Don`t bother check out some of the early Byrds albums, their covers of Dylan songs are vastly superior than listening to Dylan`s tired old crooning.

Might as well have a look at them as well then.

well, The Byrds' versions of Dylan's songs are usually superior, with the exception of Lay Lady Lay, although their version of This Wheel's On Fire is hardly as good as Julie Driscoll & Trinity's version

Manifesto was a terrible album and F&B I think is an ok album despite not being upto the heights of the first 5 albums, but it was still a major step up from Manifesto.

i love Manifesto

There are a few decent songs on Manifesto imo, like Dance Away, Still Falls the Rain and Spin Me Round. But generally most of the album comes out as mid tempo disco-tinged pop/rock, which can come out quite nicely (Dance Away), quite average (My Little Girl) or downright ****e (Angel Eyes, Cry Cry Cry).

As for Flesh & Blood it is a much more consistent effort with less of that disco feel and more of the refined synth soundscapes that would eventually lead to Avalon. Whilst it isn't quite as diverse as the early albums it is much more professional and elegant, as well as providing Bryan a chance to use his moody croon to best effect.

I like Manifesto a lot, actually. The opening title track has this great, brooding quality to it. Trash, Angel Eyes, Still Falls the Rain and Stronger through the Years are all good songs, I think, if not completely brilliant. It's still music I wanna listen to now and again.

The last half of the album is a bit more mediocre, I think.

The first Roxy Music album contains some strong material, but it is badly produced. Re-recorded versions of some tracks are on Bryan Ferry's solo album, Let's Stick Together, and they sound a bit sharper. Pete Sinfield was blamed, but his own Still and Stillusion albums are not badly produced. Some adventurous singles were released around the time of the first two albums, Pyjamarama and Virginia Plain (although they were not included on the albums).

For Your Pleasure is an all-time great album. It had various producers, but the problems on the first record are no longer present. Do the Strand and In Every Dream Home are famous, but Editions of You is a punchy track. There is some great bass-playing too, especially on Grey Lagoons, credited to John Porter.

By Stranded, Johnny Gustafson (Big Three, Quatermass, Hard Stuff) had joined on bass, along with Eddie Jobson from Curved Air. The album is less conceptual and more rock orientated. Gustafson and Jobson remained for Country Life, which is probably their closest to a full hard rock album. It is full of outstanding tracks, including All I Want is You, Out of the Blue and the fantastic Bitter-Sweet.

Siren continues the hard rock theme, with the excellent Love is the Drug and Both Ends Burning. John Wetton also plays bass on the live album Viva! Roxy Music, which includes a barnstorming version of Both Ends Burning. Incredibly, this was a hit single too. Soon after, Wetton and Jobson regrouped to form the earth-shattering progressive rock band, UK.

During the punk rock-era, a pretty good Greatest Hits album was released and then Roxy made the comeback album, Manifesto. This was slick, but with less of a rock feel than its predecessor, Siren, although it is not as disco-inclined as it is made out to be. Tracks released as singles were re-mixed or re-recorded with a disco production.

Flesh and Blood is even glossier, with covers, making it more of a Bryan Ferry solo album. Long-term Roxy member and Ferry collaborator, drummer Paul Thompson, left the band prior to Flesh and Blood, making this seem a slightly vacuous album. Avalon and Ferry's Boys and Girls were improvements, but the high sheen on the production made the break with the original Roxy complete.