Bryan Ferry – The Bride Stripped Bare (1978) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015] {SACD ISO + FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz}

When Jerry Hall, front-cover model on Roxy’s Siren, left Ferry for Mick Jagger, his response was this interesting album, not a full success but by no means a washout. In part Ferry returned to the model of his solo work before In Your Mind, with half the tracks being covers of rock and soul classics. Thus, Sam and Dave’s “Hold On (I’m Coming),” Al Green’s “Take Me to the River” (which arguably sounds like a strong influence on Talking Heads’ near contemporaneous version) and even the Velvet Underground’s “What Goes On,” among others, take a bow. Unfortunately Ferry’s backing performers, mostly drawing on studio pros like Waddy Wachtel, don’t seem to have the real affinity for the material like his earlier solo-effort cohorts did. If anything, though, there’s also the sense of Ferry channeling his romantic gloom through a number of the songs, giving them a strong personal bite. The guitar and bass-only version of the traditional folk tune “Carrickfergus” works best of all, its lovelorn sentiments and slow pace connecting just right. As for Ferry’s originals, his sentiments are all the more clear, right from the abbreviated charge of the opening “Sign of the Times,” its fractured sentiments of disturbed, vicious romance matched by the clipped punch of the music and Ferry’s own brisk delivery. The other originals don’t cut quite so bloodily, but the sense of loss and confusion is all there, from the opening line “Well I rush out blazin’/My pulse is racin’” on “Can’t Let Go” to the lonely sense of mystery on “This Island Earth,” the album’s conclusion.

Tracklist:
01. Sign Of The Times
02. Can’t Let Go
03. Hold On (I’m Coming)
04. The Same Old Blues
05. When She Walks In The Room
06. Take Me To The River
07. What Goes On
08. Carrickfergus
09. That’s How Strong My Love Is
10. This Island Earth

DSD flat transferred from UK original analogue master tapes
Edited in DSD by Manabu Matsumura at Universal Music Studios, Tokyo, in 2015.

SACD ISO

BryanF3rry_1978TheBrideStrippedBareJapan2015SHMSACDIS0.part1.rar
BryanF3rry_1978TheBrideStrippedBareJapan2015SHMSACDIS0.part2.rar

FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz

BryanF3rry_1978TheBrideStrippedBareJapan2015FLAC2488.2.rar