Sunday 19 March 2023

These Foolish Things - BRYAN FERRY***

A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall/River Of Salt/Don't Ever Change/Piece Of My Heart/Baby I Don't Care/Its My Party/Don't Worry Baby/Sympathy For The Devil/The Tracks Of My Tears/You Won't See Me/I Love How You Love/Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever/These Foolish Things

Consisting entirely of well known covers, These Foolish Things was the debut solo album from Roxy Music’s front man Bryan Ferry. Features the UK top ten hit A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall. (UK:5)

“Right from the start, we're alerted to the sheer iconoclasm of the project with Ferry taking on Dylan's A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, by then generally viewed as a monumental work of protest, but here hammed up into something approaching mockery.”

These Foolish Things is a great compilation of cover songs by Bryan Ferry, recomposed with his romantic and sophisticated vision, A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall being the best song of this album. A must hear for any fan of Roxy Music.”

“A great start to Bryan's solo output, considering what he'd done with Roxy Music at this point; it must have been a bit of a gamble for him to release this with such well known songs. I think he pulls it off very well, some of the tunes might be cheesy but kudos for him trying.”

“Ferry's album is, in its own way, as eccentric and adventurous as the Roxy Music albums he was making at the same time. The album kicks off with A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, one of the greatest Dylan covers of all time, simply for its utter irreverence: Ferry transforms Dylan's mournful acoustic protest song about nuclear war into a glam show-tune, complete with bizarre sound effects.”

“Bryan Ferry is a legend but when he sings such famous songs he just sounds like a dodgy pub singer. Check out for example the versions here of It's My Party and Sympathy For The Devil. Incredibly funny, and to be honest I don't know if humour was the ultimate objective.”

“There is no one on this planet that can take a hoary old classic, blow the dust off it and make it completely his own, quite the way Bryan Ferry can. I never grow weary of listening to this album. Apart from the fact that this man has a sinfully wicked voice, he also has this wondrous ability to interpret lyrics that have been recorded ad nauseum, and create something fresh and eclectic.”

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