Country Life

Though not released until 1990, Heart Still Beating was recorded on Roxy Music’s 1982 tour in support of its last album, Avalon. Though the band’s music was in its most forlorn and ethereal state, the live setting always brought out Roxy’s edge. Guitarist Phil Manzanera shines particularly strongly on these recordings—it’s possible he was egged on by the guitar showmanship of King Crimson, which was co-headlining the tour. “Impossible Guitar” is his solo showcase, but Manzanera’s ability to elevate a song's majesty in order to impress a giant theater is evident on “While My Heart Is Still Bleeding” and an utterly elegant rendition of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.” While the band digs sharply into old dance floor killers like “Editions of You” and “Love Is the Drug,” Roxy's specialty at this point was images of gauzy and eerie R&B. You can hear it in “My Only Love” and “Avalon,” but nowhere more so than on a cover of Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane.” Like so many of Bryan Ferry and Roxy’s cover songs, it shows the group’s ability to completely transform material that the listener assumed would never suit it.