DVD Review: More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music

Written by Caballero Oscuro

One of the most influential bands of all time, Roxy Music gets a well-deserved and expertly produced career retrospective in this new DVD. Originally broadcast by the BBC in late 2008, the documentary covers the entire active recording career of the band as well as their recent reunions. The DVD expands on the original broadcast with nearly a half hour of additional interviews, as well as three previously unreleased live tracks from a 2006 London concert.

The film is endorsed by and features new interviews with all of the principal players in the band, including early member Brian Eno. To flesh out their legacy with outside perspectives, the film includes exclusive interviews with other music luminaries inspired by the band including Bono, John Taylor (Duran Duran), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), Siouxsie Sioux, and Nile Rodgers (Chic). The production team’s exhaustive research also led to inclusion of interviews with the band’s cover photographer for all of their album covers, the cover model from the first album (still looking good over 35 years later), and legendary studio engineer Bob Clearmountain among others. With this unprecedented level of artist, acolyte, and associate participation, More Than This is almost certain to be the definitive document of the band.

The band was formed in the early '70s by art school grad Bryan Ferry as an outlet for him to make “weird music for art school students” with little thoughts to fame, fortune, or conformity. Their flamboyant emergence on the UK scene signaled the dawn of art rock, but also acted as a direct predecessor for the soon-to-come punk and new wave movements. Steve Jones and Bono comment that the band’s early work had a huge influence on the punk movement, while John Taylor exposes how their glam rock look dictated the fashion checklist for his future band: denim no, eyeliner yes.

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