Roxy Music: Country Life

Roxy Music: Country Life

Album #239 - November 1974

Episode date - January 15, 2025

The Top 500 of The Top 40
    0:00
    0:00

    I can’t help but wonder what might run through the minds of a contemporary (i.e. younger) audience upon hearing this album for the first time.

    “Country Life” is one of the most stylistically diverse, masterful and mysterious albums that I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing, but almost every element here runs against the grain of current ‘popular’ styles. Everything that makes this album great also makes it hard for me to promote it to an audience that has no patience for its idiosyncrasies.

    Lyrics from the opening track, “The Thrill of It All”, virtually predict this complexity (“Every word I use, each crumpled page, strange ideas mature with age”). To further complicate matters, every track is stylistically different from one another. The album cover itself is provocative. Rather than celebrate youth, lead vocalist and songwriter Bryan Ferry presents a perspective that is much older than his years. In the realm of rock and roll, Ferry is an utterly unique character, combining ennui with curiosity, history with art, leaving the listener no choice but to confront his provocations. 

    Even in its time, “Country Life” was a hard sell, but regardless of age, patient listeners will be rewarded one hundred times over if they stop and take the time to truly listen.

    Featured Traks:

    The Thrill of It All

    Three and Nine

    All I Want Is You

    Out of the Blue

    If It Takes All Night

    Bitter-Sweet

    Triptych

    Casanova

    A Really Good Time

    Prairie Rose

    November 1974 - Billboard Charted #37

    Related Shows

    Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti,  In The Light, Bron-Yr-Aur, Down by the Seaside, Ten Years Gone, Night Flight, The Wanton Song, Boogie With Stu, Black Country Woman, Sick Again

    Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti - Part 2

    Album #242 - February 1975

      0:00
      0:00
      Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti

      Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti - Part 1

      Album #242 - February 1975

        0:00
        0:00
        Tower Of Power: Urban Renewal

        Tower Of Power: Urban Renewal

        Album #241 - January1975

          0:00
          0:00
          Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks

          Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks - Part 2

          Album #240 - January 1975

            0:00
            0:00
            Bob Dylan Blood On The Tracks

            Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks - Part 1

            Album #240 - January 1975

              0:00
              0:00
              Kraftwerk: Autobahn

              Kraftwerk: Autobahn

              Album #238 - November 1974

                0:00
                0:00
                Randy Newman - Good Old Boys

                Randy Newman: Good Old Boys

                Album #237 - September 1974

                  0:00
                  0:00
                  Little Feat- Feats Don't Fail Me Now

                  Little Feat: Feats Don't Fail Me Now

                  Album #236 - August 1974

                    0:00
                    0:00
                    Neil Young: On the Beach

                    Neil Young: On The Beach

                    Album #235 - July 1974

                      0:00
                      0:00
                      Stevie Wonder: Fulfillingness' First Finale

                      Stevie Wonder: Fulfillingness' First Finale

                      Album #234 - July 1974

                        0:00
                        0:00
                        Grateful Dead - From The Mars Hotel

                        The Grateful Dead: From The Mars Hotel

                        Album #233 - June 1974

                          0:00
                          0:00
                          Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping

                          Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping

                          Album #232 - April 1974

                            0:00
                            0:00