I've been listening to Olympia a lot, and it struck me that the way Bryan combines his voice with his backing vocalists is very similar to Leonard Cohen's style. Both artists's voices have changed a lot through their careers and they seem to have found a similar solution to it (although while Cohen's voice seems to have become deeper, Ferry's rather has become more vunerable).

For me, this thought was kind of soothing, since we all know that Bryan's voice isn't what it used to be. I would never want him to stop making music because of it. But having heard him sing 'You can dance' live on Jools Holland, it made me wonder how the song would have sounded if he would be able to sing it with the energy he once sang 'The thrill of it all', and how the response to it might have differed. I really like You can dance: it is a peculiar song, with some eastern influences (the guitar parts) and atypical structure. But if it were performed with a stronger voice, it would probably come across better.

However, I hope he will be able to continue working this way as Cohen has done. I wouldn't mind seeing Bryan perform in ten years time. His voice will probably weaken further, but this elegant solution with the backings should ensure his future on the stage. And after that, who knows, maybe one day someone else will sing his lines and he'll simply be the composer.

Yes, their voices have changed through the years, but to me Bryan Ferry’s voice is still as touching, intense and wistful as it ever was*, perhaps now even more (Song To The Siren at Jools Holland last night – I listened to other versions of this song, but only when he sings it I get choked up). So I think the essence of his voice has not faded with time, it’s here to stay - hopefully for many years to come.

*Sea Breezes performed at a John Peel session, early 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2nA7Sz7fL0

I really don`t care for songs where Bryan sounds vulnerable. That`s the absolute last quality barrier. I know I`m still waiting for the Olympia LP. There`s a change that I will just throw it in the bin. I will never sit down and listen to an album like that. So be it.

"But having heard him sing 'You can dance' live on Jools Holland, it made me wonder how the song would have sounded if he would be able to sing it with the energy he once sang 'The thrill of it all'"

Great point. you're right. and strip out the overproduction too. could have, would have, might have.....

I thought Bryan's vocals on Jools Holland were excellent. I thought his voice was less mannered and a little rougher than usual, adding a different interpretation of the song.
And I don't agree with the Ferry/Cohen point of view. I can't hear any similarity of ideas concerning the juxtaposition of vocals and backing vocals.

Did you guys and girls went to a gig recently? I've seen Bryan peform quite often lately, and on stage his voice never sounds weak. Maybe he cultivates that way of singing for his records?

Don’t know if he cultivates a certain way of singing when recording, but I saw him perform twice (lucky me) with Roxy this summer, in Lokeren and Bonn. Both gigs were great, especially the one in Lokeren was kind of magic. It started right at midnight and it was my first Roxy Music concert, maybe that had something to do with it – sorry, straying from the subject. His voice was sounding really good and he seemed to enjoy himself as much as we did.

I have seen Roxy in Lokeren too and thought it was a very energetic and good show (although my friends tended to disagree, but they were less familiar with the early Roxy work). And indeed, Ferry sounded very good during the show.

That's why I was expecting more from the performances on Jools Holland. During the first bars of 'You Can Dance', I'm sorry to say Bryan sounded awful, and after that, his voice was indistinguishable from the backing vocalists. 'Shameless' was a disappointment too: I love the album version (prefer it to the Groove Armada version actually), but live the song simply missed energy. Best performance of the evening was Song to the Siren, although I would have prefered him singing one of his own songs, maybe 'Tender is the night'.

Of course Ferry and Cohen are very different artists, but with both of them the prominence of female vocalists has increased strikingly during the years. I'm not saying that's a bad thing.

I agree that the essence of Bryan's voice is still there, and I hope he succeeds in using it as an instrument successfully. It's clear he still can, but he doesn't always succeed though...

On recent evidence, to my ears, the live vocals are way better than the album style.

My sense of the Jool's performances generally accords with Guust. YCD was strong instrumentally, but the vocals (especially at the beginning) were weak and the song itself is not particularly memorable.

The Shameless performance was OK but nonetheless rather bland. Not as interesting as on the record but the vocals held up OK. But like YCD the song is not particularly memorable.

SOTS was quite good and it seems rather amazing that BF could pull off this vocal at the same session where he struggled with YCD. On Song/Siren his vocal is very evocative and is the kind of performance that I'd be willing to show to a non-Roxy/BF fan and say "here's why I still care about Roxy!"

It would be interesting to hear him do a stripped down live version of Tender/Night similar to the the version on Olympia. Somethng like the live versions he did of To Make You Feel My Love while promoting Dylanesque.