Search - Bee Gees :: The Ultimate Bee Gees (2 CD)

Good compilation, but please don't use the same songs for My

E. Parra | 11/05/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Ultimate is a compilation of what could be considered the most representative songs of the Bee Gees in the 50th anniversary of the group. Rhino's remastering makes this compilation much better than those made by Polydor in his previous collections. In the last compilation by Polydor, The Bee Gees - Their Greatest Hits: The Record, the music actually sounds louder but not necessarily better. Rhino remastering of the songs make them sound more crystalline and without the loud volume used in The Record.

The collection itself is great for casual fans that want music in their collection of this band. And this band without any doubt is one of the most representative of the modern history of music worldwide, the song selection is very successful and when you finish playing the CD the listener is eager to hear more, which is a very good sign.

The biggest problem facing by this compilation will be their capacity to attract the usual fans of the band because the songs in this collection have appeared again and again in several previous compilations like Greatest, Number Ones, Love Songs, The Record, and so on. Everything indicates that the record label plans to re-edit over and over again these songs in different packaging in the best style of bands like Kiss, who make so many compilations than the fans have enough of it. Hopefully, the Gibb brothers do not follow this behavior since eventually ends up disappointing the fans.

Hopefully with Mythology Rhino reconsider the selection of songs and make major changes. Only regular fans of the band would purchase a set of 4 discs, but if those discs bring the same songs as always many of these fans will not buy Mythology. I think the song selection in Mythology of Maurice Gibb and Andy Gibb is appropriate since most of these songs are not acquired with ease and are available with the original sound, which is very poor. To hear Overnight or Wildflower among others, with good remastering is the strength of this compilation of Mythology which attracts regular followers.

But the disks representing Barry and Robin need important changes to include older songs that have not been remastered yet as Baby As You Turn Away or Country Lanes, for example or maybe solo songs like Shine Shine, My Eternal Love, Another Lonely Night In NY, Like a Fool, among others, and even better than that, unpublished material!

Gibb Brothers and Rhino have the final word; hopefully they realize what the usual fans want, rather than try to sell the same songs over and over again!"

Rhino does it again! Brand new 2009 Bee Gee's anthology is

Paul Tognetti | Cranston, RI USA | 11/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you grew up in the 1970's you probably bought a lot of Bee Gees records. Just about everyone did. In fact, I could be wrong but as far as I can tell their string of 6 consecutive #1 hits in the late 70's is unprecedented. Elvis never did it. Neither did The Beatles, Elton John, Springsteen, Michael Jackson or for that matter Frank Sinatra. It was truly a remarkable run. If you grew up in the 1960's you also probably bought a lot of Bee Gees records. In those days they were a phenonenon on both sides of the Atlantic and in Australia as well. They have left us an incredible body of work. Now in 2009 America's premier reissue label Rhino offers the exciting 2 disc anthology "The Ultimate Bee Gees".



"The Ultimate Bee Gees" offers up a a total of 40 tracks featuring just about all of of the groups biggest hits from their debut 1966 Australian single "Spicks and Specks" (presented here "live") to the groups very final single release in 2001. Of course you will also find each and every one of the groups major chart hits including memorable tunes like "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart", "Night Fever", "Nights on Broadway" and oh so many more. Aside from their obvious vocal skills, Barry Robin and Maurice Gibb were also very gifted and prolific songwriters. In fact, for all practical purposes the group only sang songs they themselves wrote. In fact, as far as I can tell the brothers Gibb penned every one of the tunes on these discs. Amazing! I would also like to recommend a few of my personal favorites including "I Started A Joke", "Fanny (Be Tender WIth My Love)" and the groups last Top Ten hit "One" from 1989. Also featured are a number of "live" recordings of tunes the group wrote that were huge hits for other artists. Hear the boys' take on "More Than A Woman" (Tavares), "Heartbreaker" (Dionne Warwick) and "Islands In The Stream" (Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton).



"The Ultimate Bee Gees" comes complete with a nicely done 20 page booklet that includes rather extensive liner notes written by Tim Rice that recalls the origins and the glory days of this remarkable group. Also available for a few dollars more is the "Deluxe" editiion featuring 18 previously unreleased videos of the group performing some of their biggest and best. Sadly, we lost Maurice Gibb altogether too soon in 2003 at the age of 53. But "The Ultimate Bee Gees" will allow us to celebrate rhe music of the Bee Gees for many years to come. They had a sound all their own and their amazing harmonies remain a joy to listen to. This is clearly the finest Bee Gee's anthology to date! Very highly recommended!"

No regrets

R. Blair | Chicago, IL | 05/05/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes you buy a CD and, after listening to it, wish you hadn't bought it for whatever reason. Not the case here. Excellent music, good quality sound on two generously-filled CDs. I would recommend this to anyone who does not already own these songs on other albums. Very career encompassing. As one who was more into folk, rock and blues, I tend to favor the pre-disco era songs. I don't dislike the dance tunes, and some of them are quite good, I just prefer the older stuff. No one that I can recall had harmonies as tight as these three brothers. As a child, I listened to the Everly's and the early Beatles (how could I not) during the sixties and early seventies. The Bee Gees were the succesors to those two acts, so to speak.

After the mid-sixties, the Beatles had pretty much abandoned the harmony and were each doing there own thing. For those who claim that the earlier Bee Gees were Beatles knock-offs, I have one or two observations to make. To start, when the Beatles themselves hit the bigtime, first in Britain and then America, there were dozens of groups playing the same style (beat groups). Nobody was really copying anyone, that was the sound at the time! So when the Bee Gees hit the international scene in 1967 their sound was very similar to certain elements of the Beatles and others who embraced pop and psychedelia. However, anyone familiar with that era can tell you that the Beatles and the Bee Gees had their differences. The main difference is that, while the Beatles were becoming four creative and talented individuals creating records in the studio, the Bee Gees continued, for the most part, to remain a cohesive recording and performing act, lending their abilities to write songs with beautifully executed harmonies to the contemporary scene in the late sixties and early seventies. As such, they coud be seen as an extension of what the earlier Beatles had accomplished, or possibly what the Beatles would have sounded like in the same period if they had not fragmented (I know this sounds like a bit of a stretch coming from a HUGE Beatle fan and maybe some of you are already scratching your heads). But let's face it, the Beatles had dropped the Moon and June lyrics by '67. The Bee Gees sang what were wonderfully contemporary love songs dipped in that pop, soul, psychedlic mix that their beautiful voices and close harmonies accentuated. Great stuff. And considering they were barely out of their teens, some surprisingly introspective lyrics as well.

Let me introduce you to my wife. She loves to dance. She loves the disco stuff. Soooo, for I who have nothing (money, that is) this disc is a great buy. It has just about every great dance tune that she could want. She also likes some of the older stuff as well, her favorite being "How can you mend a lonely heart". So, this disc has the power to please fans of the older and newer Bee Gees music.

If you are heavily into the Bee Gees, then you probably already have their other albums and don't need this, but for everyone else it seems to be a good bet."