Siren by Roxy Music
Siren is the fifth album by the English rock band Roxy Music, released in 1975. The album was ranked number 371 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Abandoning the intoxicating blend of art rock and glam-pop that distinguished Stranded and Country Life, Roxy Music concentrates on Bryan Ferry's suave, charming crooner persona for the elegantly modern Siren. As the disco-fied opener "Love Is the Drug" makes clear, Roxy embraces dance and unabashed pop on Siren, weaving them into their sleek, arty sound. It does come at the expense of their artier inclinations, which is part of what distinguished Roxy, but the end result is captivating. Lacking the consistently amazing songs of its predecessor, Siren has a thematic consistency that works in its favor, and helps elevate its best songs -- "Sentimental Fool," "Both Ends Burning," "Just Another High" -- as well as the album itself into the realm of classics.
Built around the R&B-inflected lead single “Love is the Drug,” 1975’s <i>Siren</i> saw Roxy Music following the lead of David Bowie, Marc Bolan, and other former glam stars by augmenting their hard-driving sound with a healthy dose of silky American R&B. “Love is the Drug” provided Roxy Music with a major stateside hit just as New York was succumbing to the glamour of the nascent disco movement. Always the canny trend watcher, Bryan Ferry wrote a set of songs for <i>Siren</i> that were driven by the steady beat of the American club scene. This doesn’t mean that Ferry entirely abandoned his role as glam tastemaker: the disco-baiting excursions of “Love is the Drug” and “Both Ends Burning” are offset by the comforting presence of three-chord burners like “Whirlwind” and classic Roxy ballads like “She Sells.” Ferry is a consummate showman and plays the role of suave continental debauchee to the hilt, injecting campy melodrama into his every vocal quaver and crooned crescendo.
