Manifesto by Roxy Music

Manifesto, Roxy Music's sixth studio album, came out in March 1979 on E.G. in Britain, Polydor in Europe and Atco in America, and it's the sound of a band that had called it quits in 1976 strolling back into the room in a sharper suit. It was their first studio record since Siren in 1975, and the core was intact: Bryan Ferry crooning and on keyboards, Andy Mackay's saxophone, Phil Manzanera's guitar and Paul Thompson's drums.

The art-rock angles are still there, but the dance floor keeps tugging at the hem. The disco-tinged "Dance Away" became one of their biggest hits ever, while "Angel Eyes" was cut again for its single release, trading the album's power-pop snap for a slicker, more electronic pulse. Even the sleeve is pure Ferry: a crowd of mannequins he dreamed up with designer Antony Price and others, under a title and lettering borrowed from Wyndham Lewis's literary magazine Blast.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.