Roxy Music (July 17 1976) "Days of Roxy Past" – Review – New Musical Express

SOURCE DETAILS   Publication: New Musical Express 

Date: July 17 1976 Country: United Kingdom Section / Pages: Album Review

Title: Days of Roxy Past

This NME review examines Roxy Music’s live album Viva! (Island), released mid‑1976 as a retrospective of the band’s stage years. The piece opens with a wry observation about the album’s sleeve notes and Andy Mackay’s “electric blue but kindly pink” tone, before assessing the record’s balance between nostalgia and performance.

The critic notes that Viva! compiles selections from three concerts — Glasgow Apollo (1973), Newcastle City Hall (1974), and London Rainbow (1974) — capturing the band’s evolution from glam spectacle to refined art‑rock.

The review praises Bryan Ferry’s poise and Phil Manzanera’s guitar textures while lamenting the absence of deeper improvisation.

A black‑and‑white photograph shows Roxy Music on stage, Ferry raising his arm amid bright lights, surrounded by band members and backing singers — a visual echo of the group’s theatrical prime.

CONTEXT AND NOTES  

The review situates Viva! as both a summation and a farewell to Roxy Music’s first phase.

It highlights Ferry’s transition toward solo sophistication and the band’s shift from flamboyant experimentation to elegant control.

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