Art/into/Pop: More Eno Diaries: Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure (1973) & John Cale’s Slow Dazzle (1975)

Here’s a couple more gems featuring the work of Brian Eno. The latter pick is another great John Cale album from his Island Records years, but first let’s look at Eno’s best work with Glam Rock giants, Roxy Music.

Eno of the Roxy days

Roxy Music was formed by frontman, Bryan Ferry, in 1971; next to Bolan and Bowie, Ferry was one of the great Glam Rock giants of the 70s and early 80s. Brian Eno joined Ferry’s group shortly after its inception; he played synthesizer and provided “treatments” for the the band’s first two full lengths, Roxy Music (1972 Island/Polydor Records) and For Your Pleasure (1973 Island/Polydor Records), but he departed shortly after the 2nd release. The band went on to release six more albums, many of them critically acclaimed, and they disbanded in 1983 only to reunite for occasional performances in recent years. Their last effort with Eno, For Your Pleasure, is their most experimental studio work and remains my favorite Roxy release. I obviously love the music of Eno, and his mark on the record is distinct and undeniable. Here’s a few tracks that demonstrate the point; listen for Eno’s electronic “treatments”....

"Beauty Queen":

"In Every Dream Home a Heartache":

"The Bogus Man":

"For Your Pleasure":

The parting differences between Ferry and Eno are clearly evident on this album - especially when one listens to both artists’ later work. The artistic tension, however, contributes to this album’s genius - making it one of the most interesting Roxy records in the catalogue. Definitely check out the entire record....

Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure

John Cale circa 1975

There was an earlier posting on the collaborative works of Brian Eno and John Cale - one of the albums of focus being John Cale’s first release on Island Records, Fear (1974). Cale quickly released another album on Island that similarly featured the talents of Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera and the electronic experiments of Mr. Eno himself.

Slow Dazzle was released in 1975, and it was the former Velvet Undergrounder’s 5th solo album. The album proves more straight forward than the previous Fear; Eno’s electronic meddlings, for instance, were much more subdued. It has its moments of darkness, however - especially his eerie cover of “Heartbreak Hotel.” Here’s the opening two tracks of the album: