The 500 - #396 - For Your Pleasure - Roxy Music

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 396

Album Title: For Your Pleasure
Artist: Roxy Music
Genre: Art Rock, Glam Rock, Art Pop
Recorded: AIR Studios, London, UK
Released: March, 1973
My age at release: 7
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Do The Strand

For Your Pleasure is the sophomore record for English experimental, art-rock band Roxy Music. The group's founder and lead singer, charismatic crooner Bryan Ferry, is the most recognizable member. However, it is another Brian, synthesizer and sound specialist Brian Eno, who may be the most interesting, if not for his songwriting then certainly for his flamboyant early 70's attire.

Roxy Music (1973) Brian Eno - far left Bryan Ferry - center

Those who have followed my blogs may recognize Eno's name from two records on The 500 list: the 1973 Album Here Come The Warm Jets at position #432 or Another Green World at #429. I wrote about both a few weeks apart last spring.

Throughout the production of For Your Pleasure, artistic temperaments were tested. Eno was increasingly interested in more experimental sounds, while Ferry was drawn toward the New Wave and Punk sounds emerging from London's underground music scene. Additionally, guitarist Phil Manzenara was somewhat shut-out of the writing process dominated by Ferry and Eno. Indeed, Eno left the band shortly after the record's release to work on the aforementioned Here Come The Warm Jets, released the same year. In Eno's absence, Ferry and Manzenara collaborated on six additional studio releases over the next nine years.

This was my first exposure to the record and I'll admit that, during the first two plays, I found it odd and cacophonous. I was not deterred. There are many records I have learned to love that I found jarring or inharmonious on first listen. For my third spin, I put on my headphones and found a quiet spot. As I suspected, For Your Pleasure began to grow on me. I immediately thought of my good friend Bill. Bill worked as an FM disc jockey and managed bands throughout the late 70s and early 80s. This seemed like a record he would love, so I reached out with a text to ask him if he was familiar and he shared the following:

"One of the most influential discs in my life. Good eye. I played it heavily on FM96 (a London, Ontario, radio station) and the band I managed covered two tunes from this album."

"Would you care to share some thoughts as a guest blogger?", I asked. He agreed, despite a busy schedule, and the following appeared in my message box shortly after:

"For Your Pleasure was Roxy Music's second album, coming out in 1973. The album cover had Bryan Ferry's then-girlfriend, Amanda Lear on the cover, and he was on the back. Not only was she a singer and model, she later became surrealistic painter Salvador Dali's confidant and muse."

Bryan Ferry on the back Cover to For Your Pleasure

"There is such a commotion of sounds on that record. It is glam, punk, pop, jazz and sometimes just noise. In the early 80s I managed a band called Second Thoughts. They did a cover of the opening track, Do the Strand, that never failed to pump-up the audience. This was a great experimental album which launched an extraordinary and eclectic band. It will always be one of my very faves."

The 500 - #429 - Brian Eno - Another Green World

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 429

Album Title: Another Green World
Artist: Brian Eno
Genre: Art Rock, Ambient Electro-Pop, Avant Pop
Recorded: July - August 1975
Released: September, 1975
My age at release: 10
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Sky Saw

There is little doubt about Brian Eno's impact on modern music. He produced a dozen records on The 500 List. He also has two of his own recordings appearing, Another Green World being the second. Indeed, this is the third album involving Eno that I have written about in the past two months.  

• In late April, I wrote about Eno's first record, Here Come The Warm Jets. 
• In mid-March, I penned a post about an album Eno produced, Are We Not Men? We Are Devo.
• This time, we explore his 1975 innovative and experimental work, Another Green World.

Here is what I learned:

Green is a departure from the glam-pop sound of his first album as Eno embraces a minimalist sound that would become his trademark through the rest of the 70s.

Another Green World by Eno

Eno plays most of the instruments on the record but, he recruited a small group of talented musicians to contribute to the songs. These included innovative guitar virtuoso Robert Fripp of King Crimson, Genesis drummer Phil Collins, Jazz fusion bassist Percy Jones and John Cale of The Velvet Underground on viola.

Eno wanted the record to be a sound experiment. He brought these musicians to the studio with little prepared material. Instead, he spent three expensive, and sometimes frustrating, weeks allowing the songs to ferment while he and the musicians kicked around ideas.

To generate new ideas, Eno began using his now legendary Oblique Strategies (O.S.) Cards. These were 7 x 9 centimeter white cards kept in a black box. 

According to Eno:

"Each card offers a challenging constraint intended to help artists (particularly musicians) break creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking."

Each card contained a suggestion or remark intended to either resolve a deadlock or inspire creativity. Some are specific to music composition but many are general. Examples include:

• You are making a brick, not a wall.
• Try faking it.
• Honour thy error as hidden intention.
• Ask your body.
• Gardening, not architecture.
• Look closely at the most embarassing details and amplify.

Unlike Mozart who could compose in his head, Eno used this technique to inspire collaboration.These statements might seem strange but Eno is an unusual individual. His goal was to help artists work outside the box when trying to solve a dilemma or inspire creativity. Since their creation, Eno has employed the cards during recording sessions with Coldplay, REM and David Bowie. 

During the interview about Green on The 500 Podcast, Host Meyers discussed the O.S. cards with his guest Gerard Casale. Casale, a founding member of Devo, worked with Eno on his band's first record. Casale said: 

"I think he wanted to soften our sound. He made us try to use them (the cards) to change things on the songs. But, you have to understand...we walked into that studio with some songs that were four years old and we'd played them hundreds of times. We couldn't imagine playing them "pretty". That was an abomination to us. We were all about being transgressive aesthetically. But, we weren't punks that were angry and nihlistic. I mean, we were angry, but with an informed epistemology. We genuinely thought that the de-evolution of society was real back then"

After listening to Green four times and reflecting on the podcast, I still couldn't connect with it. Then, I put on headphones to remove distractions. As the music washed over me, my appreciation grew. It isn't a record I will listen to often, but I welcomed the insight into the rich, unapologetic creativity of Eno. He is a quirky individual but his fingerprints are all over The 500 list. Obviously, he is doing something right.