Roxy Music - First Kiss

All Music Guide

First Kiss is excellent and long, exceeding 100 minutes. This two-disc bootleg recording covers television and radio broadcasts of Roxy Music's live performances during 1972 and early 1973, prior to the release of their second album, For Your Pleasure. Disc one is a solid regurgitation of Roxy Music, the band's debut album, with "Re-make/Re-model" as a highlight. The second disc features additional performances of compositions from the first, plus early renditions of cuts from For Your Pleasure. "The Bob: Medley" is simply powerful, and Manzanera's guitar work on an incredibly protracted version of "If There Is Something" is relentless. "Editions of You" and "Bogus Man Pt. 2" (titled "Grey Lagoons" on For Your Pleasure) are groovy glam standouts -- songs that, in part, laid the groundwork for Eno's breakaway solo debut, Here Come the Warm Jets. First Kiss is the inclusion of two so-called "unnamed" instrumental pieces. The first features a wailing Andy Mackay on sax, with Ferry on harm...onica and Paul Thompson cutting loose on the drums. The second instrumental seems Eno-inspired -- an interesting, atmospheric composition with occasional background voices. While the sound dynamics on First Kiss are lacking in the low end, and the sound drops out altogether (only briefly) several times (note "Ladytron" on disc two), the overall sound quality is quite good for a bootleg recording from this early-'70s period. First Kiss also lacks the professional packaging and song variety of the Musikladen bootleg, but it is still a great find (if you can locate it) and very worthwhile. - David Ross Smith, All Music Guide Read more Less