Greatest Hits

AMG Review of Greatest Hits

Dave Thompson
All Music Guide

The idea of titling a Bryan Ferry best-of CD after what must be one of his least-enjoyable hit records is a strange one -- even at the time, "Tokyo Joe" sounded a pale contrivance when compared to the majesty of earlier Ferry compositions, and time has not altered that dour scenario. (Nor, incidentally, should the compilation's Japanese origin.) Such mundanity is, however, par for the course, as Tokyo Joe: Best of Bryan Ferry pointedly refuses to open out into anything especially noteworthy. Skimming through both Ferry's solo career, and his years with Roxy Music, twenty songs essentially duplicate every other Ferry retrospective out there, to become less a "greatest hits" than one more "same old bits." Unless, of course, there's someone left out there who doesn't already own all the songs already. A hermit in the Himalayas, perhaps?