Roxy Music: Avalon (LP)

"Avalon," Roxy Music's last studio album, featured a softer, more adult sound and brought us the now iconic single "More Than This." Avalon became another British No. 1 album that stayed on the album charts for more than three weeks and over a year. Rolling Stone magazine wrote of Avalon: "Bryan Ferry is a remarkably expressive keyboardist and singer whose familiar mannerisms are supported by a rich, benevolent confidence. And horn player Andy Mackay shines in a number of cameos (his oboe meditation on Ferry's "Tara" is particularly fine). Ten years after their debut, Roxy Music has mellowed: The occasional harsh piano chords in "While My Heart Is Still Beating," for example, recall the stately mood of "A Song for Europe," but the sound is now softer, dreamier and less determinedly dramatic. Ferry's songwriting, on the other hand, has rarely been as strong as it is now." Each Roxy Music album was reissued by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios with a new half-speed recording. London. To reflect the audio quality, the artwork of all eight Roxy Music studio albums has been reworked and given a glossy lamination, making each album not just a record, but a work of art.