Following Roxy Music's first split (after the excellent SIREN album) in 1976, Bryan Ferry decided to try his hand at his first solo album entirely consisting of his own compositions. While far from perfect, the result is an album that is quite good.
What is most interesting with IN YOUR MIND is that it is the most straightfoward rock n roll work Ferry has done to date. It is completely stripped of all the glam-rock and art-rock trimmings of most of his early Roxy Music and solo work. So Ferry's trademark croon and vibrato may sound a tad bizarre at first in such an ordinary rock setting, but after a few listens, it all seems to work.
Though the album is far from being the best example of Ferry's songwriting skills, it does contain some fine moments. "Tokyo Joe" is fun, infectious, and downright weird. It sounds like a stripped-down demo that found itself left off of SIREN or COUNTRY LIFE.
"Party Doll" and "One Kiss" are almost equally catchy, but not nearly as fun and entertaining.
Aside from these the rest of the songs are very hit or miss. The one exception, however, is the title track, wich closes out the album. What initially sounds like a Ferry-penned Christmas Carol turns into a thrilling anthem, complete with an excellent guitar solo by the great Chris Spedding. And while the lyrics may border on the absurd and pretentious side ("see the veiled prophet's withered gaze reflect the nouvelle-vague."), musically, this is one of Ferry's finest.
There are, of course, better Ferry solo albums out there, but IN YOUR MIND is definitely enjoyable, and it's sounds as though Ferry had some fun making this one! Don't let the silly album cover scare you away- give it a try

Rather than writing about the wonderful music, since the other reviewers have done such a good job of it, I'll comment on the newly issued remasters of the Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry releases. They are spectacular! Each release sounds markedly better than any previous version, including the original vinyl pressings. You will hear things on this record that you didn't know were in the grooves. And the HDCD encoding is a special treat for those people with compatible CD players, though not required to hear the glories of one of the all-time great bands.

Having encountered this album from the perspective of an early Roxy Music fan, I was initially disappointed it did not contain the kind of experimentation characteristic of the Roxy 'early years'. But since then this recording has grown much on me and has become one of my favorite albums of all time. This is Brian Ferry's first solo album of all original material and it is truly an artistic gem. In this work he weaves blues, R&B, 70's funk, and even oriental themes (on Tokyo Joe) into a seamless pop album with intelligence, superb musicianship and sophisticated production. My favorite tracks are "Love me Madly Again", "Party Doll", and the title track "In Your Mind".

Several familiar members of Roxy Music contribute to this album including TGPT, John Wetton, and Phil Manzanera. But it is British guitar ace Chris Spedding who blows me away on this album. His economical approach stands in contrast to the familiar 'wall of sound' cascades of Manzanera's early Roxy style. So few guitarists I know can craft such deceptively simple yet powerful flourishes and solos which never overshadow but strengthen the songs. Spedding's slide work on this record is especially strong. As a musician, I know how rare this kind of tasteful playing is and it is all over this album. I absolutely love it. If you are a fan of middle period Roxy (Siren, Manifesto), you will too.

They say nobody's perfect, but that didn't stop BF from trying, and on this record he came close to succeeding. From the pop whimsy of 'All Night Operator' and 'Tokyo Joe' to the lounge/mysticism of the opening and closing tracks, a staggeringly original album (and not just because it was his first all-originals solo endeavor). But the real deal here is 'Love Me Madly Again' which is simply one of the greatest songs in human history. Literally awe-inspiring.

Correction: one of the best albums of the 70's. Listening to this today, only several of the songs sound dated, with that clever-clever penchant of Ferry's, but on the whole, you can shuffle this with Massive Attack and Swan Vestas and you wouldn't know it wasn't current. Love Me Madly holds up as an epic, yearning, beautiful groove - Ferry's application of strings is brilliant and prophetic. I'm certain Craig Armstrong has this in his record collection.