Roxy Music have been remastered and boxed before but there's a simple elegance to The Complete Studio Recordings that suits the band. Containing nothing more than handsome remastered mini-LP reissues of the band's eight albums along with two discs of non-LP singles -- including "Virginia Plain," two mixes of "Pyjamarama," as well as several edits and mixes making their CD debut -- the 2012 box set lacks such expected frills as liner notes, an absence that is noted but not greatly missed, as the execution on this set is ...
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Roxy Music have been remastered and boxed before but there's a simple elegance to The Complete Studio Recordings that suits the band. Containing nothing more than handsome remastered mini-LP reissues of the band's eight albums along with two discs of non-LP singles -- including "Virginia Plain," two mixes of "Pyjamarama," as well as several edits and mixes making their CD debut -- the 2012 box set lacks such expected frills as liner notes, an absence that is noted but not greatly missed, as the execution on this set is expert. Presentation was always key to Roxy Music, and The Complete Studio Recordings is frankly gorgeous, its mini-LPs housed in heavy cardboard sleeves, the outer box black and sleek, conveying the well-tailored sophistication of the band while placing emphasis directly on the music. Nicely remastered -- perhaps not a great revelation compared to the 1999 discs but warm, rich, and full, better overall -- the music is familiar yet fresh, still kinetic with imagination after all these years. Roxy's catalog roughly breaks down into pairs with two outliers: the early Eno-graced Roxy Music and For Your Pleasure, their artiest and strangest LPs; the muscular glam of Stranded and Country Life; the cool European disco of Manifesto and Flesh + Blood. There is also the 1975 transitional masterpiece Siren -- the bridge between art rock and art pop -- and the reserved swan song Avalon. The bonus material is unequally balanced, with the entirety of the second disc devoted to the early '80s and about a third of the first covering the Manifesto era, but it's all welcome, particularly the odd mixes and the essential early singles. Ultimately, the box itself is essential: Roxy Music are one of the rare rock bands with such an exquisitely carved catalog, and it shines in this setting. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
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