Bryan Ferry

Bryan Ferry began his solo career while Roxy Music was still in full flower, and at times he has come close to the glam-rock thrill of Roxy on his own. His first solo album was a conceptual and musical tour de force. These Foolish Things is a blasphemous collection of oldies covers, mixing up respectable rock classics such as Dylan's "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" and the Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" with the evanescent kicks of Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" and the Paris Sisters' "I Love How You Love Me." Sometimes, it's intensely soulful, as in "River of Salt," and always it's hilarious, especially when Ferry leeringly delivers the solemn poetics of "Hard Rain" with a disco-style beat and a cheesy background chorus.

These Foolish Things was such a shocker that Ferry's basically been trying to top it ever since. Another Time, Another Place had a moment or two ("The In Crowd," "Wonderful World"); Let's Stick Together has some nice stripped-down Roxy Music remakes, including a smoky "Casanova"; In Your Mind is a low-key batch of originals. The Bride Stripped Bare was a real puzzle, slicking over some potentially great songs with a hack L.A. studio band (Waddy Wachtel on a Bryan Ferry record?). There's the glorious seven-minute "When She Walks in the Room" and a great version of the Irish folk song "Carrickfergus," but Ferry's "Take Me to the River" has about one eighth of the Big Muddy juice of Al Green's original, and it had the misfortune to come out the same year as Talking Heads' version.

Boys and Girls, his first solo album after Roxy Music broke up, was his disco-friendly bid for solo stardom, and while it's too fluffy, it does have one of his greatest songs ever, the hypnotic slow-dance "Slave to Love." Bete Noire and Mamouna are tuneless sequels, the latter a reunion with Roxy comrades Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera, neither one particularly listenable. His best recent work has returned to the oldies-cover gambit. Taxi is a consistently inspired set that ranges from "Amazing Grace" to "All Tomorrow's Parties." Even better, As Time Goes By is a straight-up standards album, torching up old-fashioned songs like "Falling in Love Again," "Where or When," and "September Song" with simpatico backup musicians who swing more than they rock. As Bryan Ferry always understands, the fundamental things apply, as time goes by. (ROB SHEFFIELD)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide