Olympia (Bryan Ferry album)

Olympia is the thirteenth studio album by the British singer Bryan Ferry, released by Virgin Records on 25 October 2010. Co-produced by Ferry and Rhett Davies, Olympia is Ferry's first album of predominantly original material since 2002's Frantic.

Olympia
Studio album by
Bryan Ferry
Released25 October 2010
GenreSophisti-pop
Length49:18
LabelVirgin, Astralwerks (US)[1]
ProducerBryan Ferry, Rhett Davies, Johnson Somerset
Bryan Ferry chronology
Dylanesque
(2007)		 Olympia
(2010)		 The Jazz Age
(2012)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The A.V. ClubB[3]
Clash7/10[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]
Mojo[6]
Pitchfork Media7.5/10[7]
PopMatters8/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Slant Magazine[10]
Spin[11]

The album features a wide range of contributors, including co-songwriter David A. Stewart of Eurythmics, Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay of Roxy Music, the electronic group Groove Armada, David Gilmour, Marcus Miller, Scissor Sisters, Nile Rodgers, Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, Steve Nieve, and Flea. Early in the recording process Olympia was developed as a Roxy Music project, with participation from numerous guests; however, despite the presence of other Roxy Music members at the sessions, it was released as a Bryan Ferry solo project.

The album peaked at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart.

Background

The album features some songs previously recorded by Ferry in collaborations with other artists. "You Can Dance", a version of which appeared as "U Can Dance" on DJ Hell's 2009 album Teufelswerk, is the record's first single. A version of "Shameless" previously appeared as a collaboration with Groove Armada on their album Black Light earlier in 2010. The album also features covers of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" and Traffic's "No Face, No Name, No Number." The album came out in three versions: a standard edition with 10 songs, the "Deluxe Edition" containing two additional tracks and a DVD featuring "The Making of Olympia" documentary and a promo video for the song "You Can Dance", and the "Collector's Edition" with the 12 tracks and DVD from the Deluxe Edition as well as a second CD containing remixes and a 40-page hardback book.

In 2011 the single "Alphaville" was sent to a number of radio stations and appeared on BBC Radio 2's playlist and 106.9FM WHCR's

The album art features the fashion model Kate Moss and refers to the Édouard Manet 1863 painting of the same name.[12]

Critical reception

Reviewing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote of the album "Such command of mood is a tell-tale sign of a quiet perfectionist, but Olympia doesn't feel fussy; it's unruffled and casually elegant, its pleasing familiarity reflecting the persistence of an old master honing his craft."[13] And reviewing for Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan wrote of the album "Ferry could do a record with the Star Wars cantina band and it would come out pretty much the same: a bunch of lush, languorous Euro-glam ballads about love's labour's lost, all of them slathered in a sexy-vampire croon that makes lines about being 'faithfully entwined in a shameless world' seem like some deep shit."[14]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Can Dance"Bryan Ferry, David A. Stewart4:29
2."Alphaville"Ferry, Stewart4:25
3."Heartache by Numbers"Ferry, Jason Sellards, Scott Hoffman4:56
4."Me Oh My"Ferry4:30
5."Shameless"Ferry, Andy Cato, Tom Findlay4:36
6."Song to the Siren"Tim Buckley, Larry Beckett5:56
7."No Face, No Name, No Number"Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood4:40
8."BF Bass (Ode to Olympia)"Ferry, Phil Manzanera4:09
9."Reason or Rhyme"Ferry6:52
10."Tender Is The Night"Ferry, Stewart4:35
Deluxe Edition extra tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Whatever Gets You Thru the Night"John Lennon3:19
12."One Night"Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, Anita Steiman4:00
13."DVD ("The Making of Olympia" and "You Can Dance" promo video)"  
Collector's Edition CD 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Can Dance" (Fred Falke mix) 7:08
2."Alphaville" (Time and Space Machine mix) 7:06
3."Heartache by Numbers" (Circus Parade mix) 7:27
4."Me Oh My" (DJ Cleaver mix)Ferry6:42
5."Shameless" (Still Going mix) 8:12
6."BF Bass (Ode to Olympia)" (West End Wolf mix) 9:21
7."Reason or Rhyme" (Instrumental) 6:54

Personnel
Technical

References
  1. "Bryan Ferry - Olympia (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  2. "Olympia - Bryan Ferry - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  3. Phipps, Keith. "Bryan Ferry: Olympia".
  4. "Bryan Ferry - Olympia".
  5. "Olympia".
  6. Wirth, Jim (November 2010). "Bryan Ferry Olympia". Mojo. p. 109.
  7. "Bryan Ferry: Olympia Album Review - Pitchfork". Pitchfork.
  8. "Bryan Ferry: Olympia". 25 October 2010.
  9. "Rolling Stone review".
  10. "Bryan Ferry Olympia – Album Review – Slant Magazine".
  11. "Bryan Ferry, 'Olympia' (Astralwerks)". 14 October 2010.
  12. Mirkin, Steven (15 October 2011). "Bryan Ferry comes back in a big way". The Orange County Register. p. Show Saturday 5.
  13. "Olympia – Bryan Ferry – Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  14. Dolan, Jon (26 October 2010). "Olympia".
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