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For Your Pleasure

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This article is about the album. For the TV show, see For Your Pleasure (TV series).

For Your Pleasure
Studio album by
Roxy Music
Released23 March 1973 (1973-03-23)
RecordedFebruary 1973
StudioAIR (London)
GenreArt rock[1]
Length42:24
Label
Producer
Roxy Music chronology
Roxy Music
(1972) 		For Your Pleasure
(1973) 		Stranded
(1973)
Singles from For Your Pleasure
  1. "Do the Strand"
    Released: July 1973[2]

For Your Pleasure is the second studio album by the English rock band Roxy Music, released on 23 March 1973 by Island Records. It was their last to feature synthesiser and sound specialist Brian Eno. The album expanded on the experimental nature of their self-titled debut, featuring more elaborate production and experiments with phasing and tape loops.

The album proved to be even more commercially successful than their debut, peaking at number 4 in the UK Album Charts, eventually being certified gold by the BPI. It also yielded one single released outside of the UK, "Do the Strand". The album received positive reviews from critics, and is today regarded as Roxy Music's best album, and one of the greatest Glam Rock albums of all time.

Production

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The group spent more studio time on this album than on their debut, combining song material by Bryan Ferry with more elaborate production treatments. For example, the song "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" (Ferry's sinister ode to a blow-up doll) fades out in its closing section, only to fade in again with all the instruments subjected to a pronounced phasing treatment. The title track fades out in an elaborate blend of tape loop effects. Brian Eno remarked that the eerie "The Bogus Man", with lyrics about a sexual stalker, displayed similarities with contemporary material by the krautrock group Can.[3]

Of the more upbeat numbers on the album, "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You" are both based around rhythms in the tradition of the band's first single "Virginia Plain". "Do the Strand" has been called the archetypal Roxy Music anthem[by whom?], whilst "Editions of You" is notable for a series of solos by Andy Mackay (saxophone), Eno (VCS3), and Phil Manzanera (guitar).

Eno is prominent in the final song "For Your Pleasure" from the album, making it unlike any other song on the album. The song ends with the voice of Judi Dench saying "You don't ask. You don't ask why"[4] amid tapes of the opening vocals ('Well, how are you?') from "Chance Meeting" from the first Roxy Music album. A live recording of the song was used in 1975 as a B-side to "Both Ends Burning".

The original UK LP cover credits "Produced by Chris Thomas and Roxy Music" for the entire album, but only the side one label repeats that; the side two label credits "Produced by John Anthony and Roxy Music". Various foreign editions and reissues have confused the matter with random variations.

Promotion

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For Your Pleasure was originally released by Island Records in the United Kingdom and Warner Bros. Records in the United States.[2] It has been subsequently reissued by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records and Reprise Records in the US.[2]

As with the debut Roxy Music album, no UK singles were lifted from For Your Pleasure upon its initial release. The non-album single "Pyjamarama", backed with "The Pride and the Pain", was issued in advance of the album in Britain, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. "Do the Strand", backed with "Editions of You", was released as a single in the US and Europe; it was finally issued as a UK single in 1978 to promote Roxy Music's Greatest Hits album, released in December the previous year.

Artwork

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The cover photo, taken by Karl Stoecker, featured Bryan Ferry's girlfriend at the time, model Amanda Lear, who was also the confidante, protégée and closest friend of the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí.[5] Lear was depicted posing in a skintight leather dress leading a black panther on a leash.[6] The image has been described as "as famous as the album itself".[7] Original pressings of the album featured a gatefold sleeve picturing the band members, except bassist John Porter, posing with guitars. Porter was credited as a "Guest artiste" in the credits, but joined the band for the subsequent tour.

Critical reception

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Retrospective professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Christgau's Record GuideB[9]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[10]
Pitchfork10/10 (2012)[11]
9.5/10 (2019)[12]
Q[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[14]
Select5/5[15]
Spin Alternative Record Guide6/10[16]

For Your Pleasure made No. 4 on UK Albums Chart in 1973. In 1973, Paul Gambaccini of Rolling Stone gave it a mixed review, and wrote that "the bulk of For Your Pleasure is either above us, beneath us, or on another plane altogether."[17] Robert Christgau also reviewed the album, giving it a B rating and saying, "These guys make no secret of having a strange idea of a good time, but this isn't decadent, it's ridiculous."

Over time, critical reception of the album would improve. In 2000, Q magazine placed For Your Pleasure at number 33 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[18] It placed at number 87 on Pitchfork's 2004 list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s.[19] The citation notes that Morrissey told the British press that "he could 'only think of one truly great British album'... For Your Pleasure."[19] In 2003, For Your Pleasure was ranked number 394 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[20] with the album's ranking dropping to number 396 in the 2012 update of the list, and climbing to number 351 in the 2020 update.[21][22] NME ranked For Your Pleasure at number 88 on its 2013 list of 500 greatest albums of all time and called it "the pinnacle of English art rock."[23] Classic Rock named it as one of 10 "essential" glam rock albums.[24] Happy Mag included the album in its list of "10 records to introduce you to the world of art-rock" and called it "an art-pop, glam-rock masterpiece."[25]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Bryan Ferry

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Do the Strand"4:04
2."Beauty Queen"4:41
3."Strictly Confidential"3:48
4."Editions of You"3:51
5."In Every Dream Home a Heartache" ([nb 1])5:29
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."The Bogus Man"9:22
2."Grey Lagoons"4:11
3."For Your Pleasure"6:58
Total length:42:24

Notes

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  1. ^ LP editions of the album incorrectly listed the song's timing as 4:25, due to its "false fade" referenced above

Personnel

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Roxy Music[26]

Production

Charts

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Chart (1973) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[27] 41
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] 9
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[29] 28
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[30] 15
UK Albums (OCC)[31] 4
US Billboard 200[32] 193
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[33] 42

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Dolan, Joe; Martoccio, Angie; Sheffield, Rob (20 November 2024). "The 74 Best Albums of 1974". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 November 2024. In their first four years as a band, Roxy Music went off on a tear that produced five of the Seventies' most influential art-rock albums.
  2. ^ a b c Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 930. ISBN 1-84195-860-3.
  3. ^ Stump, Paul (1998). Unknown Pleasures: A Cultural Biography of Roxy Music. Quartet (UK)/Thunder's Mouth (US). p. 82. ISBN 1-56025-212-X.
  4. ^ Simpson, Dave (28 April 2022). "Bryan Ferry: 'I did a lot of whistling on my paper round as a lad'". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  5. ^ Rubin, Robert Henry (2002). "Interview: Amanda Lear for Night". NIGHT.
  6. ^ Salewicz, Chris (2009). Keep on Running – The Story of Island Records. London, UK: Island Records Company. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-95619-140-3.
  7. ^ "Amanda Lear Biography". Eurodancehits.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  8. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "For Your Pleasure – Roxy Music". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  10. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Roxy Music". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  11. ^ Ewing, Tom (13 August 2012). "Roxy Music: Roxy Music: The Complete Studio Recordings 1972–1982". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  12. ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (13 October 2019). "Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Q. No. 156. September 1999. pp. 122–23.
  14. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Roxy Music". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 705–06. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  15. ^ "Roxy Music: Roxy Music / For Your Pleasure / Stranded". Select. No. 112. October 1999.
  16. ^ Sheffield, Rob (1995). "Roxy Music". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 336–38. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  17. ^ Gambaccini, Paul (5 July 1973). "For Your Pleasure". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  18. ^ "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever! – Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure". Q. No. 165. June 2000. p. 75.
  19. ^ a b "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. 23 June 2004. p. 2. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  20. ^ "Rolling Stone – The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003)". Genius.
  21. ^ "Rolling Stone – The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2012)" – via genius.com.
  22. ^ Stone, Rolling (22 September 2020). "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone.
  23. ^ Barker, Emily (25 October 2013). "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 100–1". NME. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  24. ^ Fortnam, Ian (21 August 2016). "The 10 Essential Glam Rock Albums". Classic Rock. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  25. ^ Saunders, Luke (12 March 2020). "10 records to introduce you to the world of art-rock". Happy Mag. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  26. ^ For Your Pleasure (liner notes). Roxy Music. Island Records. 1973. ILPS 9232.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  27. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  28. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  29. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  30. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  31. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  32. ^ "Roxy Music Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  33. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  34. ^ "British album certifications – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
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