Roxy Music was an art project, a heavily orchestrated piece meant to appear spontaneous and accidental. Once it established its art-rock credentials, it turned, briefly, into a pop-making machine. Want to talk about a fascinating band? Roxy Music is one of the most intriguing bands to ever have pranced on a stage, and it took me a while to understand what the group was on about.

From futuristic prog-rock to sleek pop, these are the very best 10 songs produced by Roxy Music.

The Greatest 10 Songs by Roxy Music

10. “Out of the Blue”

Roxy Music always demanded a kingdom. And since, by the mid-1970s, the group had received it from willing music listeners, the musicians started strutting about their little Old World Empire.

“Out of the Blue” was written by Bryan Ferry and the great guitarist Phil Manzanera. And, never had the band sounded more confident, I think.

9. “Oh Yeah!”

In some ways, the 1980s took inspiration from early Roxy Music records. Yeah, Ferry had predicted much of it. But on “Flesh + Blood”, he was ready to revel in it all.

“Oh Yeah” isn’t nearly as experimentally daring as previous art-rock tunes. But it’s a mighty convincing single.

8. “Editions of You”

“For Your Pleasure” was an art-rock heirloom. I am sure that it must’ve been fascinating to stare at the cover or at the people who’d made the record and made up theories of why it existed in the first place.

But all of Ferry and Brian Eno’s wild tactics couldn’t hide the fact that there was a pop band inside of the sophisticated music. “Editions of You” is, I think, one of the finest singles of that era.

7. “Re-Make/Re-Model”

There’s a story of Roxy Music opening up for Jethro Tull early in their career. The story has Bryan Ferry’s band being booed off stage. Later, Ferry asked heavily bearded Tull singer Ian Anderson for advice. Anderson told him plainly: “The audience thinks you want it too much!”

But that’s precisely what makes “Re-Make/Re-Model” and Roxy Music’s debut album so good. This was a band designed for the future, and for success.

6. “In Every Home a Heartache”

It’s no wonder that David Bowie championed Roxy Music as much as he did. This band looked at the decline of the British Empire as some of their peers did. But, unlike the punk rockers, Roxy Music promised a post-modern allure to combat the blues.

“In Every Home a Heartache” is written about fake love and careers taking over lives. It was intriguing in the 1970s. As it turns out, it was also prophetic.

5. “Do the Strand”

“Do the Strand” was Bryan Ferry’s first really successful experiment with integrating music of the past and making it sound of the future. Echoing Cole Palmer and decked out like hyper-stylish aliens, Roxy Music’s musicians were one of the most forward-thinking of all the glam-rock bands.

Furthermore, the tune at the core of “Do the Strand” stood the test of time. It remains a quirky, rocking song.

4. “Avalon”

The “Avalon” album announced to the world that Ferry and Roxy Music had stumbled onto a new pot of gold. It was a supremely beautiful record. It embraced modern synth-pop trends. But it combined them with lounge singing and rock in great ways.

The single “Avalon” is absolutely haunting in my opinion. It’s one of the most unusual pieces of music made in the 1980s. Few of this kind exist.

3. “Love Is the Drug”

If Roxy Music had done nothing else, you’d still be hearing “Love is the Drug” in Hollywood movie soundtracks now and for decades still. Thank saxophonist Andy Mackay for that.

Meant to soundtrack and sound like a trip down the sleazy New York or London alleys, “Love is the Drug” made Roxy Music’s music continue to sound seductively sinister as any of their contemporaries.

2. “More Than This”

Ah, are there love songs more beautiful than this one? Are there love songs more unusual sounding than “More Than This”? Surely, not many, I think.

There’s a beautiful kind of darkness to the songs from the synth-pop experimentation of the “Avalon” album. But nowhere is Ferry more earnest. And, likely, his singing never sounded better.

1. “Virginia Plain”

The thing about early Roxy Music is that it promised something completely new to the few faithful. This wasn’t ordinary glam rock. This was not punk. These were art rock predictions for the future.

Fast-paced, given the Brian Eno treatment and referencing exciting places and people, “Virginia Plain” was the glamour of the good life brought into rock n’ roll. It’s one of the best songs ever and Roxy Music’s finest moment.