Roxy Music, Country Life (side A)

I'm a big Roxy Music fan, but 1974's Country Life is probably their least memorable album. The songs are good, there's nothing bad about it. For a band who generally used each record to make distinct creative leap, Country Life is the one exception. The ideas have moved a bit from Stranded, but it's nowhere near the radical leap of that record or Siren or even Manifesto. Controversial cover notwithstanding, it feels mostly like just another Roxy Music record, one that I still enjoy listening to. My copy, which I think is an original US, was mastered really quietly for no obvious reason.