Search - Bee Gees :: First

Stop laughing and get this album now, you'll be amazed how g

K. Lewis | OZ | 04/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pre-Disco by 10 years and the Bee Gees first is full of Beatlesque tunes and incredible vocals, mainly from then lead singer Robin. Maurice plays the lumbering Mellotron on "every christian lion hearted..." it sounds amazingly like a lost Moody Blues track. This album is far superior to my initial initiation to early Bee Gees "Best of Bee Gee's, this album is more of a complete picture of what these 3 young men were capable of. THere is no sense to try and explain to your laughing friends why the Bee Gees are so good, no one will understand but the true music lover."

How They Got From Here To Disco b.s...unreal!

R. L. MILLER | FT LAUDERDALE FL USA | 11/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know--this band was written off when this album was still "recent" as a cheap ripoff of the Beatles, but there were lots of singers who either sounded like Elvis or had an imitation of him, but they still got recorded and got radio play. When I first heard the single of "New York Mining Disaster", I thought it was a new Beatles release. Then the AM DJ who'd just spun it said who did it and I said; "What's a Bee Gees?" For a first release, though, this album is unbelievably versatile--the tracks on the first couple of Beatles' albums tended to sound alike. First off, Atlantic put it out in its full 14-song glory rather than trim it to 11 like Capitol did with the Beatles. Atlantic didn't add the other 3 tracks as "CD bonus tracks"--it's always been that long. "Turn Of the Century" starts it out with a Renaissance feel. "Holiday" is more of a sentimental Barry Gibb solo. "Red Chair Fade Away" is done in 3/4 time, unusual for pop. "One Minute Woman" resembles "To Love Somebody" as soulful, R&B numbers (which might have been Distant Early Warning that Disco was in the future). "In My Own Time" is more Beatle-esque rock. "Every Christian Lion-Hearted Man Will Show You" evokes visions of a cathedral, monks chanting and all, plus someone getting cute with the "bend" dial on a mellotron. That's right, I said "mellotron", like Yes, early King Crimson and Spock's Beard use. There's comic relief in "Craise Finton Kirk"'s victorola feel, but a lot of my friends chose to take it at face value and hate it. That rounds out the old LP side one, and I'm not going to go into detail about the other seven "side b" tracks. Suffice it to say that you get just as much versatility out of those.

So why did they go disco? I don't know--if the Fab Four hadn't broken up before disco hit it big, maybe they would have done it as well. Or maybe Lennon wouldn't have stood for it and the breakup would have occurred then. We know Sir Paul dabbled in it, as witness "Silly Love Songs". But I always preferred the Bee Gees this way, a song-oriented pop rock band.

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