Siren is one of Roxy Music's most critically acclaimed albums. In a contemporary review of the album for Rolling Stone, critic Simon Frith found that "Ferry's imagery is focused... and there's less synthesized clutter, fewer sound effects, more straight solo trading." In a glowing review, Melody Maker wrote: "It's a superb album, striking the listener immediately with a force and invention reserved only for the most special musical experiences... There's a crispness and vitality in Chris Thomas' production which is reminiscent of the sense of adventure and cavalier spirit which marked their early recordings, an impetuosity which has lately been absent from their work." Siren placed at number 13 on The Village Voices 1975 Pazz and Jop critics' poll. The Village Voices Robert Christgau found it to be a "Good album—a lot of fast ones and a great hook", later placing it at number 11 on his Dean's List of the best albums of the year. Critic Dave Marsh rated it the year's fourth best album in his Book of Rock Lists. The 1983 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide states: "Siren's title is appropriate; it has that sort of effect on the listener. It is Roxy's masterpiece, calling the listener back by virtue of its finely honed instrumental attack and compelling lyrical attitude." Rob Sheffield, in 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, refers to Siren as "the first Roxy Music album without any failed moments". In the Spin Alternative Record Guide, the album is cited as "Roxy Music's masterpiece" and placed at number 46 on a list of the "Top 100 Alternative Albums." In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine notes that the band had embraced "dance and unabashed pop" at the expense of tempering their distinctive "artier inclinations", but nonetheless found Siren "captivating", noting "a thematic consistency that works in its favor, and helps elevate its best songs... as well as the album itself into the realm of classics." Ira Robbins for Trouser Press, on the other hand, found the album "disappointingly dull" and added that despite featuring "some great tracks... an overabundance of forgettable numbers substantially diminishes its value". Critic Simon Reynolds felt that on Country Life and Siren, "the actual fabric of Roxy's sound gets steadily more conventional and tame." Rolling Stone ranked Siren at number 374 on its 2012 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, describing it as a "delicious LP of lounge-lizard ennui". Vibe included it in its list of the 100 essential albums of the 20th century and wrote that Bryan Ferry "blends the esoteric murk of early Roxy, with the aching, ardently romantic tone that defines their later work". Critic Greil Marcus included it in his appendix of Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island, with the accompanying write-up: "Don Juan Faces Life: With the band hitting the limits of the music that grew from Rubber Soul, Ferry dismantled his lounge lizard act bit by bit, until all that was left was what his entire career had meant to hide: 'an average man,' but one with enough emotion to record for Motown."
Cover art
The cover features bandmember Bryan Ferry's then-girlfriend, model Jerry Hall, on rocks near South Stack, Anglesey. Graham Hughes, working during August 1975, took the cover photo directly below the central span of the bridge on a south-side slope. He worked from sketches produced by Antony Price, with photography featuring Hall striking various poses. The idea for the location was Bryan Ferry's, after he saw a TV documentary about lava flows and rock formations in Anglesey, in which South Stack was heavily featured.
Track listing
All songs written by Bryan Ferry except as noted. On cassette tapes "Whirlwind" and "Just Another High" are swapped, presumably for optimum tape length.
