Manifesto

The first Roxy Music reunion was one of tentative readjustment among its core players — it was Paul Thompson’s last studio album with the band on drums, among other things — and there’s a conscious sense of showing a new cooler reserve mixed with tighter arrangements. But it’s not entirely that way — the title track opens Manifesto by literally living up to its name, a slow, tense groove that Bryan Ferry delivers a commanding vocal for, while the elegant pep of “Angel Eyes” and the tasteful melancholy of “Dance Away” were perfectly smooth singles.