For Your Pleasure

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

For Your Pleasure
Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure.png
Studio album by
Roxy Music
Released23 March 1973 (1973-03-23)
RecordedFebruary 1973
StudioAIR Studios, London, England
Genre
Length42:16
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[1]

For Your Pleasure is the second album by English rock band Roxy Music, released by Island Records in 1973. It was their last to feature synthesiser and sound specialist Brian Eno, who would later gain acclaim as a solo artist and producer.

Production[]

The group was able to spend more studio time on this album than on their debut, combining strong 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. Brian Eno remarked that the eerie "The Bogus Man", with lyrics about a sexual stalker, displayed similarities with contemporary material by the krautrock group Can.[2]

Of the more upbeat numbers on the album, "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You" were both based around insistent rhythms in the tradition of the band's first single "Virginia Plain". "Do the Strand" has been called the archetypal Roxy Music anthem, whilst "Editions of You" was notable for a series of ear-catching solos by Andy Mackay (saxophone), Eno (VCS3), and Phil Manzanera (guitar).

Eno is very present in the final song from the album "For Your Pleasure", making it unlike any other song on the album. The song ends with the voice of Judi Dench saying "You don't ask. You don't ask why" amid tapes of the opening vocals ('Well, how are you?') from "Chance Meeting" from the first Roxy Music album. A live recording of the song has been used in 1975 as a B-side to "Both Ends Burning".

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.

Promotion[]

For Your Pleasure was originally released by Island Records in the United Kingdom and Warner Bros. Records in the United States.[1] It has been subsequently reissued by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records and Reprise Records in the US.[1]

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.

The cover photo, taken by Karl Stoecker, featured Bryan Ferry's girlfriend at the time, singer and model Amanda Lear, who later became Salvador Dalí's muse.[3] Original pressings of the album featured a gatefold sleeve picturing all five band members posing with guitars.

Critical reception[]

Retrospective professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic5/5 stars[4]
Christgau's Record GuideB[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music4/5 stars[6]
Pitchfork10/10 (2012)[7]
9.5/10 (2019)[8]
Q4/5 stars[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide5/5 stars[10]
Select5/5[11]
Spin Alternative Record Guide6/10[12]

For Your Pleasure made No. 4 in UK charts in 1973. In 1973, Paul Gambaccini of Rolling Stone gave it a mixed review, and wrote that "the bulk of For Your Pleasure is either above us, beneath us, or on another plane altogether."[13]

In 2000, Q placed For Your Pleasure at number 33 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[14] It placed at number 87 on Pitchfork's 2004 list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s.[15] The citation notes that Morrissey told the British press that "he could 'only think of one truly great British album'... For Your Pleasure."[15] In 2003, For Your Pleasure was ranked number 394 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[16] with the album's ranking dropping to number 396 in the 2012 update of the list, and climbing to number 351 in the 2020 update.[17][18] NME ranked For Your Pleasure at number 88 on its 2013 list of 500 greatest albums of all time and called it "the pinnacle of English art rock."[19] Classic Rock named it as one of 10 "essential" glam rock albums.[20] 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."[21]

Track listing[]

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" (LP editions of the album incorrectly listed the song's timing as 4:25, due to its "false fade" referenced above)5:29
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."The Bogus Man"9:20
2."Grey Lagoons"4:13
3."For Your Pleasure"6:51

Personnel[]

Roxy Music

Additional personnel

Production

  • Chris Thomas, John Anthony, Roxy Music – record producers
  • Roxy Music – musical arrangers
  • John Middleton – sound engineer
  • John Punter – sound engineer
  • Jennings – crew
  • Bryan Ferry – art direction, cover art concept
  • Karl Stoecker – photography
  • Nicholas Deville – art direction, photography
  • CCS – artwork
  • Antony Price – clothing/wardrobe, make-up, hair stylist
  • Smile – hair stylist
  • Amanda Lear – cover star
  • Bob Ludwig – digital remastering

Charts[]

Chart (1973) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[22] 41
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[23] 9
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 28
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[25] 15
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 4
US Billboard 200[27] 193

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 930. ISBN 1-84195-860-3.
  2. ^ Stump, Paul (1998). Unknown Pleasures: A Cultural Biography of Roxy Music. Quartet (UK)/Thunder's Mouth (US). p. 82. ISBN 1-56025-212-X.
  3. ^ March, Nick (3 January 2013). "Bryan Ferry retrospective at Dubai museum showcases his art and music". The National. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  4. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "For Your Pleasure – Roxy Music". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Roxy Music". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  7. ^ Ewing, Tom (13 August 2012). "Roxy Music: Roxy Music: The Complete Studio Recordings 1972–1982". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  8. ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (13 October 2019). "Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Q. No. 156. September 1999. pp. 122–23.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Roxy Music: Roxy Music / For Your Pleasure / Stranded". Select. No. 112. October 1999.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Gambaccini, Paul (5 July 1973). "For Your Pleasure". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  14. ^ "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever! – Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Q. No. 165. June 2000. p. 75.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. 23 June 2004. p. 2. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  16. ^ "Rolling Stone – The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003)". Genius.
  17. ^ "Rolling Stone – The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2012)" – via genius.com.
  18. ^ Stone, Rolling (22 September 2020). "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
  19. ^ Barker, Emily (25 October 2013). "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 100–1". NME. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ Saunders, Luke (12 March 2020). "10 records to introduce you to the world of art-rock". Happy Mag. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  22. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  23. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  24. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  25. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  26. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  27. ^ "Roxy Music Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  28. ^ "British album certifications – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 October 2020.Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type For Your Pleasure in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""