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Bryan Ferry - Bête Noire Audio CD

A fair review of the Bryan Ferry "Bête Noire" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Bryan Ferry reviews here, or go back to the Bryan Ferry tabs.

Bryan Ferry Band: Bryan Ferry
Title: Bête Noire
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-01-14
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Limbo 2: Kiss and Tell 3: New Town 4: Day and Night 5: Zamba 6: Right Stuff 7: Seven Deadly Sins 8: Name of the Game 9: B�te Noire

Beautiful Fumes
"Bete Noire" was yet another restatement of Ferry's aesthetic, and by this point his songwriting was beginning to suffer. Ferry and Roxy Music achieved their apotheosis with "Avalon", which was then reiterated by Ferry's solo followup, "Boys And Girls". "Bete Noire" sounds fantastic, with perfect instrumental performances and lush arangements, but Ferry's songs have become slightly repetitive and lyrically banal. It's beautiful to hear - and the remastering is superb - and this is one of my favourite Ferry albums, but some of the songs are really spinning their wheels. After this album it would be another 7 years before Ferry released another collection of original songs, the completely enervated "Mamouna".


My Introduction To The Unique Sounds Of Bryan Ferry
I think you'll like this guy's sound. I will always be indebted to a lady who brought this CD into work around 1990 and told me to "give it a spin. "

I have been a big "Bete Noir" and Bryan Ferry fan ever since.

No matter how many times I hear the songs on this disc, I never get tired of them. This guy's music was different, and fascinating to me, then and now almost 20 years later.

As the years have passed and Ferry has deleved into very old standards, Bob Dylan tunes, etc. , I still wish he'd stick with the kind of songs he made here and with albums just prior to this, like "Boys and Girls. "

These are original, haunting ballads with a beat, if that makes any sense. They are still unique to me, and great stuff. You cannot go wrong with this CD, or the above-mentioned "Boys and Girls. " It is Bryan Ferry at his best.


As Perfect as Perfect can get
Bete Noir comes right after Ferry's masterpiece " Boys and Girls". This was Bryan Ferry's seventh solo effort and just his third album of all original material. Released in 1987 and featuring a who's who of great session players and real rock guitar gods ( David Gilmour and Johnny Marr). This album is far more rhythmic than " Boys and Girls" and not as romantic as the previous effort. What it lacks in lyrical content it more than makes up for it in the production area. First of all I like how Ferry and producer Patrick Leonard use rhythmn instruments and guitars to extend Ferry's romantic soundscapes into lush dance tracks. The stand-outs on this album are " Limbo " , " Kiss and Tell ", " Seven Deadly Sins" and " New Town ". Upon listening to this album one can't help but notice how light and flowerey Ferry's voice is. In some cases almost inaudible due to the mix of instruments and production tricks. What I think Ferry tried to do was to improve on " Boys and Girls " and came up a little short on the perfection side. He is known as a perfectionist and a bit of a tyrant in the studio but his use of over 40 musicians overwhelms the production. I understand what he was trying to do. He wanted to make an album that was more lush than " Boys and Girls". In my opinion he should have stripped down some of the production and made it more acoustic and maybe he would have found perfection. Who's to say. Anyways if you love lush soundscapes that you can sway to then this is a must have. Not as good as Roxy Music's " Avalon " or " Boys and Girls " but worth having in your collection.


The Wrong Stuff.
Ferry is the unexpected, but I never expected him to go over so much of the same (tired) ground as his prior record. I suppose everyone is entitled to at least one weak album, but did he have to do a third-rate reiteration of "Boys and Girls"? The one thing I always expect from Mr. The content of this album gives the impression of being stuck in a rut. Flabby and uninspired.


Seductive, Beautifully Dark and Haunting
" I had really liked Ferry's voice and I loved the songs "Slave to Love" and "Don't Stop the Dance" from the Boys and Girls album but at that point had not purchased his music. I had first heard of Bryan Ferry as the front man of Roxy Music and I simply adored the song "Avalon. When the "Limbo" video first aired on MTV back 1987, I simply fell in love with his voice and style and the song itself. Shortly after, the video for "Kiss and Tell" was released and I loved that song even more than "Limbo. " Even then I still had not purchased any of his music or Roxy Music for that matter.

Those songs lingered with me for years until I finally bought the Bete Noire CD in 2000.

This album is a masterpiece. All the songs are rich yet beautifully dark and haunting. This album's production utilizes some of the best producers, musicians and session singers of the era. The guitar riffs and bass lines on this album are fantastic. I don't think there is any song on this album that I don't like.

The sound is timeless and Ferry's voice, along with the backing vocalists is very soulful. When I'm in a mood to lay back in relax, I put on this CD. It's perfect for listening to when you are inside on a rainy day having, your favorite glass of wine.

If you have never heard this album or any of Bryan Ferry's songs, you will not be disappointed. Bete Noire is top-notch and worth buying.



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