| Avonmore | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 17 November 2014 (2014-11-17) | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:21 | |||
| Label | BMG Rights Management | |||
| Producer |
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| Bryan Ferry chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Guardian | [2] |
| Pitchfork | 6.7/10[3] |
| PopMatters | 8/10[4] |
| Rolling Stone | [5] |
Avonmore is the fifteenth studio album by the English singerBryan Ferry, released on 17 November 2014 byBMG Rights Management.[6]
The album was named after the location of Ferry's studio in London where it was recorded.[7]The album was announced on 23 September 2014 with a preview of the song "Loop De Li".[8] The album was produced by Ferry with long-term collaborator Rhett Davies, who has produced several albums for Ferry andRoxy Music. The album also features Ferry regulars such asFonzi Thornton,Nile Rodgers,Marcus Miller, andJohnny Marr (who co-wrote the track "Soldier of Fortune"). The album includes two cover versions, a rendition ofStephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" and a version of "Johnny and Mary", originally byRobert Palmer. The latter track was a collaboration with the Norwegian DJ/producerTodd Terje and first appeared on Terje's albumIt's Album Time which was released earlier in 2014.
Avonmore peaked at number 19 on theUK Albums Chart, and number 72 on theUSBillboard 200.
Reception of the album was generally positive. In a four-out-of-five-stars review,AllMusic criticStephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "this is Ferry's prime, a moment when his legacy was intact but yet to be preserved in amber" and that the album "consciously evokes this distinct period, sometimes sighing into the exquisite ennui ofAvalon but usually favouring the fine tailoring ofBoys and Girls, a record where every sequenced rhythm, keyboard, and guitar line blended into an alluring urbane pulse" and that "the songs are what makes this record something more than a fling".[1]PopMatters critic John Paul wrote that the album "functions as a well-deserved victory lap for both Ferry and those he's assembled, triumphantly returning to relevance and reminding listeners he's been doing this since the '70s. It's just taken this long for the mainstream to catch up with where he's been all along".[4] Writer T. Cole Rachel fromPitchfork was less positive, giving the album 6.7 out of 10, writing that the album, in places, "flounders when the music, which routinely flirts with a kind of adult contemporary smoothness, leans over into blandness" and stating that "Ferry's well-documented good taste is both an asset and possibly a curse" and concluding that the record is "a fine addition to Bryan Ferry's oeuvre, if not necessarily a terribly challenging one".[3]
On 29 October 2015, Ferry announced the release of the a special edition package ofAvonmore, containing the album on vinyl and CD, along with a 48-page book of photos by photographer Matthew Becker.[9]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Loop De Li" | Bryan Ferry | Ferry,Rhett Davies, Johnson Somerset | 4:18 |
| 2. | "Midnight Train" | Ferry | Ferry, Davies, Somerset | 3:49 |
| 3. | "Soldier of Fortune" | Ferry,Johnny Marr | Ferry, Davies | 4:25 |
| 4. | "Driving Me Wild" | Ferry | Ferry, Davies | 3:37 |
| 5. | "A Special Kind of Guy" | Ferry | Ferry, Davies | 3:14 |
| 6. | "Avonmore" | Ferry,Oliver Thompson | Ferry, Davies | 5:13 |
| 7. | "Lost" | Ferry | Ferry, Davies | 2:47 |
| 8. | "One Night Stand" | Ferry | Ferry, Davies, Somerset | 5:05 |
| 9. | "Send in the Clowns" | Stephen Sondheim | Ferry, Davies | 4:02 |
| 10. | "Johnny and Mary" | Robert Palmer | Todd Terje | 6:47 |
| Total length: | 43:15 | |||
"Loop De Li"
"Midnight Train"
"Soldier of Fortune"
"Driving Me Wild"
"A Special Kind of Guy"
| "Avonmore"
"Lost"
"One Night Stand"
"Send in the Clowns"
"Johnny and Mary"
|
Technical
Artwork
| Chart (2014) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] | 34 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11] | 29 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[12] | 43 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] | 47 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[14] | 63 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] | 23 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[16] | 47 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[17] | 71 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[18] | 86 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] | 16 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[20] | 19 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] | 19 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] | 37 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[23] | 19 |
| USBillboard 200[24] | 72 |
| USTop Rock Albums (Billboard)[25] | 18 |
