The opening track iMore than thisi was the first single to be released from this album and got to number 6 in the single chart. The main theme of the song is picked out on the lead guitar with the keyboards playing against it with percussion and strings adding atmosphere for the opening lines of iI could feel at the time, there was no way of knowingi.
iThe space between Usi has a big percussion sound than has drums and guitar playing fills with keyboards adding a sense of space and texture.
As the title track iAvalon" starts with the guitar playing the intro with slowly played Latin sounding percussion with the smooth voice of Mr Ferry crooning the opening line iNow the Partyis overi, the song as features a stunning background vocal section singing iDancini, Dancini. Dancinii underpinned with the smooth sax in the middle section with Yannick Etienne vocals sitting on top of the main vocal track giving a haunting air to the song as the song fades out.

The following track called iIndiai was played through the P.A. as the band took their places on stage during the iAvaloni tour, this instrumental piece was also used as the B-side to the iMore Than Thisi single, and the music itself is very short and full of texture and space and as the music is about to finish the percussion of the following track begins. iWhile My Heart Is Still Beatingi is another love song written by Mr Ferry and the sax player Andy Mackay, the track itself has layers of percussion and keyboard tracks that are interwoven with saxophone and guitar and some big sounding bass.

Handclaps and bass guitar with more percussion are interspaced with the bass and keyboards that pick out the main theme, of the track iThe Main Thingi that was used as a B-side of the single iTake a Chance On Mei, which was the third single from this album and final single released during the life of the band.
This is the next track in the running order and this track was written by Ferry/Manzanera, the song has an a slow intro and then a change of pace with the guitar and sax picking out the main theme, this is interwoven with the main vocal to underline and punch out lines in the song adding a big dramatic feel to the track.
The song iTo Turn You Oni was an old track that Bryan had written during the recording of iThe Bride Stripped Barei and when they needed a B-side to the John Lennon tribute single iJealous Guyi this track was used. Bryan Ferry felt this was to good a song to be lost as a B-side.
For the second last track iTrue To Lifei which has a high-hat intro on the drums with percussion with keyboards and a big sounding bass filling out the track which has the opening lines iSo it gets to seven and I think of nothingi.
To close this album and in a way to underline the music that had gone before an atmosphere instrumental track iTarai written by Ferry/McKay that has a saxophone intro which carryis the main theme that is filled out with keyboards and as the track finishes the sound of waves can be heard crashing on the shore as if to say you made it home.
The perfect end to a superb atmospheric album that still sounds superb today and with the re-mastering by Bob Ludwig sounds even better the sound on the disc is HDCD standard.


Avalon is a dreamy shangri-la of rock.   February 28, 2001
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I think this is Brian Ferry's finest album. The tunes are magical fantasies of mystic Britishness, set in a netherworld of Arthurian legend and the beaches of old Zanzibar for exotic effect. More than this, the melodies and harmonies are instantly memorable, in a soft focus sort of way. Ferry was at the height of his popularity , when people had the patience to follow an artist's career and philosophy. This is a lounge lizard world of afternoon cocktails and leisurely overseas sojourns, yet the songs live up to the billing. Half are up tempo numbers, the rest dreamy ballads. The Main Thing and Take a Chance With Me were released as singles, the first two tracks; More than This and The Space Between are faster percussive pieces followed by slower more reflective ramblings such as India and Avalon itself. The album is beautifully written, performed and produced with wonderful technical values for the time; A timeless classic of mysticism these tunes will stay forever in the memory of nice songs. Hear Brian Ferry's voice at it's very best in a non threatening environment, preferably by a coal fire on a winter's evening, with a bottle of red, the kids safely tucked up in bed, phone turned off, debts forgotten, with someone you love.......that's the way Brian would have wanted it.


37 minutes 21 seconds of perfection.   April 13, 2000
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Every nuance is cared for in this superbly produced (but not over-produced) album. Frankly, words could not spell out the score, but I'll give it a go. It is wonderfully lush, romantic, incisive. It is also a remarkably cohesive album. Although there is variation between tracks, particularly rhythmically, the overall musical feel and the lyrical feel are both quite lucid and they are perfectly matched.

The album begins with 'More Than This' which lays down the very high standard of the album, with no instrument dominating but marvellous little sequences coming in at just the right time, most notably from the guitar and the keyboards. The vocals are also used cleverly, as more than a voice - as an instrument in itself with peaks in the middle of lines creating a sweeping effect in the verses, like the tide washing in and out, to which the lyrics refer. The second verse is a gentle gaining of understanding from the first and the track moves onward to its serene departure. You could say I kinda like it.

Next is 'The Space Between', lyrically a suggestion of moving beyond friendship and characterised by some marvellous percussion. The highlight of the title track is the stunning background vocal with pitch perfect high notes. Next (on the original sequence at least) follows a short instrumental which maintains the flow with refined touches in both foreground and background, then comes the heartfelt 'While My Heart Is Still Beating' (the lyric including "My heart has flown away now, will it never stop bleeding?").

Strong rhythm pulses through 'The Main Thing' then comes the moody opening to the Bryan Ferry/Phil Manzanera composition, 'Take A Chance With Me' which goes on to plead "All the world, even you, should learn to love the way I do", clearly depicting love as the maker and breaker of lives. 'To Turn You On' is a superb love song, the singer again committed to his emotions for better or worse. 'True To Life' maintains both mood and theme and features some evocative vocal effects, then the album finishes with another instrumental and the tide washing in again.

It is no wonder Roxy split after this as the only way would have been down, as Ferry's over-produced solo attempts to recapture this have proven. This album may not be the best of all-time (there - I've admitted it!) but it is my personal favourite.