The Bee Gees

One

The Bee Gees Still Do Good Music!

Review Score:

(8/10)
In 1987, when the Bee Gees made a comeback after a long hiatus with the "E.S.P" album, the comeback was considered a failure because of poor album sales in the United States. The results were better overseas for E.S.P. During the "E.S.P" album, the Bee Gees had long shed their "Saturday Night Fever - Disco Days" and kept up with the changing music times by producing a solid adult contemporary album. The Bee Gees deserve a lot of credit for being able to keep up with the times. In a lot of ways, "One" continues the musical path that the Bee Gees did with "E.S.P", by continuing the adult contemporary direction. "One" was released in 1989 and had much better results including a Top 10 single - the title song "One".

This album marked was the first Bee Gees album since the death of their brother Andy Gibb in 1988. There was a lot of talk of Andy joining his three brothers in the group and on this particular album. Andy's death does play a role on this album. There are several songs that no doubt are reflections of some of the pain that Barry, Robin, and Maurice feel for their brother. This is by no means a somber collection of songs, but the specter of Andy is clearly seen on here. At first the song "Tears" seemed like a song about a lost love, but after listening to the lyrics, I get the impression this is spun more as a tribute to Andy with such lines as "Heaven only knows how much I'm missing you", "You're Still Inside and I'm Not Ashamed", and "I Can't Forget Your Face, I Call Your Name". Another song that is a reminder of Andy is "Wish You Were Here". Once again, although this is a song about a lost love there are lines like "Drying these tears I cry, They Were Good Times". Sometimes a tragedy does have a way of inspiring creativity in music and I think this happens here because these are two very good songs by the Bee Gees.

There is one song that has a Saturday Night Fever theme to it and that is "It's My Neighborhood". This is definitely the best song on the album. This has a very catchy 'street like' theme to it. Although its not a Disco song, it does have a feel to the Tony Manero days in Brooklyn. Others must have thought so as well - because this song would be included in the Broadway version of Saturday Night Fever about 7 years later. The Bee Gees went back to some roots here and created a great song that kept up with the times. Another song that keeps up with the times is "Bodyguard". In this song, it has a more of an R&B feel to it and when you hear the intro notes you might actually think it is an R&B song. "Ordinary Lives" shows the Bee Gees remain creative as ever when there is some spoken words in the song that go "We were Ordinary People Living Ordinary Lives" and "The clock on the wall keeps moving. Time Stands Still. No Matter How the Dice May Roll. Someone else always gets to Call the Number". These spoken words (which I believe is spoken by Barry Gibb) adds a nice dimension to this song. "One" is a nice song, but actually one of the weaker tracks. Finally "Tokyo Nights" is another nice song with a slight "asian like" that really is in sync with the theme of the song.

When a lot of people think of the Bee Gees, they immediately think of the Barry Gibb falsetto vocals - and in general Barry's vocals. On this album, Robin Gibb really gets some good opportunities for lead vocals and shows he is a fine vocalist. Robin plays as key a role as Barry does on this album. In fact, Barry does a nice job supporting Robin on many songs. Robin shines on the song "Bodyguard".

I have the version of this CD that was released in the United States. They decided to include the track "You Win Again" from E.S.P. instead of the track "Wing and a Prayer". This was probably to because "You Win Again" did so well in Europe and overseas. They probably tried to give the song another shot in the U.S., so it payed to put it on the CD. Regardless of what CD, "You Win Again" is a great song. To me, on the E.S.P album (which I feel is a good album), it makes a strong statement that the Bee Gees are back and make good music. It has a wonderful mix of percussion and mantra vocals - plus some nice harmonies between Barry and Robin.

As for the liner notes - on my CD, all of the lyrics are included. There are production credits as well. There is no tribute or statement to Andy - and that did surprise me. If you are Bee Gees fan, the songs on this collection aren't the most catchy songs as on previous albums - but these are good songs. The Bee Gees prepared well for this album and it paid off. I'd recommend getting this collection.

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