Manifesto Destinyo

Overall Album Score: 6.0 out of 10

Oooooooooooh man! What happened? Roxy Music made five albums prior to this, and they are all wonderful classics! After Siren they decided to break-up for a little while to pursue solo careers. ... They weren't phenomenally successful solo careers or anything. So in 1979, Roxy Music decide to get back together and make another album ... and it SUCKS! HOLY COW! What happened?!

We were pretty much certain that if Roxy Music were to make another album that it would be normal pop rock. Siren was a drugged-up disco dance album. However, as Siren also suggested, while Roxy Music was willing to waltz over to the mainstream side of the ballroom, there is always going to be enough weirdness in them that they would never ever metamorphose into a regular radio band. NEVER! Well, Manifesto embodies that predicted outcome! It's disco, but it's not normal disco! And thank goodness for that! Unfortunately, what we wouldn't have expected was that this weirdness, which Roxy Music previously were able to contain, is for the most part there just to be weird. Listening through most of these songs, it seems almost like they were almost blindly arranged. To that, I say BLAH! Roxy Music used to enchant and impress us with their gorgeous track layering! Now it's just layering. Layering and layering. There's no method to the madness.

However, if you take their principle at heart, they do want to be as enjoyable as a regular pop band, but they don't want to actually succumb to being one. (I always like it when artists opt for this route ... they can earn a lot of fans that way.) And so, they make most of these feeble songs quirky enough for me to have a little bit of fun with what I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Such is a good! But that doesn't fully make up for the fact that these songs are feeble. Blegh!

Overall Album Score: 6.0 out of 10 (For the Roxy Music, this score is alarmingly low! After four years of being away from each other, they don't give us a particular reason that they should be back. Was it for money?)

Average Song Score: 6.5 (A 6.5 track score from Roxy Music??!?! Do they have a disease or something?!?!?!)

Album Tilt: 5.5 (I listen to this album, yet I feel that it has nothing to offer me! I gave a few favorable track reviews on here, but there's absolutely nothing here that makes me want to listen to it any further.)

Artist Rating: 6.0 (Ummm... Well, the Roxy Music are still quirky, aren't they? I like quirky artists, myself!)

Track Reviews

Manifesto 7.5/10

Well, I do like this track! Nevertheless, you can already tell quite easily that the Roxy Music are merely pale shadows of their former selves. Roxy Music still has some class. But they have almost zomified themselves! The art-rock element is present on this song (so I won't go as far as calling it a straight-disco number). This is a richly layered pop number, and it does shows skill that even most established disco bands could never top. However, the Roxy Music of yesteryear used to have a method to the madness. This is just madness ... and, given that, Roxy Music have been more effective lunatics! It's very feeble comparatively speaking, but I can still have some fun with this track. I took off some potential points because it takes too long to start up and the end is too flooded with slowly trudging nonsense.

Trash 8.5/10

Trash?! Naaah! Actually this is a pretty concise pop, dance song. The melody has plenty of well-polished hooks in it. The instrumentation is quirky enough for me to make it enjoyable. My only beef with it is that clapping-noised drum machine they use ... I just wish that it wasn't so obvious. I'm also thinking that the song could have used more polishing.

Angel Eyes 7/10

ABBA released a song called "Angel Eyes" the same year as this! They're not related, though. (ABBA's song is great, though.) Roxy Music still treats their pop songs with much strangeness! However ... it still seems sloppy to me. There is an instrumental interlude of sorts, but it is very feeble compared to their good old For Your Pleasure days. Oh! Bring Brian Eno back! Please!! Just the same, I can still enjoy this one ... I have to strain a little bit. I don't hate it, because I like the QUIRK. The quirk works, baby!

Still Falls the Rain 6/10

Ooooh. This one isn't that good. The major problem with this one is that Roxy Music decides to create something just a tiny bit more normal than the previous tracks (albeit, it's still pretty darn crazy ... what with that strange salsa beat and all). Anyway, the loony track layering is gone at least, and we're left to just concentrate on the actual song. It's fast-paced, but it still sounds rather dull, unfortunately.

Stronger Through the Years 5/10

Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwn!!!!!!!!!! We have track layering here that's pretty strange, but this time, it doesn't save the track at all. It's dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Michael Dukakis! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! ... and Dull! There are technically good aspects of this song. Namely, I think that it was carried out skillfully. The instrumental performances are impressive ... and even innovative! Played like real pros. But the actual song is utterly aimless. Filler! It's over 6 minutes and there's no good reason for it.

Ain't That So 7/10

Boy ... Roxy Music are aiming for the target and turning out misses most of the time. This one at least hits the target. Though, it ain't a bulls-eye by any means. Surprisingly, after that last track, this one seems a little bit too deprived of the quirky instrumentals. This one is characterized by a slow and quiet disco licks of an electric guitar. The usually-fine bass guitar (which is something that I always adored about the pop-years of Roxy Music) is utterly lazy here. I wish they'd have spiced that up a little bit! What Bryan Ferry sings doesn't have enough hooks in the melody to impress ... so this song is disposable. Nevertheless, it does sound more focused than some of the previous efforts ... it's just not very memorable.

My Girl 8/10

Woooooo! Now the bass guitar is ALIVE! Roxy Music delivers another fine-n-catchy song that has everything right ... except it's a bit too tight! But it does have a nice riff and a hooky chorus. It sounds much like a New Romantic song what with that cool beat pleasantly trudging along. It ain't the greatest song in the world, definitely, but at least I can easily enjoy this one.

Dance Away 7/10

Well, here, Roxy Music gives us an actual normal chorus line! The rest of the song is still whacked (i.e. normal). In fact, this one is almost adult contemporary! Oh buggar! Even for adult contemporary, it's feeble! Heeeeeeheeeeeee! It's only 3:47 minutes and I think it's too long. Yawn! I have to admit that it's one of the album's more solid moments, so I'll give it a 7.

Cry, Cry, Cry 6/10

More insane dancable stuff! (What kind of insane person would dance to this?) Heck! If The Roxy Music didn't suck on this album, I'd might have brought this to one of my dancing parties or something, and everybody would think they're high on cocaine already, but they wouldn't remember when they got high. This song isn't bad ... it has a good beat ... the melody is fine ... It's just unfocused. And, it gets dull.

Spin Me Round 3/10

And Don Ignacio opened his mouth as wide as it could go to yawn. And when he yawned, he sucked in the whole world with it. This song is dull, quiet, dull, boring, dull, slow, dull, mousepad, dull, uneventful, dull ... oh, Don Ignacio feels another one coming on:

YYYYYYYYY-AAAAAAAAA-WWWWWWWWWWWW-NNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!

I guess Roxy Music figured that we turned off the album already, so nobody in the world would ever listen to this song. He was wrong. Boy he was wrong. And now he's in my stomach. Cause I yawned him in. Goodbye, Roxy Music. Goodbye, World.

What do you think of my digestive system? Do not make me vomit you up here!