Agreed. I'm sure our friend W2 is temporarily absent for a good reason. He has probably done more than anyone else here to keep this forum's heart beating, and always contributes with something infinitely more constructive than a churlish "who cares?" That sort of thing is more at home on other forms of ironically-named 'social media', like Facebook.

Well, it seems that forum member 'Windswept2' has quite a few fans. To me, their (or his/her?) contributions come across as pompous and know-it-all. But it's just an opinion. Isn't that what this forum is for?

Mes Amis,
W2 shares Le Jardinier, Oberon and UKRichard’s enthusiasm for the triumph that is ‘Star’.
We’ve always known our hero to be the consummate artist and the creativity is clearly still pumping thru’ his veins.
It’s easy to imagine Ferry noodling over this magnificent piece of ‘Tecno-noir’ in the studio at the dead of night. The track has a great groove, is as dark as hell and is cinematic in the extreme. It is also, as Le Jardinier said, ‘A Danceable Solution’. Particularly for those of us that now dance slower.
Interestingly Trent Resnor recently scored David Fincher’s latest movie ‘The Killer’ and incorporated a lot of The Smiths music. It would be great to see our hero do more for the silver screen.
One mistake with ‘Star’ however was presenting it as part of ‘Retrospective’. It should have been released as part of a new ‘Tecno-Noir’ album - music like this is a mood - you can’t jump from this to a Dylan interpretation.
Salutations a tous meme The Sentimental Fool !
Windswept.

Dear Mr.Windswept 2, nice to have read your answer. Thank you.

You write that his creativity still flows through his veins.

I would just like to say that he cannot and does not want to say goodbye to the music business completely.

Let me give you an example:

If a David Beckham had at some point come to the realization that his speed was no longer sufficient to make precise crosses due to his age but his skills were still sufficient to stand in goal, there would certainly have been a huge outcry in Great Britain.

If Bryan could still write beautiful lyrics and has not lost his unmistakable, languid voice (as we have come to know it) he would never have embarked on this path of creativity.

I will look at the last era of his artistic work with distance and criticism.

Thank you for your heartfelt regards, Windswept2. By the way, I too appreciate the dark little gem "Star" although I’m not quite clear on what exactly Mr. Ferry’s contribution to it is.
However, I agree with Uwe. Just like top athletes, artists have an expiration date. Unfortunately, Mr. Ferry has far surpassed his (and not just him, by the way).
That said, "Star" is a positive exception. Certainly in comparison to the unpalatable and completely unnecessary "Love Letters" covers or dreadful jazz excursions. So, let it be said once more, not all Ferry is good Ferry. Sadly enough...

One of the most intriguing aspects of STAR is its collaborative nature. While we’ll need more time to fully grasp the extent of this collaboration—who’s involved, how, and when—it’s clear that this is it's greatest strength. In recent years, it’s become apparent that his voice no longer functions in the same way, and writing solo has become more of a challenge. If he wanted to remain creative and relevant, it was clear that bold, courageous changes were necessary. Collaborating with an emerging young artist, both visually and musically, and creating spoken word and sound collages with samples from other musicians is a perfectly messy, exciting, avant-garde solution. The beauty of this chaotic, freeform spoken word-techno soundscape is that it echoes the postmodernist approach of the first two RM albums. To me, it also shares much with Dadaist poetry and the works of Edith Sitwell, Gertrude Stein, and T.S. Eliot—all of whom have already, in one way or another, influenced Ferry’s work.

That's what I thought, too, Gardner. When I first came into contact with 'Virginia Plain' or 'Re-Make/Re-Model' I was only 13 years old and not sure whether I was crazy - or the Roxies. What BF did consisted of a mixture of melody and rhythmic talking (quite similar to 'Star'). And that all in the setting of 1972's post-hippie/early glam rock era. In addition to Bryan's mocking, ironic voice we could listen to Andy's sax and oboe tricks, Eno's electronic treatment, Paul's powerful drumming etc. etc. Absolutely Avantgarde as we all know.

Since then Bryan has smoothened Roxy's sound, started a career as a solo artist with covers and compositions of his own, disbanded Roxy Music, re-starting it 17 years later, produced albums, skipped some of them, re-invented songs again, had a rendezvous with swing jazz and a cameo appearance on TV, toured in his 70s almost each and every year (with loads of Roxy material), sent us 'Love Letters' (I liked it) - and now this one: STAR !!

How courageous of an artist of almost 80 years (and with a dwindling voice) to try such an Avantgarde piece of music again. It resembles the first Roxy material when it took me some months to follow but it's not sure that I can follow him this time (of course I'll try ...). I've listened to 'Star' several times, watched the video but still do have my problems with his distant voice and the lack of melody. And: Maybe he'd better not put it on his 'Retrospective' album but wait until his next record is being compiled - comme le grand Windswept suggested ...

Pianoman - I can't work out how to quote you in my reply - but you talk about watching the video and listening to the track a few times to try and get into it ... I guess I've always had a liking for repetitive techno(ish) music so the use of it in Star was enjoyable for me. However.. one thing that did disappoint me was the quality of the video - I think it could've been more interesting - it seems v rushed - I'm not bothered about the lack of BF - just the simplicity and using the same projection throughout - It could've benefited from more cuts and maybe more visual collage - for instance text etc .

D'accord, Gardner, I like electronic music, too, and I am big fan of The Pet Shop Boys and Human League, Jean-Michel Jarre or Robert Palmer's and Bryan's approaches to this genre - only Kraftwerk has never been my cup of tea (with the exception of 'Autobahn'). So the synthetic structure of 'Star' isn't my problem with it. It's more Bryan's background voice, the shortness of the song and, as you remarked, the video, unfortunately without our maestro's appearance ...

Dear Pianoman,

I thought about whether I should write to you. I will.

As I already wrote in this thread, this production of Star is very brave of Bryan.

But is this tecno-noir style worthy of a music icon who is about to turn 80?
Isn't this the stage that belongs to the younger generation?

I'm just imagining Mick Jagger, his strength has left him and he can no longer dance wildly across the stage. He stands on the stage in a tuxedo with a bow tie, short hair and interprets songs from the 1930s and his voice can only be heard in nuances.

There would be an outcry from all Stones fans.

Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits did it differently. He wrote the song Long Road, a great song, with no lyrics. And yet the sound is reminiscent of him and Dire Straits. Simply unmistakable. Bravo.

Why doesn't Bryan have the strength to produce soundtracks without lyrics? He always said that a new Roxy album should be more of a soundtrack...

And that makes me suspect: he probably can't write lyrics anymore, he no longer has a voice and he may no longer be able to produce and create music?

I can't recognize Bryan vocally or musically on this song. I don't see him in the video either.

That worries me more than recognizing a new creative streak in it...

2022 - brilliant finale of Roxy in the O2 Arena. I was there and, like many other Brits, I had tears in my eyes. Tears of gratitude!

The time had come (applies to everyone) to stop.

I can only speak for myself, but I hope that he won't get a record deal for recordings like this. So that his legacy isn't damaged.

I hope everyone else who is enjoying this new production continues to have fun. I mean that quite honestly.

Because we all have different interests. And that's a good thing.