– Roxy Music – In Concert – High Road Tour – Summer 1982 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Roxy Music tonight. Heading into Friday with something low-key, as a sort of antidote to the madness all around these past days and weeks. Recorded during their High Road Tour in the Summer of 1982, it was a tour to coincide with the release of Avalon, the band‘s eighth and final studio album, released in May and considered one of the best Roxy Music albums in an already stunning catalog.
Voted Best Album to Shag to in 1982 by several magazines – in addition to one of the 100 best albums of all time – best album of 1982 – one of the milestone albums of the 1980s – and on and on.
Needless to say, it struck a positive chord with a lot of people – aside from the near-universal praise given by the press, it was one of the biggest selling albums by the band – reaching number 1 in most countries. And if any group was to choose one album as their final endeavor together – this would be the ultimate closing statement.
It is probably their most low-key, sensuous, sultry, evocative album – and certainly shows a culmination of this new, more subtle direction the band had started taking during their last few years.
But for audiences, it was a sonic aphrodisiac. I personally know of three couples who fell in love listening to this album when it first came out. And god knows, when the time came to pop the inevitable “want to come to my place?” question – Avalon was on the stereo, and as integral a part of the mating ritual as scented candles, Pinot Noir and breath mints.
No doubt other music has found its way high on the list of “music to shag to”, but Avalon was, and still is, one of the milestone albums of that decade.
I would suggest you drop everything and get hold of that album, if you aren’t familiar with it. But in the meantime, this concert gives some clues as to whats in store. And it’s a wonderful reminder of just how timeless Avalon is.
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