History Music / AvalonRoxyMusic

''Avalon'', released in 1982, is the eighth and final album by British GlamRock band Music/RoxyMusic. Released two years after the commercially successful but controversially-received ''Flesh + Blood'', the album acts as a refinement of the pop rock sound that permeated both both its immediate predecessor and 1979's ''Manifesto'', featuring more carefully constructed song structures and incorporating considerable influences from frontman Bryan Ferry's love of jazz and traditional pop. The end result is, in hindsight, considered the TropeMaker for SophistiPop, a subgenre of pop music that Ferry would aid in further refining through his post-Roxy Music solo output. Compared to previous albums, ''Avalon'' is a considerably quieter record, with a noticeably somber tone reflecting the band's own awareness of their fading star in the British popular music landscape. Tellingly, Ferry decided to dissolve Roxy Music once touring for ''Avalon'' finished in 1983.

* CoverVersion: "More Than This" famously received one courtesy of the Mary Ramsey-fronted Music/TenThousandManiacs in 1997, surpassing the original in popularity. Incidentally, it's generally considered the only notable work by the band following the 1993 departure of former frontwoman Natalie Merchant.

* {{Tuckerization}}: {{Inverted|Trope}} with "Tara": the song features the same name as Ferry's son... who was born shortly '''after''' ''Avalon'' released and was likely named after the song.[[note]] Although Ferry has admitted that the track was meant to be "Ta-ra" as in saying goodbye to the fans, and it just struck him as a good name for his son to be after the fact. [[/note]]

* ContemptibleCover: Notably, this is the only album in Roxy Music's studio discography that {{avert|ed trope}}s this trope, simply being a shot of Bryan Ferry's then-girlfriend Lucy Birley (then Lucy Helmore) overlooking the lake just outside Crumlin Lodge in Ireland, dressed in a medieval helmet and with a falcon perched on her right hand.

* {{Tuckerization}}: {{Inverted|Trope}} with "Tara": the song features the same name as Ferry's son... who was born shortly '''after''' ''Avalon'' released and was likely named after the song.

''Avalon'' was positively received by fans and critics, who considered it a major step up from ''Manifesto'' and ''Flesh + Blood'' and an indication of the band having regained their artistic footing; in retrospect, it is widely considered Roxy Music's greatest album among critics, though fans tend to place ''Music/ForYourPleasure'' above it. Among other accolades, ''Avalon'' was ranked at No. 307 on ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] 2003 [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time (later being dropped from the 2012 revision, but added back into [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime2020 the 2020 revision]] at No. 336), No. 45 on ''Slant'' magazine's list of the greatest albums of the 1980's, and No. 514 on Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums list]] of the all time top 3000 albums. Like its predecessors, ''Avalon'' was also a major commercial success, topping the charts in Britain, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. The album was additionally certified gold in France, Germany, and Spain, and platinum in Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Speaking of the United States, it was not an ''immediate'' success there, but gradually ascended to SleeperHit status (it went platinum after all), contributing to the cult popularity of Roxy Music west of the Atlantic. It's still the only Roxy Music album to receive any kind of sales certification in that country. Given the band's dissolution the year after its release, the critical and commercial success of ''Avalon'' made it quite the high note for the band to close out on.

''Avalon'' was positively received by fans and critics, who considered it a major step up from ''Manifesto'' and ''Flesh + Blood'' and an indication of the band having regained their artistic footing; in retrospect, it is widely considered Roxy Music's greatest album among critics, though fans tend to place ''Music/ForYourPleasure'' above it. Among other accolades, ''Avalon'' was ranked at No. 307 on ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] 2003 [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time (later being dropped from the 2012 revision, but added back into [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime2020 the 2020 revision]] at No. 336), No. 45 on ''Slant'' magazine's list of the greatest albums of the 1980's, and No. 514 on Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums list]] of the all time top 3000 albums. Like its predecessors, ''Avalon'' was also a major commercial success, topping the charts in Britain, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. The album was additionally certified gold in France, Germany, and Spain, and platinum in Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Speaking of the United States, it was not an ''immediate'' success there, but gradually ascended to SleeperHit status (it went platinum after all), contributing to the cult popularity of Roxy Music west of the Atlantic. Given the band's dissolution the year after its release, the critical and commercial success of ''Avalon'' made it quite the high note for the band to close out on.

''Avalon'' was positively received by fans and critics, who considered it a major step up from ''Manifesto'' and ''Flesh + Blood'' and an indication of the band having regained their artistic footing; in retrospect, it is widely considered Roxy Music's greatest album among critics, though fans tend to place ''Music/ForYourPleasure'' above it. Among other accolades, ''Avalon'' was ranked at No. 307 on ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] 2003 [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time (later being dropped from the 2012 revision, but added back into [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime2020 the 2020 revision]] at No. 336), No. 45 on ''Slant'' magazine's list of the greatest albums of the 1980's, and No. 593 on Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums list]] of the all time top 3000 albums. Like its predecessors, ''Avalon'' was also a major commercial success, topping the charts in Britain, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. The album was additionally certified gold in France, Germany, and Spain, and platinum in Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Speaking of the United States, it was not an ''immediate'' success there, but gradually ascended to SleeperHit status (it went platinum after all), contributing to the cult popularity of Roxy Music west of the Atlantic. Given the band's dissolution the year after its release, the critical and commercial success of ''Avalon'' made it quite the high note for the band to close out on.

''Avalon'' was positively received by fans and critics, who considered it a major step up from ''Manifesto'' and ''Flesh + Blood'' and an indication of the band having regained their artistic footing; in retrospect, it is widely considered Roxy Music's greatest album among critics, though fans tend to place ''Music/ForYourPleasure'' above it. Among other accolades, ''Avalon'' was ranked at No. 336 on ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] 2020 [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time, No. 45 on ''Slant'' magazine's list of the greatest albums of the 1980's, and No. 593 on Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums list]] of the all time top 3000 albums. Like its predecessors, ''Avalon'' was also a major commercial success, topping the charts in Britain, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. The album was additionally certified gold in France, Germany, and Spain, and platinum in Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Speaking of the United States, it was not an ''immediate'' success there, but gradually ascended to SleeperHit status (it went platinum after all), contributing to the cult popularity of Roxy Music west of the Atlantic. Given the band's dissolution the year after its release, the critical and commercial success of ''Avalon'' made it quite the high note for the band to close out on.

''Avalon'' was positively received by fans and critics, who considered it a major step up from ''Manifesto'' and ''Flesh + Blood'' and an indication of the band having regained their artistic footing; in retrospect, it is widely considered Roxy Music's greatest album among critics, though fans tend to place ''Music/ForYourPleasure'' above it. Among other accolades, ''Avalon'' was ranked at No. 336 on ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] 2020 [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time, No. 45 on ''Slant'' magazine's list of the greatest albums of the 1980's (also published in 2012, coincidentally), and No. 593 on Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums list]] of the all time top 3000 albums. Like its predecessors, ''Avalon'' was also a major commercial success, topping the charts in Britain, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. The album was additionally certified gold in France, Germany, and Spain, and platinum in Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Speaking of the United States, it was not an ''immediate'' success there, but gradually ascended to SleeperHit status (it went platinum after all), contributing to the cult popularity of Roxy Music west of the Atlantic. Given the band's dissolution the year after its release, the critical and commercial success of ''Avalon'' made it quite the high note for the band to close out on.

''Avalon'' was positively received by fans and critics, who considered it a major step up from ''Manifesto'' and ''Flesh + Blood'' and an indication of the band having regained their artistic footing; in retrospect, it is widely considered Roxy Music's greatest album among critics, though fans tend to place ''Music/ForYourPleasure'' above it. Among other accolades, ''Avalon'' was ranked at No. 307 on ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] 2003 [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time (it was, however, dropped in the list's 2012 revision), No. 45 on ''Slant'' magazine's list of the greatest albums of the 1980's (also published in 2012, coincidentally), and No. 593 on Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums list]] of the all time top 3000 albums. Like its predecessors, ''Avalon'' was also a major commercial success, topping the charts in Britain, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. The album was additionally certified gold in France, Germany, and Spain, and platinum in Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Speaking of the United States, it was not an ''immediate'' success there, but gradually ascended to SleeperHit status (it went platinum after all), contributing to the cult popularity of Roxy Music west of the Atlantic. Given the band's dissolution the year after its release, the critical and commercial success of ''Avalon'' made it quite the high note for the band to close out on.

* CerebusSyndrome: While not outright grim, the album is a noticeably more melancholic take on the jazzy pop rock of ''Manifesto'' and ''Flesh + Blood''; many of the songs on the album have a distinctly longing, uncertain tone to them and recurring themes of failed/failing relationships.

''Avalon'', released in 1982, is the eighth and final album by British GlamRock band Music/RoxyMusic. Released two years after the commercially successful but controversially-received ''Flesh + Blood'', the album acts as a refinement of the pop rock sound that permeated both both its immediate predecessor and 1979's ''Manifesto'', featuring more carefully constructed song structures and incorporating considerable influences from frontman Bryan Ferry's love of jazz and traditional pop. The end result is, in hindsight, considered the TropeMaker for sophistipop, a subgenre of pop music that Ferry would aid in further refining through his post-Roxy Music solo output. Compared to previous albums, ''Avalon'' is a considerably quieter record, with a noticeably somber tone reflecting the band's own awareness of their fading star in the British popular music landscape. Tellingly, Ferry decided to dissolve Roxy Music once touring for ''Avalon'' finished in 1983.

* CerebusSyndrome: While not outright grim, the album is a noticeably more melancholic take on the jazzy pop rock of ''Manifesto'' and ''Flesh + Blood'', and many of the songs on the album have a distinctly longing, uncertain tone to them and recurring themes of failed/failing relationships.

* ShoutOut: The album cover and title are both inspired by Myth/ArthurianLegend, specifically his final journey through the land of Avalon.

''Avalon'' was positively received by fans and critics, who considered it a major step up from ''Manifesto'' and ''Flesh + Blood'' and an indication of the band having regained their artistic footing; in retrospect, it is widely considered Roxy Music's greatest album among critics, though fans tend to place ''Music/ForYourPleasure'' above it. Among other accolades, ''Avalon'' was ranked at No. 307 on ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] 2003 [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time (it was, however, dropped in the list's 2012 revision) and was placed at No. 45 on ''Slant'' magazine's list of the greatest albums of the 1980's (also published in 2012, coincidentally). Like its predecessors, ''Avalon'' was also a major commercial success, topping the charts in Britain, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. The album was additionally certified gold in France, Germany, and Spain, and platinum in Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Speaking of the United States, it was not an ''immediate'' success there, but gradually ascended to SleeperHit status (it went platinum after all), contributing to the cult popularity of Roxy Music west of the Atlantic. Given the band's dissolution the year after its release, the critical and commercial success of ''Avalon'' made it quite the high note for the band to close out on.