See link:

http://www.bryanferry.com/cherisse-osei ... -magazine/

Wasn't it slated for May/June (this year)?

Monsieur Le Freak,
The big news here is the second leg of the US tour.
East Coast in the fall could coincide with a new set list incorporating the latest album.
Party on - 'The Beacon Theatre' and Christmas shopping in NYC.
Maybe I'll market inclusive packages with two nights at 'The Carlysle' thrown in!
What more could any self respecting Ferryista ask for?
Regards,
Windswept.

' we are at Glastonbury' ...

BF keeps on touring. Good for him!

CO lists a string of drummers from BF's past (Rick Marotta!) that are to appear on the new album. But the big name missing is TGPT. Sigh. The Roxy Rift endures...

""So with so many top-line drummers working in the studio, how is the decision made about who is right for each song. “It’s all down to Bryan’s feeling for what will suit the song,” Cherisse confirms. “He may say that Steve Ferrone will sound great for this song, and Andy Newmark will sound good on that song. Obviously different drummers bring a different sound and a different vibe to the table, and a singer will decide what he or she wants for the song they are working on at the time. Bryan has such a big back catalogue, and he may want a new version of something he did 20 years ago, so he will ask me or one of the others to replace the drums and put something different on the track. Sometimes he tries several drummers out on the same track, and then chooses the one he likes. Bryan is very much a hands-on musical director, he does direct through the entire song to get what he wants. Bryan is very good at communicating what he wants, and he is very specific. He will say something like, the drum fill on the second verse is not right, I want it like this… he is very good in that way, which makes life so much easier for the musicians, we all know where we are which is always a big help.”""

Interesting article particularly on two fronts. The first is the inclusion of Ferrone and Marotta - without being too conspiritoral, (damn cant spell it), maybe that means that some of the original backing tracks that they played on back in the 70's and 80's are being used.

Secondly the reference to replacing drums on the back catalogue - hmmmm - does this mean we will be getting something like the b-sides of the LST era???

Who knows - we shall see

I was hoping that the new album would break away from the model used for Frantic and Olympia and instead feature a set of tracks that were recorded recently with a relatively stable set of musicians.

Basically, I had hoped that BF was finished with rummaging through his recording archive and cobbling together an album with a whole bunch of musicians layering on tracks to existing tracks that BF recorded long ago. Maybe it will turn out OK but my enthusiasm has flagged a bit since reading the CO description.

I think your enthusiasm meter is calibrated bang on DC. With some of the names mentioned it looks to me as though Bryan has been rummaging through the "unreleased /unfinished drawer. Marotta was from TBSB sessions wasn't he?
I too had hoped PT was going to be on this album but alas, Bryan's seems as though he has a strop on with anything Roxy. I can't get excited about this due to the last few offerings.

…i get slightly disappointed by nay sayers on this forum…if indeed bf does finish off a few songs from older sessions (like on frantic & olympia etc…), what's the problem? other artists (i.e. painters) regularly have works on the go for years, decades even.

is finishing/releasing these types of tracks only valid once the artist is deceased ? (i.e. buckley, jackson, winehouse). and then, are they devalued by not being approved by the artist in question?

i feel people have been a little bit spoilt by unofficial leaks onto the internet of sub standard mixes of demo/unfinished tracks that are not officially approved…

i bet if bowie did an album made up of stuff he hadn't finished over the years no one would complain…people would probably applaud his innovation…!

let's just wait and see what we get eh?? most of the alphaville session tracks were immeasurably improved IMHO, and we still got a lot of newies i.e. me oh my, heartache, reason etc...

I think any album by any artist should be judged on what you hear and not what you already know or read on the sleeve.

Many bands don't complete recordings for years. One of Rolling Stones best albums Tattoo You was exactly that. I loved that album when I bought it when it was released. I re-bought about 3 years ago and read on the sleeve notes the origin of most of the tracks and they were left overs from previouis sessions. Do I suddenly have to dislike that album??

Grace Jones last album Hurricane is her best by a mile and half of that came from unfinished/unreleased projects.

Now there is a fairly good little beat group from the 70's called Rock's Emu Sick or something like that. A lot of their 'golden era' 1972-1975 was simnilar. Grey Lagoons was demoed in 1971 but not used for the first album. There was a track on Stranded with a working title that didn't make it to the album but ended uo on a later album, etc etc etc. So if that tracks turns out to be your favourite track on Siren then does it become a bad song because it began during the Stranded sessions?

I think a song should be judged on wheather it is any good to release when it does get released rather than 'it began years ago'. It's not BF's fault that we have had 'a peek under tha magician's cape'.

How differently would we view Alphaville, A Fool for Love etc if we had never heard or knew of the Alphaville sessions. On the same token if we found out that Ferry wrote Sentimental Fool in 1965 at uni and demoed it for every album until it was right for Siren would we then all of a sudden hear it as a sub-standard release?

I have said this so often but i think some fans create for themselves pre meditated prejudices about music and have it judged before it was heard. (not just ferry fans I may add)

For Ferry the usual prejudices are:
Does Paul Thompson play on it? (I love Paul's playing and wish he did play on more, but does it make it a bad track because another talented drummer is on there. Would we judge the track differently if we didn't read the drumming credits first.

Is the song a cover or original. (If we heard a recording and liked it but didn't know it was a cover then when we see the writing credits is it all of a sudden a bad track. I prefer Ferry's originals by a mile but some of his self penned songs are not the best and some of his covers have been amazing) Take your pick, Cry Cry Cry or A Hard Rain's A-Gonna fall?

When was the song first written/demoed? I have covered that above.

It's not as good as the old stuff. As classic as those first 4 roxy albums are, can any band keep making the same records for 40 years, can any band be the 'new sensation' all their career?

I would say stick this new album on when it comes out, don't read the writing credits, don't read the musician credits and forget what you know has been demoed before and just listen to it openly and honestly instead of premeditated prejudice, that's only fair. You may styill not like it but you gave it a chance. I do that with just about every non Roxy related CD I buy. The problem with being a fan is we know to much and we let that information spoil things for us.

I remember on a now defunct Roxy forum years ago someone asked 'what tracks on In Your Mind did Spedding play on so I know which ones to like best'. I also remember breaking the news on this site that Ferry was working on an all Dylan cover album and read witin days how bad it was going to be. The album wasn't even finished yet and no one outside that project had heard it but a fan had made up his mind anyway.

A case in point; I am not a fan of Dylanesque but I remember playing it on a long journey in the car with a younger coleague from work with me. After 2-3 songs he said 'who is this?' I said Bryan Ferry, he replied I have heard of him, this sounds pretty good. When it got to Knocking On Heaven's Door he said ' aww that's a Guns n Roses song, he spoiled it with a cover." I said Guns Roses version is a cover of a Bob Dylan Song just like this whole album of Ferry's is." I showed him the CD case and he didn't want to hear anymore because it was 'covers'. He was enjoying the album up until he realised it was cover

J.O'B.