Virgin
Glam Rock, 2000

Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, to me, will always be the best of the New Romantics wave. Mr Ferry’s sepulchral yet so seductive vocals have been my balm companion in late night hours when the world seems pretty meaningless and screwed up. And here he is, in this best-of compilation of his more interesting works – his ballads.

True, this guy’s music is melodramatic and sometimes painfully showy, but still, I find Avalon as devastatingly romantic as ever, a truly beautiful song of the sensuality of dancing:

When you bossa nova
There´s no holding
Would you have me dancing
Out of nowhere

Then there’s the aching Oh Yeah which invites me to gallop happily along the music as Mr Ferry sings about love in his usual overblown, eccentric, and always attractive manner.

There´s a band playing on the radio
With a rhythm of rhyming guitars
There’s a band playing on the radio
And it´s drowning the sound of my tears

More than Words is a fun, sunny pop tune that proves that there is no other like Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music – even the new lineup of 10,000 Maniacs failed to bring life to this song the way he can. Mr Ferry also covers music on his own, and his poignant version of Falling in Love Again is haunting while Crazy Love is beautifully moody.

All in all, Slave to Love is a glorious journey to the cathedral of aching, exaggerated romanticism of Bryan Ferry. Eccentric, overblown, and always with a twisted, sardonic view of hang-ups in romance, he has me closing my eyes and moving along to Avalon even after all these years.