Bryan Ferry - In Your Mind (1977)

Dan:

As a fan of Roxy music, I felt obligated to investigate Bryan Ferry's solo albums. His first three albums - These Foolish Things (1973); Another Time, Another Place (1974); and Let's Stick Together (1976) - gave Ferry the chance to cover songs he must have heard growing up. I believe this because he's about my age and I heard those same songs growing up. While I appreciated his tribute to the past, the few original songs that he included in his solo albums were more interesting, as were those already played by Roxy Music.

In Your Mind flipped the script to become his first album of all original songs. Ferry also produced the album and enlisted contributions from dozens of well-known artists to bring his new compositions to life. Phil Manzanera, Mel Collins, Chris Spedding, John Wetton, Neil Hubbard, and Ann Odell's string section, among others, all appear in various combinations. Although this assemblage could not be considered a working band, many had spent time with Roxy Music or had otherwise collaborated with Ferry before. 

For me, the most outstanding track is "Love Me Madly Again." It has two sections. The first is a choppy, confrontational vocal demanding a lady who's been "cutting it on the streets" to "love me madly once again." There's a nice bridge that begins "Don't make it easy for me" before the pleading resumes, almost to the point of obsession. At about the three-minute mark, the song makes a melodic and chordal shift, which offers some release from the intensity of the first section. After a couple of more verses, the song continues for over two minutes as an instrumental played over the second part's chord progression. Strings and background vocals accompany the melody as the long coda completes side 1. It's an unusual arrangement but extremely effective. 

Ferry's next album, The Bride Stripped Bare (1978), reverted to the covers-plus-originals formula of his earlier solo albums. It included tasty originals such as "This Island Earth" and "When She Walks In the Room" and a Roxy cover ("Can't Let Go"). 

After a break from solo projects for about eight years, Ferry recorded two of his best albums as a solo artist: Boys and Girls (1985) and Bête Noire (1987). These albums echoed the vibes of Roxy Music's Flesh and Blood and Avalon albums - slickly urbane with great new songs. 

After a 5-year hiatus from solo albums, Ferry came out with Taxi (1992) and Mamouna (1994), neither of which I cared for. As Time Goes By (1999) reverted to nostalgia but lacked the zip of the first solo efforts. 

Since the turn of the century, Ferry returned to form with three solid albums: Frantic (2002), Olympia (2010), and Avonmore (2014). A concert given at the Royal Albert Hall in 2020 appears to be the cap on a long and prosperous career. He's been in my regular listening rotation for the last 40 years and counting.

Steve:

As this was Ferry's first solo album of all new, original material, there is a temptation to view it in the context of Roxy Music itself, and I will succumb to this temptation. While there is some sonic continuity between Roxy's prior studio album (Siren) and In Your Mind, it's also clear that Ferry is making an effort to carve a separate identity for his solo albums. While that difference could be partially due to the absence of Andrew Mackay and limited involvement of Phil Manzanera, I believe the shift is more a deliberate move on Ferry's part.

For the most part, the songs on In Your Mind are more straightforward in both subject matter and arrangement than they were on the more experimental and willfully eccentric Roxy Music albums that preceded it. Strange, harsh instrumental breaks and vocal effects are kept to a minimum in an attempt to let the songs stand on their own merits, even as the instrumentation and engineering/mixing of the band sounds similar to the Roxy albums.

That said, "Love Me Madly Again" (I agree with Dan that it is the most outstanding track here) sounds like it could have fit comfortably on Siren, with its novel two-part structure and its mix of agitated frustration and resigned pleading. I hear it as a mix between "Just Another High" and "Both Ends Burning".  At over seven minutes long, it's a riveting piece of music, definitely a career highlight.

Elsewhere, although the overall sound retains the modern, layered and loud production of Siren, some old-time 50s rock n' roll seems to creep into some songs. "One Kiss" has the cadences of a tearjerker ballad in 6/8, and "Party Doll" has the danceable propulsion of a classic 50s track. Somewhat surprising is "Rock of Ages" with its copious background vocals in what could almost pass for a gospel song, complete with lyrics yearning for spiritual connection.

In Your Mind is an album Roxy Music fans should enjoy, as should fans of Ferry's earlier and later solo career. It's historically important as a step away from the Roxy of old and into a new identity. In my opinion, it accomplishes this break with the past much more engagingly and effectively than Roxy's next album following the hiatus, Manifesto, which similarly attempted something new.