A response to all the birthday wishes on his Facebook page today....

Bryan Ferry (Official) Thank you all for being so kind...we are working on the new record which comes out in November. Hope you like it! Bryan

Fellow Dilettantes,
Sixty seven years of age and our hero is still going strong!
Happy birthday to him and great to hear that the new album is on schedule for a November release - I can't wait!
A new Bond movie and a new Ferry album in one year -what more could man or woman ask for?
Regards,
Windswept

Is this to be the "jazz" album? Or something else?

I'm glad he's got some new product hitting the streets, and it seems to be appearing without all the drama and hoopla and hype that attended the release of Olympia. I take that as a good sign. But I think I'll wait to hear something from the new album before I get overly excited...

To me, any new album of BF has really no interest. Olympia was the "chant du cygne" in French, means the last one you sing before dying, artisticaly I mean.

Can any album by any artist be dissed by anyone before it is heard especially if you have enjoyed previous work by that artist?

I am not a big fan of Olympia too. It has some good tracks and some not so good.

J.O'B.

David Bowie is a good case in point. He did some great albums In the 70s terrible albums mid to late 80s and his last 2 Heathen & Reality are among his best.

J.O'B.

For me the problem with Bowie's 80s albums was that, instead of setting trends as he did in the 70s, he was trying to adopt whatever music styles happened to be current. Whilst he did that successfully in the 70s with "Young Americans" in the 80s he seemed to just be going through the motions.The tracks on "Olympia" that I like least are where Bryan tries to get hip and "down with the kids" on Shameless and BF Bass. Where the album is great for me is where it is unmistakably Ferry - Reason Or Rhyme, Alphaville, Me Oh My.

I just feel that too many of Bryan's solo albums suffer from the interminable time that it apparently took to make them - songs recorded, put to one side, revived years later with additional guest musicians to the point where no one can remember which of the umpteen guitarists is actually playing what on a given track. No one expects the heady days of the 70s again when acts churned out 2 or 3 albums a year but a shorter process surely wouldn't be a bad thing.

I am looking forward to whatever the November offering is, although I can't help but wonder whether the rumoured instrumental album is less to do with creative instincts and more to do with the decline of the Ferry voice.

there was an interview in a Belgian magazine a week ago with him...the reporter was able to listen to the new album(s). He said he liked it a lot...(and it was a reporter who interviews a lot of musicians...so his taste will be great)
But was not allowed to tell anything more than this....

Just listen to it on its own merits. Don't compare it to great or not so great albums of the past .There isn't a single Bryan or Roxy album that I like completely And I've been embarrassed by one or two songs along the way. But every album has always had two or three gems and that's good enough for me ! A tenner for 2 or three great Bryan songs is a bargain!! Err....for me !!

completely agree