As Time Goes By

数多くの楽曲をカバーしてきたことでも知られる、イギリスが誇る稀代のヴォーカリスト、Bryan Ferryの10作目のスタジオ・アルバムのリイシュー。今作でBryanが取り上げ、再解釈したのは、1920年代～1930年代のポピュラー・ソング、ジャズのスタンダード・ナンバー!!

『Mamouna』(1994年8月)以来5年2カ月ぶりとなる10作目のスタジオ・アルバム。収録内容は1920年代～1930年代のポピュラー・ソング、ジャズのスタンダード・ナンバー。イギリスではアルバム・チャート16位にランクイン、ゴールド・ディスクを獲得。

■仕様:Bryan Ferry自身が刷新されたアートワークを監修 / 大きめの日本式デジスリーヴ

Bryan Ferry invests considerable time and energy in cover albums (he should, considering that they compose a good portion of his solo catalog), treating them with as much care as a record of original material. He's always found ways to radically reinvent the songs he sings, so it's easy to expect that his collection of pop standards, As Time Goes By, would re-imagine the familiar. Instead, As Time Goes By is his first classicist album, containing non-ironic, neo-traditionalist arrangements of songs associated with the '30s. That doesn't mean it's a lavish affair, dripping with lush orchestras -- it's considerably more intimate than that. Even when strings surface, they're understated, part of a small live combo that supports Ferry throughout the record. He's made the music as faithful to its era as possible, yet instead of rigidly replicating the sounds of the '30s, he's blended Billie Holiday, cabaret pop, and movie musicals into an evocative pastiche. Ferry is at his best when he's exploring the possibilities within a specific theory or concept; with As Time Goes By, he eases into these standards and old-fashioned settings like an actor adopting a new persona. Since Ferry has always been a crooner, the transition is smooth and suave. He makes no attempt to alter his tremulous style, yet it rarely sounds incongruous -- he may sound a little vampirish on "You Do Something to Me," but that's the rare case where he doesn't seamlessly mesh with his romantic, sepia-toned surroundings. On the surface, it may seem like a departure for Ferry, but in the end, it's entirely of a piece with his body of work. True, it may not be a major album in the scheme of things, but it's easy to be seduced by its casual elegance. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine