| Olympia | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 25 October 2010 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | Sophisti-pop | |||
| Length | 49:18 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Bryan Ferry chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The A.V. Club | B[2] |
| Clash | 7/10[3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[4] |
| Mojo | [5] |
| Pitchfork Media | 7.5/10[6] |
| PopMatters | 8/10[7] |
| Rolling Stone |  [8] |
| Slant Magazine | [9] |
| Spin | [10] |
Olympia is the thirteenth studio album by the English singerBryan Ferry, released on 25 October 2010 byVirgin Records.[11] Co-produced by Ferry andRhett Davies,Olympia is Ferry's first album of predominantly original material since 2002'sFrantic.
The album features a wide range of contributors, including co-songwriterDavid A. Stewart ofEurythmics,Brian Eno,Phil Manzanera andAndy Mackay ofRoxy Music, the electronic groupGroove Armada,David Gilmour,Marcus Miller,Scissor Sisters,Nile Rodgers,Jonny Greenwood ofRadiohead,Steve Nieve, andFlea. Early in the recording processOlympia was developed as a Roxy Music project, the first since the band's 1982 albumAvalon, with participation from numerous guests. However, despite the presence of other Roxy Music members at the sessions, it was released as a Bryan Ferry solo project.
The album peaked at number 19 on theUK Albums Chart.
The album features some songs previously recorded by Ferry in collaborations with other artists. "You Can Dance", a version of which appeared as "U Can Dance" onDJ Hell's 2009 albumTeufelswerk, is the record's firstsingle. A version of "Shameless" previously appeared as a collaboration withGroove Armada on their albumBlack Light earlier in 2010. The album also features covers ofTim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" andTraffic's "No Face, No Name, No Number." The album came out in three versions: a standard edition with 10 songs, the "Deluxe Edition" containing two additional tracks and a DVD featuring "The Making of Olympia" documentary and a promo video for the song "You Can Dance", and the "Collector's Edition" with the 12 tracks and DVD from the Deluxe Edition as well as a second CD containing remixes and a 40-page hardback book.
In 2011 the single "Alphaville" was sent to a number of radio stations and appeared onBBC Radio 2's playlist and 106.9FM WHCR's
The album art features the fashion modelKate Moss and refers to theÉdouard Manet 1863painting of the same name.[12]
Reviewing forAllMusic,Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote of the album "Such command of mood is a tell-tale sign of a quiet perfectionist, but Olympia doesn't feel fussy; it's unruffled and casually elegant, its pleasing familiarity reflecting the persistence of an old master honing his craft."[13] And reviewing forRolling Stone, Jon Dolan wrote of the album "Ferry could do a record with theStar Wars cantina band and it would come out pretty much the same: a bunch of lush, languorous Euro-glam ballads about love's labour's lost, all of them slathered in a sexy-vampire croon that makes lines about being 'faithfully entwined in a shameless world' seem like some deep shit."[14]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You Can Dance" | Bryan Ferry,David A. Stewart | 4:29 |
| 2. | "Alphaville" | Ferry, Stewart | 4:25 |
| 3. | "Heartache by Numbers" | Ferry,Jason Sellards,Scott Hoffman | 4:56 |
| 4. | "Me Oh My" | Ferry | 4:30 |
| 5. | "Shameless" | Ferry,Andy Cato,Tom Findlay | 4:36 |
| 6. | "Song to the Siren" | Tim Buckley,Larry Beckett | 5:56 |
| 7. | "No Face, No Name, No Number" | Jim Capaldi,Steve Winwood | 4:40 |
| 8. | "BF Bass (Ode to Olympia)" | Ferry,Phil Manzanera | 4:09 |
| 9. | "Reason or Rhyme" | Ferry | 6:52 |
| 10. | "Tender Is the Night" | Ferry, Stewart | 4:35 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" | John Lennon | 3:19 |
| 12. | "One Night" | Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, Anita Steiman | 4:00 |
| 13. | "DVD ("The Making of Olympia" and "You Can Dance" promo video)" |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You Can Dance" (Fred Falke mix) | 7:08 | |
| 2. | "Alphaville" (Time and Space Machine mix) | 7:06 | |
| 3. | "Heartache by Numbers" (Circus Parade mix) | 7:27 | |
| 4. | "Me Oh My" (DJ Cleaver mix) | Ferry | 6:42 |
| 5. | "Shameless" (Still Going mix) | 8:12 | |
| 6. | "BF Bass (Ode to Olympia)" (West End Wolf mix) | 9:21 | |
| 7. | "Reason or Rhyme" (Instrumental) | 6:54 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] | 29 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] | 7 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] | 17 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[18] | 26 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[19] | 29 |
| European Albums (Billboard)[20] | 18 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[21] | 25 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] | 15 |
| Greek International Albums (IFPI)[23] | 52 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[24] | 81 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[25] | 37 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[26] | 47 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[27] | 80 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[28] | 16 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[29] | 16 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[30] | 56 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] | 7 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] | 25 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[33] | 19 |
| USBillboard 200[34] | 71 |
| USTop Alternative Albums (Billboard)[35] | 11 |
| USTop Rock Albums (Billboard)[36] | 19 |
