Roxy Music
The Thrill of it All: A Visual History (1972-1982)
Virgin/EMI DVD
Words: Jason Ferguson

For all but the most devout Roxy Music fans, the prospect of a double DVD package of footage from all ten years of the band’s original existence is a daunting one. Even casual observers understand that after 1975’s Siren album, the group was little more than the Bryan Ferry Band. After disbanding in 1976 and then reuniting in 1978, all of the progressive, glammy magic of the band’s early days had been erased by Ferry’s massive ego, resulting in super-polished albums and performances that bore little resemblance to the squelchy, avant-pop that essentially laid the blueprint for New Wave.
 
Thankfully, The Thrill of It All is ordered chronologically, and neatly divides itself into Roxy Music, Mk. 1 and Roxy Music, Mk. 2. If you’re not a devotee of the group, the second disc is completely superfluous, save for an utterly baffling appearance on the 1979 TV special, ABBA In Switzerland. The content on the second DVD is almost evenly split between lavish promo videos and bloodless live performances, and were this the only iteration of Roxy Music to ever have existed, one could easily wonder why such a band is held in such consistently high regard by people who should know better.

The answer to that question is summarily answered by the first DVD. Opening with a barnstorming collection of live (and live-on-television) performances from the band’s days with Brian Eno (1972-1973), this Roxy Music is an explosion of pop-art insanity. From a feather-boa-draped Eno assaulting his keyboards to a sublimely sleazy looking   Andy MacKay bleating out lines on the saxophone, in this bizarre picture, the sultry vamping of Ferry fits right in. It must be said clearly that these oft-bootlegged BBC appearances are the most amazing and impressive things that Roxy Music ever did; there’s an electric rawness to the proceedings that dilutes the art-school pretense in perfect measure. “Virginia Plain” and “Do The Strand” are morphed from breezy, synth-heavy pop artifacts into beefy, hyper-sexual rock awesomeness. It’s a sight to behold, indeed. Though the latter half of the first DVD (the post-Eno, pre-breakup material) doesn’t quite rise to that same level of intensity, live versions of cuts like “Mother of Pearl” and a barnstorming take on “Pyjamarama” from German television nonetheless hold up quite well. Again, ignore the second disc, but put the first disc on “repeat.”