Bête Noire

There’s no winning over some people. Criticised in many quarters of the rock press during the reign of sincere Californian troubadours for the aloof, detached persona he had cultivated with Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry delivered his most emotionally unfettered album only to find himself derided by the same faces, now in thrall to safety pins and brash attitudes.

Mature, urbane, intellectual and vulnerable, this iteration of the Ferry persona was simply not compliant with the mainstream narrative of the time: young, loud and snotty. As a result, The Bride Stripped Bare easily qualifies as the most underrated LP in the Ferry canon, and is certainly ripe for a fresh appraisal by modern ears.