Live In America

Short of Roxy Music opening up the vault and scooping out the full concert tapes that were highlighted for the Viva! live album, this (and several discs drawn from the same source) is the earliest full recounting of a Roxy concert to be made available outside of bootleg circles -- and the fact that it dates from 1979, as the band toured their Manifesto comeback album, could easily weight your attention against it. Don't let that happen. A set that balances highlights from the new album against the undisputed highlights of the past catches the band in fiery form, expansive and emotive, and lacking only the experimental tendencies that hallmarked earlier incarnations. Certainly recountings of "Song for Europe" and "Out of the Blue" are the equal of any you've ever heard, while the oft-overlooked "Trash" (from Manifesto) is revealed as one of the band's all-time greatest 45s, a restatement of intent that is just as passionate as "Virginia Plain" or "Remake Remodel -- the latter of which, of course, closes the disc with supercharged passion. ~ Dave Thompson|