Roxy Music fans who loved Ferry's 1973 hit version of A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall have been waiting for him to make an entire album of Dylan covers ever since. But diehard Bobcats who thought his mannered take on the great man's song was a travesty, prayed such a thing could never happen.
But if A Hard Rain was all style and no substance, after 34 years, the mature Ferry (along with his regular touring band, amply enhanced on If Not For You by that other former Roxy Music superstar and Friend of the Ferry, Brian Eno) has finally redressed the balance with these thoughtful and well-judged interpretations of songs such as Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Positively Fourth Street and Simple Twist Of Fate.
The once smooth voice is now pitted and battered and much the better for it, while the production and arrangements go for simple honesty over superficial flash. A revelation.
