theatrical and campy baritone, the tone which paradoxically often implies Ferry's sincerity.[3] "Editions of You" lyrics reminisce on "the beauty of pining for someone long gone". The song features "1950s R&B sax invocations" and "pitch-bending synthesizer solo" with tweaked frequency control creating, what Eno later "approvingly termed, quite unpalatable noises".[3]

"Bogus Man", with its eerie lyrics about a sexual stalker and metronome rhythm, is recognized as "a musical design" for trance music years before the genre's conception. It builds up into a long, minimalist beat with instrument mutating overtime within "some mysterious cycle". Brian Eno liked the repetition saying "repetition is a form of change",[11] and remarked that the "The Bogus Man" displayed similarities with contemporary material by the krautrock group Can.[12]

The final song "For Your Pleasure" prominently features Eno, making it unlike any other song on the album. The song opens with minimalistic piano, which over the last four and a half minutes accumulates into a "panoramic disorientation" of multiple processed sounds blurred together into one wave of the echo on electric piano, more reverb on the guitar, phasing, tremolo; and "it gently becomes hazy and puzzling". Producer Chris Thomas and Eno are "playing the recording studio as though it's an instrument, conducting the song at a mixing board". The song inches towards an epilogue with the repeated samples of "Well, how are you?" taken from "Chance Meeting", the song recorded for the first Roxy Music album,[11] and "For Your Pleasure" ends with voice of Judi Dench saying "You don't ask. You don't ask why".[13]

Release

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For Your Pleasure was originally released by Island Records in the United Kingdom and Warner Bros. Records in the United States.[2] It has been subsequently reissued by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records and Reprise Records in the US.[2]

As with the debut Roxy Music album, no UK singles were lifted from For Your Pleasure upon its initial release. The non-album single "Pyjamarama", backed with "The Pride and the Pain", was issued in advance of the album in Britain, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. "Do the Strand", backed with "Editions of You", was released as a single in the US and Europe; it was finally issued as a UK single in 1978 to promote Roxy Music's Greatest Hits album, released in December the previous year.

A live recording of the song was used in 1975 as a B-side to "Both Ends Burning".[citation needed]

Critical reception

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Retrospective professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Christgau's Record GuideB[15]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[16]
Pitchfork10/10 (2012)[11]
9.5/10 (2019)[3]
Q[17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[18]
Select5/5[19]
Spin Alternative Record Guide6/10[20]

In 1973, For Your Pleasure made No. 4 on UK Albums Chart and reached No. 193 in USA. In the contemporary reviews, Paul Gambaccini of Rolling Stone received mixed feelings, calling album "remarkably inaccessible" and writing that "the bulk of For Your Pleasure is either above us, beneath us, or on another plane altogether". Gambaccini highlights were "Do the Strand", "In Every Dream Home a Heartache", and saxophone solo on "Editions Of You".[21] Robert Christgau also reviewed the album, giving it a B rating and saying, "These guys make no secret of having a strange idea of a good time, but this isn't decadent, it's ridiculous".[15]

In retrospective review, Pitchfork's Tom Ewing selected For Your Pleasure as the best album by Roxy Music, saying "it's hard to imagine an album that better exploits the tension between two fast-diverging creativities" of Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno. The album's converge into simultaneously sincere, light-footed, emotional, and creepy tones.[11] Another Pitchfork reviewer, Rob Tannenbaum, described For Your Pleasure as "happily pretentious and self-involved" creating a middle ground between glam and prog with the "greatest degree of success. Glam steals from prog's song lengths and love of soloing, and prog swipes glam's exclamation marks and sex appeal." Tannenbaum added that he didn't hear a "struggle between Ferry and Eno, just two guys with similar ideas and a band juiced on its early success and acclaim, trying to get farther from earth while still holding on to the Marvelettes and the Shirelles." He additionally noted the strong job put by Thompson and Manzanera who "grounded the music's outlandish shifts". Tannenbaum called "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You" to be "models for the ferocity of punk rock".[3]

NME called the album "the pinnacle of English art rock".[22] Morrissey told the British press that "he could 'only think of one truly great British album'... For Your Pleasure".[23] Radio broadcaster Mark Radcliffe and journalist Richard Williams called For Your Pleasure their favorite album. Bryan Ferry said the album is his personal favourite, lamenting that "it's awful to think that that's your high spot, only your second year of doing anything".[6]

Accolades

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Publication Accolade Year Rank
Q 100 Greatest British Albums Ever 2000 33[24]
Pitchfork' Top 100 albums of the 1970s 2004 87[23]
NME 500 greatest albums of all time 2013 88[22]
Rolling Stone 500 greatest albums of all time 2020 edition 351[25][28]

Classic Rock named it as one of 10 "essential" glam rock albums.[29] Happy Mag included the album in its list of "10 records to introduce you to the world of art-rock" and called it "an art-pop, glam-rock masterpiece."[30]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Bryan Ferry

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Do the Strand"4:04
2."Beauty Queen"4:41
3."Strictly Confidential"3:48
4."Editions of You"3:51
5."In Every Dream Home a Heartache" ([nb 1])5:29
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."The Bogus Man"9:22
2."Grey Lagoons"4:11
3."For Your Pleasure"6:58
Total length:42:24

Notes

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  1. ^ LP editions of the album incorrectly listed the song's timing as 4:25, due to its "false fade" referenced above

Personnel

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The personnel is adapted from the liner notes.[31]

Roxy Music

Additional personnel

Production

Charts

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Chart (1973) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[32] 41
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33] 9
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[34] 28
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[35] 15
UK Albums (OCC)[36] 4
US Billboard 200[37] 193
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[38] 42

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[39] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Dolan, Joe; Martoccio, Angie; Sheffield, Rob (20 November 2024). "The 74 Best Albums of 1974". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 November 2024. In their first four years as a band, Roxy Music went off on a tear that produced five of the Seventies' most influential art-rock albums.
  2. ^ a b c Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 930. ISBN 1-84195-860-3.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tannenbaum, Rob (13 October 2019). "Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  4. ^ Buckley 2004, p. 44, 115.
  5. ^ Stump, Paul (1998). Unknown Pleasures: A Cultural Biography of Roxy Music. Quartet (UK)/Thunder's Mouth (US). p. 82. ISBN 1-56025-212-X.
  6. ^ a b c Buckley 2004, p. 113.
  7. ^ Buckley 2004, pp. 113–114.
  8. ^ Rubin, Robert Henry (2002). "Interview: Amanda Lear for Night". NIGHT.
  9. ^ Salewicz, Chris (2009). Keep on Running – The Story of Island Records. London, UK: Island Records Company. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-95619-140-3.
  10. ^ "Amanda Lear Biography". Eurodancehits.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  11. ^ a b c d Ewing, Tom (13 August 2012). "Roxy Music: Roxy Music: The Complete Studio Recordings 1972–1982". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  12. ^ Stump, Paul (1998). Unknown Pleasures: A Cultural Biography of Roxy Music. Quartet (UK)/Thunder's Mouth (US). p. 82. ISBN 1-56025-212-X.
  13. ^ Simpson, Dave (28 April 2022). "Bryan Ferry: 'I did a lot of whistling on my paper round as a lad'". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  14. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "For Your Pleasure – Roxy Music". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  15. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1981). "Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  16. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Roxy Music". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  17. ^ "Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Q. No. 156. September 1999. pp. 122–23.
  18. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Roxy Music". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 705–06. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  19. ^ "Roxy Music: Roxy Music / For Your Pleasure / Stranded". Select. No. 112. October 1999.
  20. ^ Sheffield, Rob (1995). "Roxy Music". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 336–38. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  21. ^ Gambaccini, Paul (5 July 1973). "For Your Pleasure". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  22. ^ a b Barker, Emily (25 October 2013). "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 100–1". NME. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  23. ^ a b "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. 23 June 2004. p. 2. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  24. ^ "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever! – Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Q. No. 165. June 2000. p. 75.
  25. ^ Stone, Rolling (22 September 2020). "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone.
  26. ^ "Rolling Stone – The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003)". Genius.
  27. ^ "Rolling Stone – The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2012)" – via genius.com.
  28. ^ In the initial ranking in 2003, For Your Pleasure was ranked number 394 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[26] with the album's ranking dropping to number 396 in the 2012 update of the list, and eventually climbing to number 351 in the 2020 update.[27]
  29. ^ Fortnam, Ian (21 August 2016). "The 10 Essential Glam Rock Albums". Classic Rock. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  30. ^ Saunders, Luke (12 March 2020). "10 records to introduce you to the world of art-rock". Happy Mag. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  31. ^ For Your Pleasure (liner notes). Roxy Music. Island Records. 1973. ILPS 9232.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  32. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  33. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  34. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  35. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  36. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  37. ^ "Roxy Music Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  38. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  39. ^ "British album certifications – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 October 2020.

Works cited

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