Track Listing

1. Sensation
2. Slave to Love
3. Don't Stop the Dance
4. Wasted Land
5. Windswept
6. Chosen One
7. Valentine
8. Stone Woman
9. Boys and Girls

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7542 in Music
• Released on: 2000-03-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com

Bryan Ferry Photos

More from Bryan Ferry

In Your Mind	As Time Goes By	The Foolish Things
Mamouna	Let’s Stick Together	Bryan Ferry in Concert

Customer Reviews

Bryan Ferry's Best Solo: "Avalon 2" In All But Name
Roxy Music issued "Avalon" in 1982 and despite its broad commercial success it was the last (studio) Roxy album. It became clear why, when 3 years later Roxy lead singer and composer Bryan Ferry issued "Boys and Girls", in all but name a straight sequel to "Avalon" (the implication being that Avalon probably was far more a Ferry solo album than a true Roxy album--comparions to Roger Waters/Pink Floyd "The Final Cut" come to mind.) "Boys and Girls" continues the dreamy soundscapes from "Avalon", mixing up more upbeat, dance-oriented songs ("Don't Stop the Dance", "The Chosen One" "Stone Woman") with slower songs ("Slave to Love" (which was the lead-off single), "Windswept", "Boys annd Girls"). And of course there is the short (1 min) "bridge song" (here "Wasteland", like "India" on "Avalon"). While the album covers no new ground, it still is the best Bryan Ferry solo album, because the sounds are lush and deep, and the entire album (clocking in at 38+ min) plays like one long dream-along song. In this remastered issue, the sound quality is remarkably better than before. The CD also contains the lyrics to the songs. Nevertheless I deck a star from my rating because there are no extra tracks such as single B-sides or live tracks and there are no liner notes. Enjoy the dreamy world of Bryan Ferry, though!

A Gem from 1985 that went virtually unnoticed in the U.S.
Bryan Ferry is one of those artists that is well-known among European music fans, but in the United States - Ferry's career has almost gone unnoticed. Ferry achieved success as the lead singer for Roxy Music - who also had established themselves in Europe, but not in the United States. During his Roxy Music years, Ferry also had a parallel solo career going In 1983, for all practical purposes - Roxy Music would split up and Bryan Ferry would focus on his solo career. In 1985, Ferry would release "Boys and Girls". 1985 would be one of the most competitive years in the music industry. Artists such as Sting ("The Dream of the Blue Turtles"), Phil Collins ("No Jacket Required"), Bryan Adams ("Reckless"), Tears For Fears ("Songs From the Big Chair"), Wham ("Make It Big"), and Dire Straits ("Brothers in Arms") would all release (or have released) landmark albums during that time would garner both commercial and critical acclaim. I think it's also safe to add Bryan Ferry and his "Boys and Girls" album to that list. "Boys and Girls" went unnoticed in the United States, but it became a Number One album in the UK.

Ferry employs the use of classical instruments with dance beats for several of his songs. "Boys and Girls" is definitely not a Disco album, but in 1985 many of the tracks could have easily been played in Dance Clubs. Ferry also has some of the most unique vocals in the music industry. I would put Ferry's voice as a cross between a haunting voice and a crooning voice. For "Boys and Girls", Ferry employs a musical style that was seen on his previous Roxy Music album entitled "Avalon". While this is a "solo project", Ferry brings in some major names - including Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler (guitar) and Guy Fletcher (keyboards); Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (guitar), Nile Rodgers (guitar); and jazz musicians Marcus Miller (bass) and David Sanborn (saxophone).

Here is a synopsis of the tracks:

"Sensation": The song opens with a classic sound before segueing into a dance-beat which will dominate this track. The instrumentation on this track is outstanding. As for the vocals, Ferry's unique voice really balances well with some of the outstanding background vocals. This track helps set the tone for the remainder of this album.

"Slave to Love": This track opens with more of a haunting feel. This is one of the songs where you really see that intersection between Ferry's haunting and crooning vocals. Once again, the background vocals are right on the money. A little over 2 minutes into the song, the bridge will also have a deeper haunting feel than the opening. The guitar work is underrated on this track.

"Don't Stop the Dance": This song also has a dance club feel - but I'd categorize it as a slower dance tempo. It could easily qualify as a song that could be played in the dance clubs. There is some great guitar and horn work on this track.

"A Waste Land": This track is a prelude to the next track - "Windswept". This might only be a minute long, but Ferry draws a nice analogy between a waste-land and when love is gone.

"Windswept": This song is outstanding. Once again, there is a haunting feel to this song, but this time Ferry constructs a haunting beach-like song. The instrumentation is going to be shine on this track - especially the way the horns are integrated with some of the percussion. There is a nice buildup to wrap up this track before the track fades into the ending.

"The Chosen One": This song also uses the slower dance tempo. Ferry employs more of a crooning style for his vocals. Like "Sensation", Ferry balances his voice with the background vocals. This song almost seemed like a creative sandbox as I could easily see Ferry speeding up the tempo as well.

"Valentine": For this track, Ferry employs somewhat of a reggae-like tempo into the melody - also giving this song a "beach-like" feel. This song features Mark Knopfler on guitar, but it will be the integration of the horns that will really make this song shine. Ferry's vocals shine on the chorus part when he sings "how many men in a world of their own".

"Stone Woman": This might be the strongest track on the album and I'm very surprised this was not released as a single. Despite the name "Stone Woman", this song is one of the collection's most up-tempo tracks. At times the melody almost has a Far Eastern feel to it. I love Ferry's vocals from start to finish on this track - they really shine on the prelude to the chorus when he sings "let's be cool about it". I also love all of the instrumentation on this track - especially some terrific guitar work and more horns.

"Boys and Girls": This is a segue from "Stone Woman". This has the most haunting feel of all of the tracks. The horns once again demonstrate a feeling on the beach. While this wasn't my favorite track, I do feel it are the horns that are the strong point.

Ferry has always had a reputation for strong instrumentation in his work. Co-producers Ferry and Rhett Davies with master mix engineer Bob Clearmountain clearly keep the bar high in the instrumentation arena. This is where the remastering really helps - as it makes the instrumentation shine on this album. A couple of minor gripes about the liner notes: - while the lyrics are somewhat incomplete, what really hurts are the credits of the all-star lineup of musicians are not matched up to the tracks. On an album that has such strong instrumentation, it would be really nice to see what musicians are credited to what track on the collection. This is a very good collection. Ferry fans will not only appreciate this collection, but also the fan of music in general. Highly recommended.

An amazing album, an amazing remaster
Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music fans seem to fall into two camps: those who prefer the "art-rock" experimentalism of Country Life and For Your Pleasure, and those who love the sleeker productions of Avalon-era Roxy. I firmly fall into the latter. This album, basically a further refinement of Avalon's aesthetic, is a masterpiece. Naysayers will call it pretentious, but this dark, incredibly seductive and romantic sets a mood so intense and sensual you can only listen to it at night. Along with Avalon, it's the ultimate sex album.

A technical note about this re-release: the remastering job is one of the best I've ever heard. Most remasters are just louder versions with a little extra detail. This (along with the other BF reissues from Virgin) has been remastered as a HDCD and sounds 1000 times better than the orignal 80s release. There was a UK import re-release last year which came in a tiny cardboard sleeve, (Roxy's back catalog was also reissued this way). It was louder and more clear than before, but I don't think it was HDCD (wasn't marked with the HDCD logo anyway). This release is the version to get, no question.

On a regular CD player you will already hear way more detail and clarity, reduced tape hiss, and better soundstaging. On an HDCD equipped high end player with decent speakers, the sound quality becomes just phenomenal. There's wonderful air around the vocals, the guitars lines "pop" more, and the 3D imaging and soundstaging just become breathtaking. It is Boys and Girls the way Bryan Ferry truly intended it.