For Your Pleasure
Encyclopedia
For Your Pleasure is a 1973 album by the British glam
and art rock
group Roxy Music
, released by Island Records
(see 1973 in music
). The band's second album, it was also their last to feature synthesiser and sound specialist Brian Eno
, who would later gain acclaim as a solo artist and producer.
with more elaborate production treatments. For example, the song "In Every Dream Home a Heartache
" (Ferry's sinister ode to a blow-up doll) fades out in its closing section, only to fade back in again with all the instruments subjected to a pronounced phasing treatment. The title track fades out in an elaborate blend of tape loop
effects. Eno remarked that the eerie "Bogus Man" displayed similarities with contemporary material by the krautrock
group Can
.
Of the more upbeat numbers on the album, "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You" were both based around insistent rhythms in the tradition of the band's first single "Virginia Plain
". "Do the Strand" has been called the archetypal Roxy Music anthem, whilst "Editions of You" was notable for a series of ear-catching solos by Andy Mackay
(sax
), Eno (VCS3), and Phil Manzanera
(guitar).
Brian Eno
is very present in the final song from the album, "For Your Pleasure" making it unlike any other song on the album. The song ends with the voice of Judi Dench
saying "You don't ask. You don't ask why" amid tapes of the opening vocals ('Well, how are you?') from "Chance Meeting" from the first Roxy Music album. A live recording of the song has been used in 1975 as a B-side to "Both Ends Burning".
The cover photo, taken by Karl Stoecker, featured Bryan Ferry's girlfriend at the time, singer and model Amanda Lear
. Original pressings of the album (by Island Records
in the UK, and Warner Bros. Records
in the U.S.), featured a gatefold sleeve picturing all five band members wearing their Antony Price
-designed stage costumes and posing with guitars.
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
. It was one of four by the group that made the list (Country Life, Siren
and Avalon being the others). It placed at 87 on Pitchfork Media
s Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. The citation notes that Morrissey
told the British press that "he could 'only think of one truly great British album': For Your Pleasure."
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
and art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
group Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, released by Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
(see 1973 in music
1973 in music
-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...
). The band's second album, it was also their last to feature synthesiser and sound specialist Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, who would later gain acclaim as a solo artist and producer.
Production
The group was able to spend more studio time on this album than on their debut, combining strong song material by Bryan FerryBryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
with more elaborate production treatments. For example, the song "In Every Dream Home a Heartache
In Every Dream Home A Heartache
"In Every Dream Home a Heartache" is a song written by Bryan Ferry, originally appearing on his band Roxy Music's second album.Lyrically, the song is a sinister monologue, part critique of the emptiness of opulence, partly a love song to an inflatable doll. Musically this is complemented by a...
" (Ferry's sinister ode to a blow-up doll) fades out in its closing section, only to fade back in again with all the instruments subjected to a pronounced phasing treatment. The title track fades out in an elaborate blend of tape loop
Tape loop
In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...
effects. Eno remarked that the eerie "Bogus Man" displayed similarities with contemporary material by the krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
group Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
.
Of the more upbeat numbers on the album, "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You" were both based around insistent rhythms in the tradition of the band's first single "Virginia Plain
Virginia Plain
"Virginia Plain" is a song by British glam rock group Roxy Music, released as their debut single in August 1972. Written by Roxy frontman Bryan Ferry, "Virginia Plain" was recorded by his band in July 1972 at London's Command Studios...
". "Do the Strand" has been called the archetypal Roxy Music anthem, whilst "Editions of You" was notable for a series of ear-catching solos by Andy Mackay
Andy Mackay
Andrew "Andy" Mackay is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founder member of the art-rock group Roxy Music....
(sax
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
), Eno (VCS3), and Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera is a musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On An Island and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America...
(guitar).
Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
is very present in the final song from the album, "For Your Pleasure" making it unlike any other song on the album. The song ends with the voice of Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
saying "You don't ask. You don't ask why" amid tapes of the opening vocals ('Well, how are you?') from "Chance Meeting" from the first Roxy Music album. A live recording of the song has been used in 1975 as a B-side to "Both Ends Burning".
Promotion
As with the debut Roxy Music album, no UK singles were lifted from For Your Pleasure upon its initial release. A single-only release, "Pyjamarama" b/w "The Pride and the Pain", was issued in Britain, making #10. "Do the Strand" b/w "Editions of You" was released as a single in the US and Europe; it was finally issued as a UK single in 1978 to promote Roxy's Greatest Hits album, released in December the previous year.The cover photo, taken by Karl Stoecker, featured Bryan Ferry's girlfriend at the time, singer and model Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....
. Original pressings of the album (by Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
in the UK, and Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
in the U.S.), featured a gatefold sleeve picturing all five band members wearing their Antony Price
Antony Price
Antony Price is a London fashion designer who is best known for glamorous evening wear and suits, and for the seventies icon of the cap sleeve t-shirt...
-designed stage costumes and posing with guitars.
Reception
For Your Pleasure made #4 in UK charts in 1973. In 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 33 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 394 on Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. It was one of four by the group that made the list (Country Life, Siren
Siren (Roxy Music album)
Siren is the fifth album by British rock band Roxy Music, released in 1975 .In 2003, the album was ranked number 371 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
and Avalon being the others). It placed at 87 on Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
s Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. The citation notes that Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
told the British press that "he could 'only think of one truly great British album': For Your Pleasure."
Side One
- "Do the StrandDo The Strand"Do the Strand" is the first song from Roxy Music's second album, For Your Pleasure. In contrast to the songs from Roxy Music's eponymous debut album, this song starts suddenly without any instrumental fanfare.-Lyrics:...
" – 4:04 - "Beauty QueenBeauty Queen"Beauty Queen" is the second song from Roxy Music's second album, For Your Pleasure. The lyrics refer to Ferry's girlfriend, Valerie Leon, one-time UK beauty queen, B-movie actress and model working in the Newcastle area, circa 1973.-Musicians:...
" – 4:41 - "Strictly Confidential" – 3:48
- "Editions of You" – 3:51
- "In Every Dream Home a HeartacheIn Every Dream Home A Heartache"In Every Dream Home a Heartache" is a song written by Bryan Ferry, originally appearing on his band Roxy Music's second album.Lyrically, the song is a sinister monologue, part critique of the emptiness of opulence, partly a love song to an inflatable doll. Musically this is complemented by a...
" – 5:29 (LP editions of the album incorrectly listed the song's timing as 4:25, due to its "false fade" referenced above)
Personnel
- Bryan FerryBryan FerryBryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
– vocals, piano, Hohner PianetPianetthumb|Hohner Pianet TThe Pianet was a series of electric pianos built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany from the 1960s to the 1970s. The designer of the early Pianet models was Ernst Zacharias, basing the mechanism closely on a 1920s design by Lloyd Loar...
, MellotronMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
– VCS3 synthesiser, backing vocals - Andrew MackayAndy MackayAndrew "Andy" Mackay is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founder member of the art-rock group Roxy Music....
– oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, FarfisaFarfisaFarfisa is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy.The Farfisa brand name is commonly associated with a series of compact electronic organs, and later, a series of multi-timbral synthesizers. At the height of its production, Farfisa operated three factories to produce instruments, in...
electronic organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds.... - Phil ManzaneraPhil ManzaneraPhil Manzanera is a musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On An Island and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America...
– electric guitar - John PorterJohn Porter (musician)John Porter is an English musician and record producer.-Biography:He attended St Michael's School, Allerton Grange School, King's College, and Newcastle University....
– bass guitar - Paul ThompsonPaul Thompson (musician)Paul Thompson is the drummer for Roxy Music from 1971 to 1980 and from 2001 onwards.In between those stints with Roxy Music, he was drummer in the Oi! band, Angelic Upstarts and the American alternative rock band Concrete Blonde...
– drums
Production
- Chris ThomasChris Thomas (record producer)Chris Thomas is an English record producer who has worked extensively with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Badfinger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pulp and The Pretenders. He has also produced breakthrough albums for The Sex Pistols and INXS.Thomas is quoted as saying -Early life:Thomas was...
, John Anthony, Roxy Music – record producers - Roxy Music – musical arrangers
- John Middleton – sound engineer
- John Punter – sound engineer
- Jennings – crew
- Bryan FerryBryan FerryBryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
– art direction, cover art concept - Karl Stoecker – photography
- Nicholas Deville – art direction, photography
- CCS – artworkCover artCover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
- Antony PriceAntony PriceAntony Price is a London fashion designer who is best known for glamorous evening wear and suits, and for the seventies icon of the cap sleeve t-shirt...
– clothing/wardrobeWardrobeA Wardrobe is a cabinet used for storing clothes.Wardrobe may also refer to:* Wardrobe , a full set of multiple clothing items* Wardrobe , part of royal administration in medieval England...
, make-up, hair stylist - Smile – hair stylist
- Amanda LearAmanda LearAmanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....
– cover star - Bob Ludwig – digital remastering