Bryan Ferry Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023
Bryan Ferry's Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023 gathers five decades of his elegant melancholy into a single, shape-shifting portrait that answers the question: is this collection worth the attention of newcomers and long-term fans alike? Critics agree the box set succeeds as a career overview, its curated arc moving from tender covers and teen-pop detours to sleek solo classics and jazz-age orchestration, and it earned an 81.33/100 consensus score across three professional reviews.
Reviewers consistently praise standout tracks that crystallize Ferry's signature mood. “These Foolish Things - 2023 Edit”, “Slave to Love - 7" Version”, “Can’t Let Go” and “I Thought” are noted as highlights, while renditions like “Simple Twist Of Fate” and “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall” demonstrate his gift for interpretation and reinvention. Critics from Classic Rock Magazine, The Spill Magazine and Record Collector highlight the collection's strengths in songcraft, covers and rare/unreleased material, describing the best songs on the set as emotionally precise and atmospherically consistent rather than wildly surprising.
Where opinions diverge, reviewers temper admiration with nuance: some point to a twilight sameness in later tracks even as others celebrate the compilation's tidy curation and its value as a primer on Ferry's postmodern pastiche of romantic melancholy. The critical consensus suggests Retrospective is both an effective introduction to Ferry's style and a carefully assembled companion for devotees, offering standout tracks and a cohesive through-line that underscore why critics praise his interpretive touch and orchestral sensibility.
Proceed to the full reviews below to explore track-by-track notes, rarities and the moments critics single out as emblematic of Ferry's cool detachment and dramatic flair.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Can't Let Go
1 mention
"“Can’t Let Go” is one of the best songs Ferry has ever written."— The Spill Magazine
I Thought
1 mention
"“I Thought” (which simply breaks the listener’s heart)"— The Spill Magazine
These Foolish Things - 2023 Edit
1 mention
"All of his solo work is worth owning ( These Foolish Things and The Bride Stripped Bare might be his best records)"— Classic Rock Magazine
“Can’t Let Go” is one of the best songs Ferry has ever written.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
These Foolish Things - 2023 Edit
The 'In' Crowd
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Casanova
Let's Stick Together
Sign of the Times
Slave to Love - 7" Version
Don't Stop the Dance
Windswept
Kiss and Tell - 2023 Edit
As Time Goes By
Your Painted Smile
I Put a Spell On You - Single Mix
Which Way to Turn
Knockin' on Heaven's Door - 2023 Edit
Make You Feel My Love
You Can Dance - 2023 Edit
Love Letters
Johnny & Mary - 2023 Edit
Can't Let Go
Tokyo Joe
This Island Earth
Love Me Madly Again
Limbo - 1999 Remaster
When She Walks In the Room
Boys and Girls - 2024 Edit
Zamba - 1999 Remaster
Chain Reaction - 1999 Remaster
Bête Noire - 1999 Remaster
I Thought
The Only Face - 1999 Remaster
Valentine
Loop De Li
Reason or Rhyme
The Price of Love - 2024 Edit
Shame, Shame, Shame
Hold On (I'm Coming)
Just One Look - 1999 Remaster
Girl of My Best Friend - 1999 Remaster
What Goes On
That's How Strong My Love Is
You Go to My Head
Where or When
The Way You Look Tonight
One Night
Simple Twist of Fate
Positively Fourth Street
Song to the Siren
Fooled Around and Fell In Love
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Cl
Critic's Take
Bryan Ferry has always been a doomed romantic, and Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023 makes clear why the best songs on the set - like “These Foolish Things - 2023 Edit” and “Slave to Love - 7\" Version” - still feel distinctly Ferry: dry, distant, anguished and curiously glamorous. David Quantick’s take is conversational and slightly sardonic, noting how the collection moves from loving teen-pop covers to Johnny Marr-led guitar funk, which explains why listeners hunting for the best tracks on the album will find both tender covers and sleek solo classics. He flags These Foolish Things and The Bride Stripped Bare era material as career high points, making this a mighty big entry point for newcomers seeking the best songs on the album. Overall the review reads like admiration tempered by critique, praising Ferry’s emotive peaks while wry about the twilight sameness of some later work.
Key Points
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The best song(s) stand out for their emotive, doomed-romantic delivery and classic Ferry glamour.
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The album’s core strength is its wide-ranging retrospective that showcases Ferry’s covers, stylistic shifts, and consistent romantic persona.
Themes
Critic's Take
Bryan Ferry has his career elegantly mapped on Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023, and the best songs - notably “Can’t Let Go” and “I Thought” - emerge as clear high points. Aaron Badgley writes with measured admiration, pointing to Ferry’s knack for reinvention and interpretation while celebrating the songwriting found on the Compositions disc. The collection’s covers and rare gems mean the best tracks on the box set are those that reveal Ferry’s voice as both interpreter and writer, and “Slave To Love” and “Simple Twist Of Fate” also stand out for how they reshape familiar material. Ultimately this is a brilliantly curated primer that pushes listeners toward Ferry’s fuller albums rather than replacing them.
Key Points
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“Can’t Let Go” is singled out as the best song for its perfect songwriting and strongest lyrics.
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The box set’s core strength is its thoughtful curation that highlights Ferry’s songwriting, interpretive skill, and willingness to take risks.
Themes
Re
Critic's Take
Bryan Ferry has never so much a signature sound as a signature mood, and on Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023 the mood is the point - hushed vignettes of ennui and cinematic reinvention make tracks like “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall” and “The 'In' Crowd” stand out as emblematic highlights. The compilation reframes Roxy and solo material alike, from jazz-age do-overs to dry-ice discos, so when you ask for the best songs on Retrospective you get pieces that dramatise Ferry's cool detachment and sly literalism. In that sense, “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall” is essential, its sound-effect punctuation a declarative, and “The 'In' Crowd” catches Ferry observing the scene from inside it. The best tracks feel curated to prolong the mood rather than to surprise, which is precisely Ferry's abiding talent here.
Key Points
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The best song, “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall”, is best for its bold, literal sound-effect punctuation of Dylan that exemplifies Ferry's interpretive daring.
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The album's core strength is its consistent mood and imaginative reworkings, from jazz-age orchestration to smoky adult pop that sustain Ferry's signature atmosphere.