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Manifesto | 
| Artist: Roxy Music
Label: Virgin
Category: Music
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £4.81
You Save: £9.18 (66%)
New (33) Used (6) Collectible (1) from £4.81
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 6646
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 47458
UPC: 724384745820
EAN: 0724384745820
ASIN: B0000256VR
Release Date: November 1, 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New and Fully Guaranteed - Over 90% of orders are dispatched same day or next day by First Class post. Please note Danish customers may incur custom charges.
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| Tracks:
| • | Manifesto | | • | Trash | | • | Angel Eyes | | • | Still Falls The Rain | | • | Stronger Through The Years | | • | Ain't That So | | • | My Little Girl | | • | Dance Away | | • | Cry Cry Cry | | • | Spin Me Round |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
The key to Roxy Music's success is that from the start they were grown men playing rock & roll. Coming to stardom in his late 20s, Bryan Ferry had the knowledge and experience to invest his songs with novelty and depraved intelligence, but was sufficiently new to the whole thing that Roxy always sounded fresh. When they started getting on each others' nerves, they had the presence of mind to split up for a while, and reform when they felt like it--the result was Manifesto, a unique, compelling record that could well be their best album. Informed by the rhythms and radiance of disco, with a vicious edge that recalls their early recordings, and the effortless fluidity of Avalon and Flesh & Blood, it's the consummate Roxy record. The singles--"Dance Away", "Trash" and "Angel Eyes"--showcase the album's range, spanning saxophone suavity, fractious rock and hypnotic, disorientating disco. But the real jewel is the title track, a taut tapestry of rhythm and noise that they never topped. --Taylor Parkes
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Disposable, but fun with it.... January 5, 2008
Best tracks: "Dance Away", "Spin Me Round", "Angel Eyes".
Roxy Music had taken four years leave before making a commercially successful comeback with 1979's Manifesto; the band still boasted the core members of the band (though a permanent bassist was something that'd never happen), and the style was still there, perhaps even more so. Yet the music was arguably the most lightweight they'd ever recorded up until then (their next album, Flesh and Blood, is even more insubstantial); only a few songs really strike a chord. Yet despite this, this album is entertaining, and even when it does lapse into by-the-numbers Roxy, it's never boring. Interestingly, three of the songs here - "Manifesto", "Trash" and "Angel Eyes" - are available in different versions, and in the case of the first two tracks, the rarer mixes are superior. I say rare; they are available on the fourth disc of the band's The Thrill of it All retrospective box set, so they can be found, (and the box set is brilliant through and through), but it'll cost you more to do so. In the case of "Trash", the alternative version, entitled "Trash 2" (originally a B-side) may lack the punch of the Manifesto version, but overall it's warmer, more substantial, and finally more satisfying.
The cool bass of the opening title track sets the scene of the album nicely; the rhythms are sophisticated, Bryan Ferry is more of a lounge-lizard than ever before and the lyrics are decent. Yet it's also totally forgettable; great to hear when it's on, but difficult to remember afterwards. "Trash" has a killer opening guitar line, and then ends up being exactly what its title suggests; it's fun, lively and totally disposable. Interestingly, this was selected as the first single from the album - it completely belly-flopped- though "Angel Eyes" and "Dance Away" were far more commercially successful and made the band a serious chart proposition once more. Speaking of "Angel Eyes", those hoping to hear the more familiar disco mix of the song might be disappointed to discover it's not here; instead we have a rougher version, closer to rock than dance. It's essentially the same song, and as someone who loves the single mix but has heard it too much, it's a great alternative. "Still Falls the Rain" has nice verses but rotten saxophone during the chorus, while "Stronger Through the Years" is nicely moody and atmospheric, evocative of late-night city streets, though again, I couldn't tell you how the song actually goes! Taken as stylish, all-surface pop fodder, "Ain't That So" is fun, as is "My Little Girl" and "Cry, Cry, Cry", but the bittersweet thirty-something disco of "Dance Away" is genuinely excellent; it made for a great single and has plenty of good moments. The album closes with another gem; the lovely "Spin Me Round" ends the album on a strong note, probably stronger than it deserves, to be honest! Dreamy from start to finish, it's the kind of song the album could have done more of.
Compared to former Roxy glories, Manifesto is no classic, but it is a fun listen, and difficult to dislike.
A strange album, but interesting... May 30, 2007
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
An odd album, is "Manifesto". Roxy Music had got sick of the sight of each other in 1975 and knocked it on the head for four years before reinventing themselves as no longer the darlings of the art school avant-garde but the grand old doyens of the disco, merging rock with danceable tunesmithery to great effect, playing firmly on Bryan Ferry's lounge lizard image.
Thus, we have their "comeback album", which is not nearly the virtual Ferry solo venture that one might have expected (as indeed "Flesh And Blood" and "Avalon" are). "Manifesto" is actually one of Roxy's darkest, most inaccesible albums. From the brooding two minute plus instrumental introduction to the title track, through the bizarre two minute first single "Trash" with its portentous "new romantic" feel, three years early (Roxy always were ahead of their time) to the edgy, obscure version of "Angel Eyes" included here we have a murky, obscure creation. The single version of "Angel Eyes" was far more frothy and ideal for the dancefloor. This one is full of buzzy feedback and introspection.
"Ain't That So" is one of those insistent, souly tracks Ferry would specialise in in his later solo career, while "Cry Cry Cry" is somewhat irritating and experimental in places, with airs of The Velvet Underground's "Rock'n'Roll" in places, along with a melody that seems to bring to mind Ferry's 1977 solo outing "In Your Mind". "Spin Me Round" would not actually sound out of place on "For You Pleasure", it has a magnificent bass line on fade out, as has "Stronger Through The Years". "Dance Away" as included here is the original, heavier mix than its well-known single version. Thus, altogether you don't have the quantum leap into "disco" that is popularly hung around this album's neck. Instead you have elements of "Country Life" and "For Your Pleasure" pared down into bite-sized chunks, with a denser backing and lacking the vibrant camp of those carefree earlier days. As I said, it is a strange album and one that I've never really "got into" as such. Not that I haven't tried. It is this very inaccessibility that makes it interesting. Released in 1979 in the wake of punk, it is remarkable this album survived, but it did.
Remix-hell January 31, 2007
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
This was a great Roxy album when it first came out on vinyl, a mixture of hard edged art rock and suave ballads. The sad thing is that later pressings and the cds replaced the excellent original versions of Angel Eyes and Dance Away with inferior re-recordings or re-mixes. And what did re-mixes in the 80's mean? Mostly adding a metronomical beat-box and killing all dynamics. You'll find the original versions on The Thrill Of It All.
(This review refers to the original cd-version, I don't know which versions of the songs appear on the remastered CD)
 Roxy Music have another a nice martini December 15, 2006
3 out of 22 found this review helpful
Roxy Music presented this record exactly as Britain got ready to elect Margaret Thatcher. Unemployment was rising fast and Britain's social and industrial infrastructure could be heard collapsing from within. But, never mind, put on your tux and get in a limo, it's Manifesto time. What does that mean? It means this lamentable recording is an apathetic re-tread of a lot familiar Roxy motifs. You'll recognise some of the melody lines from earlier records. And the lyric content is confined to the usual Bryan Ferry croons about how rather hard it is to seduce lovely ladies without spilling fluids on his shiny dinner jacket. Ferry's emotional range extends only as as far as suave. Even as he weeps you can imagine him looking in the mirror to check his floppy haircut is flopping correctly . You can tell Roxy are actually only worried about fine tailoring, limo rentals and getting the right brand of vermouth for the endless round of parties in their Berkshire mansions.
Manifesto is a deeply tedious irrelevance made by a bunch of musicians whose lack of interest is starkly manifest. The strenuous singing on the title track will in no way convince you that Roxy Music want to be Huysmans-style bohemians. They'd only scuff their Armani slip-ons and stain their Brioni suits if they were to let rip.
Don't bother with this record. But if you do buy it, it is best enjoyed by grinding it into very fine dust and inhaling it. The right nostril will do, Mr F.
 So when did they ever do a bad album? September 29, 2006
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Roxy music are in the remarkable position of not having a single bad album to their name. This is conjecture of course, but keeping an open mind and a bit of time will bring you a deep appreciation for all their work. With the majority of bands, even the die hard fans will agree to certain albums being below par, but I can honestly say that all the Roxy Music albums are significantly above my original expectations.
Before Manifesto (1979), the previous album they made was Siren, several years before, and since then the band had a bit of a rehash. So you might mistakenly think this was destined to fail. Strangely enough, this album manages to captivate you beyond all musical possibilities, if you let it. The opening title track grows on you more and more until you find yourself loving every second of introduction until the guitar riff first comes in (which, by the way, is a good time to play "guess the guitar entry"). There is a perfect mix of style, enough to be eclectic but not so much that it's disjointed. It has rhythms that make you nod your head in an embarassing way, and it has melodies so tender and haunting that they never leave your head.
For me, this album sums up Roxy Music. The next two albums mark a big turn in their style, and rather than seeing this as an album to bridge the gap, I see it as a testament to the past and the future. Very musical, very clever, very fresh (still) and very essential. Don't make the mistake of ignoring this album, as I did for a while.
The tracks that stand out to me are Manifesto, Trash, Still Falls The Rain and Spin Me Round (perfect).
Buy it, and enjoy.
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