Bee Gees

The first fourteen tracks of the first CD cover their folk-pop period of the sixties and early seventies. Their impact on the American charts in this period was somewhat patchy, but most of these reached the UK top ten, while Massachusetts and I've gotta get a message to you both topped the British charts. My favorites from this period are Don't forget to remember and First of May. Saved by the bell was a Robin Gibb solo. To love somebody was a huge UK hit for Nina Simone.

The public lost interest in the Bee Gees, so they got into disco music and this made them bigger UK stars than they had been before, while making them huge stars in America. My favorite tracks from this period are How deep is your love and Too much heaven, while Staying alive, Night fever and Tragedy were also major international hits.

During their disco period, Yvonne Elliman had a UK top ten hit with Love me and a transatlantic hit with If I can't have you, while Candi Staton had a UK top ten hit with Nights on Broadway, Samantha Sang had her only hit with Emotion and Tavares had a huge hit with More than a woman. The Bee Gees' versions of all those songs are included here.

As the disco period ended, the Bee Gees produced albums for others - Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers and Diana Ross. Guilty is a duet that Barry Gibb recorded with Barbra, while Heartbreaker and Islands in the stream are the Bee Gees' own version of songs they wrote for two of the others. No songs from the Diana Ross album are included.

They made another UK chart comeback in the late eighties, topping the chart with You win again. This proved to be a one-off, but they again reached the top ten in the mid-nineties with Alone.

This is an excellent collection of Bee Gees music, far superior to any previous compilation except the boxed set. There are some omissions, but all the essentials are here - and you do need two CD's to get all the essential Bee Gees songs.

BEE GEES - The Record - Their Greatest Hits [DOPPEL-CD]      5 von 5 Punkten
für jeden der seine Sammlung um eine der besten Musikgruppen erweitern will absolut zu empfehlen.

Ein Wermutstropfen bleibt allerdings wie so oft bei sog. "Best of Alben": Der Song "Lamplights" ist nicht auf der Compilation...

Ein Muss für jeden Musikliebhaber      5 von 5 Punkten
Das erfolgreichste Pop - Trio der Welt mit einer ultimativen Werkschau auf einer Doppel - CD. War die bisherige "Best Of" der Brüder schon in die Jahre gekommen und als einfache CD dem Output nicht mehr gewachsen, so lässt diese Zusammenstellung mit 40 Titeln keine Wünsche mehr offen. Zu ihren eigenen 19 Nr.1 - Songs und grössten Hits aus vier Dekaden hören wir erstmals auf einer Bee Gees - CD auch ihre gelungenen Kompositionen für andere Künstler. "Emotion" (Samantha Sang), "Heartbreaker" (Dionne Warwick), "Islands In The Stream" (Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton) sowie "Immortality" (Celine Dion) waren Erfolge aus der Feder der Gebrüder Gibb, die hier neu aufgenommen wurden. Der Grund ist darin zu sehen, dass Polydor nicht die Rechte an diesen Songs besass - und der einfachste Weg, dies zu umgehen sind Neuaufnahmen. Die Qualität der Songs steht außer Zweifel und darüber hinaus liegt der CD ein 16 - seitiges informatives Booklet bei, so dass diese "The Record" ein Muss für jeden Musikliebhaber darstellt. Denn diese Lieder haben mehrere Generationen der Pop - Kultur geprägt.

The Ultimate Collection!      5 von 5 Punkten
The Bee Gees (Brothers Gibb) have released several compilation albums; "Best of Bee Gees Vol 1", "Vol. 2" and "Bee Gees Greatest" which were primarily period pieces. Their "Tales..." Box Set was a complete and exhaustive collection of all of their hits and B-Sides plus some rarities, but only went to 1990. This collection is the first one to address ALL of their big singles including versions formerly only recorded by other artists.

In some cases, critics have arguable compared this to the "Beatles I" released last year. It's not far off. Containing no less than (19) #1 hits written by the Bee Gees and (11) of these recorded by them, it is an impressive set. None of the other songs fell below the Top 30 either in the USA or Europe; an excellent gauge to choose the best singles from well over 50 choices.

The Bee Gees own versions of hits recorded by others fare well enough, but lack the exhuberance of the originals. "Emotion" doesn't reach the heights of Samantha Sang's or Destiny's Child's versions and "Immortality", unfortunately sounds like a demo. Only "Islands In The Stream" really kicks in with Robin leading an R&B version of the song that proves it was originally intended as soul, not just Country.

However, if this is the worst one can find in this remarkable set of (40) songs, that is saying a lot. There is no better proof of the incredible songwriting and harmonizing talent the three Brothers exhibit so easily. This is sure to be a historic item in anyone's collection. Who knows. It may even outsell "Saturday Night Fever" (and it really ought to).

Trivia note: The European version of this collection has Barry Gibb singing the lead entry vocal on "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" and also includes the singles "My World" and "Jumbo" which were mysteriously omitted from the USA release.

Für Alt und Jung      5 von 5 Punkten
Nachdem ich in Köln das Musical Saturday Night Fever gesehen habe, bin ich absoluter Bee Gees Fan. Das soviele bekannte gute Lieder von den Bee Gees sind wußte ich nicht. Es ist die beste CD die ich mir seit langem selbst gekauft habe. Man muß nicht Fan sein, um die CD zu mögen. Die meisten Hits kennt sowieso jeder.
Bewundernswert dass es einer Band gelingt 40 Jahre lang Alt und Jung zu begeistern.

 Weitere Kundenmeinungen

This was the Bee Gees third #1 album in a row and is a great five year feat.

The definitive collection of their disco music      5 von 5 Punkten
There have, of course, been many compilations of Bee Gees music but this one focuses specifically on the late seventies disco phase of their career.

The recordings here begin in 1975, when the Bee Gees were just starting to get into disco music, and end in 1979, when this phase of their career ended. All the famous songs from the period are here including Jive talking, Night fever, Tragedy, You should be dancing, Staying alive, How deep is your love and Too much heaven.

Also here are the Bee Gees' original versions of songs that became hits for others. These include If I can't have you (a transatlantic hit for Yvonne Elliman), Love me (a UK top ten hit for Yvonne Elliman), More than a woman (a transatlantic hit for Tavares), Rest your love on me (an American country number one hit for Conway Twitty) and Nights on Broadway (a UK top ten hit for Candi Staton, but an American hit for the Bee Gess).

There are some other great songs here that you won't normally find on other Bee Gees compilations - songs like Love so right, You stepped into my life and Children of the world.

You can get the big hits on a career-spanning compilation covering their music over several decades and you can also get many of these songs on re-issues of the original albums on which they appeared, but there is something appealing about this compilation. It sets its own mood because the songs all fit together so well. If you are only interested in the Bee Gees for their disco music or if (like me) you appreciate being able to play their disco music separately from all their other stuff, this is ideal

Sehr gut gelungen      5 von 5 Punkten
Habe die Musik als Schallplatte gehabt und kann sie nur Empfehlen als schallplatte oder als cd.Ich bin ein Grosser Fan von den Bee Gess und freue mich wenn ich meine Sammlung erweitern kann.

absolutes Muss für jeden Bee Gees Fan      5 von 5 Punkten
Das mit Abstand beste Album der Bee Gees !!! Alle Hits von 1975-1979 auf zwei CD's. Von Jive-Talkin' bis Children of the World ist wirklich alles enthalten.

Absoluter Geheimtip ! (als US-IMPORT erhältlich)

Das wirklich beste der Bee Gees!      5 von 5 Punkten
Dies eine der wenigen "Best of", auf der man wirklich die Quintessenz des Schaffens der Brüder Maurice, Barry und Robin Gibb findet. Von den ganz frühen fast folk-orientierten Hits wie "New York Mining Desaster 1941" bis zum Dico-orientierten "Tragedy" ist alles dabei. Und man kann sehr gut die Wandlung der Bee Gees hin zur Disco-Musik nachvollziehen, nachdem sie vorher eher als Schmusesänger à la Engelbert verschiren waren. Mit "Nightfever" und "Stayin' Alive" legten sie sich erfolgreich ein neues Image zu, das Ihnen wohl keiner zugetraut hatte. Auf jeden Fall wird einem bei dieser Platte deutlich, warum die Bee Gees imemr noch zu den absoluten Superstars gehören und auch nicht nach dem Sterben von Disco untergegangen sind, wie so viele andere. (Dies ist eine Amazon.de an der Uni-Studentenrezension.)

Dabei hatten die Bee Gees zu dieser Zeit einen recht großen Fundus an Songs; quantitativ ihre produktivste Zeit. Die Qualität war jedoch so erbärmlich, dass die Plattenfirma das Material praktisch komplett ablehnte und der Band eine Frischzellenkur verordnete. (So blieb das Material dieser Zeit größtenteils unveröffentlicht und geisterte über Jahre als legendäres 'Zwillings'-Album 'A Kick In The Head' durch die Bootleg-Landschaft.)

So war LIFE IN A TIN CAN eine ungeliebte Notlösung sowohl für die Bee Gees, die in der kreativen Sackgasse steckten als auch für die Plattenfirma, die ein Produkt vorlegen musste. Es musste etwas Neues her!

RSO, zu diesem Zeitpunkt eine wirklich kleine Plattenfirma, konnte sich allerdings weder weitere Flops noch teure Produzenten leisten. Durch sein Verhandlungsgeschick mit dem amerikanischen Vertriebspartner Atlantic jedoch schaffte es Robert Stigwood, mit Arif Mardin einen der renommiertesten R&B Produzenten Amerikas für das nächste Album zu verpflichten!

Close To Country/Folk, But Far Too Short!      4 von 5 Punkten
poorly received by the public, the concerts were still going strong during this period (1973). Hedging more towards country, The Bee Gees crafted some fine acoustic work here with, "South Dakota Morning, "Living In Chicago" and the upbeat rocker, "Come Home Johnny Bride". "I Don't Wanna Be The One" and "My Life Has Been A Song" are a tad bit of the old cornball ballads. However, "While I Play" is a Barry Gibb standout cut. Recorded with such celebrated studio musicians as, Jim Keltner on drums, pianist Jane Getz, 'Sneaky Pete' on steel guitar and the Bee Gees own, Alan Kendall, this album is first rate. It is a shame it only clocks in at less than 33 minutes.

Wenig erfolgreich      4 von 5 Punkten
Und dennoch: Ich mag dieses Album. Es entstand nicht lange vor dem phänomenalen Comeback der Bee Gees und enthält folk- und countryorientierte Popmusik. Aufgenommen in den Staaten war das Album wenig erfolgreich aber für Bee-Gees-Fans ein Muß.
Die bekannten Gesangsharmonien in etwas ungewohnterer Instrumentierung. Schön!

Auch wenn das Album aus heutiger Sicht sicher etwas angestaubt klingt, so ist es doch das erste Bee Gees Album, das im 16-Spur Verfahren aufgenommen wurde, und was auch - neben der perfekten Produktion - dazu führte, dass es 1996 als MFSL-Masterdisc veröffentlicht wurde.

'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart' war wochenlang die #1 in den Billboard Charts und die erste #1-Single der Bee Gees in den Staaten. Zugleich aber auch der letzte grosse Hit der Brüder für einige Jahre.

The True Bee Gees Concept Album!      5 von 5 Punkten
Although "Odessa" has been stated to be a concept album, "Trafalgar" seems to be more consistent in it's theme and musical harmony. Taking the motif from the battle of Trafalgar, this album excels in diversity and vocal variety. "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" was #1 in the United States for four weeks but "Israel" was only released in Europe as a single. No matter. "Israel" shows demonstrates Barry's flair for screaming rhythm and blues with a marvelously typical passion. "Remembering" and "Dearest" are two ballads that Robin and Barry suck sorrow from their gut that surpasses anything they have sung before this album. Maurice also excels with a strong, consistent heavy bass and a piano pounding energy in songs such as "Somebody Stop The Music", "Israel" and "Walking Back To Waterloo". He was quoted as saying that Barry loved all his multi-layered work on the song "Trafalgar" and told him not to change a thing. He stated he felt surprised and happy to gain brother Barry's unconditional approval. "When Do I" shocks the listener with Robin's vocal range, stretching his pronounced vocals to the limit. Robin also screams out the blues on "Lion In Winter", fading into a rising orchestral arrangement. Maurice gets his way with "It's Just The Way" with some nice overlayed guitar work. Want to rock? "Somebody Stop The Music" pulls out all the stops and proves the Gibbs can still belt them out. On a more somber note, I wonder why "Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" was released as a US single. It is far too long for AM radio and somewhat sullen. However, it did get to #52 on the AM charts, so it couldn't have been that unpopular. What better a song to finish this masterpiece than "Walking Back To Waterloo", a grand finale. What make this album so consistent? All songs have a orchestral lushness that carries from song to song, giving it a rich and appealing feel. Once Maurice was joking that there were too many strings on this album, but in person he said he felt it was a "wonderful" disc. Now this is a concept album and it is no small wonder that Polydor chose to release it on Ultradisc Gold.

The True Bee Gees Concept Album!      5 von 5 Punkten
Although "Odessa" has been stated to be a concept album, "Trafalgar" seems to be more consistent in it's theme and musical harmony. Taking the motif from the battle of Trafalgar, this album excels in diversity and vocal variety. "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" was #1 in the United States for four weeks but "Israel" was only released in Europe as a single. No matter. "Israel" shows demonstrates Barry's flair for screaming rhythm and blues with a marvelously typical passion. "Remembering" and "Dearest" are two ballads that Robin and Barry suck sorrow from their gut that surpasses anything they have sung before this album. Maurice also excels with a strong, consistent heavy bass and a piano pounding energy in songs such as "Somebody Stop The Music", "Israel" and "Walking Back To Waterloo". He was quoted as saying that Barry loved all his multi-layered work on the song "Trafalgar" and told him not to change a thing. He stated he felt surprised and happy to gain brother Barry's unconditional approval. "When Do I" shocks the listener with Robin's vocal range, stretching his pronounced vocals to the limit. Robin also screams out the blues on "Lion In Winter", fading into a rising orchestral arrangement. Maurice gets his way with "It's Just The Way" with some nice overlayed guitar work. Want to rock? "Somebody Stop The Music" pulls out all the stops and proves the Gibbs can still belt them out. On a more somber note, I wonder why "Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" was released as a US single. It is far too long for AM radio and somewhat sullen. However, it did get to #52 on the AM charts, so it couldn't have been that unpopular. What better a song to finish this masterpiece than "Walking Back To Waterloo", a grand finale. What make this album so consistent? All songs have a orchestral lushness that carries from song to song, giving it a rich and appealing feel. Once Maurice was joking that there were too many strings on this album, but in person he said he felt it was a "wonderful" disc. Now this is a concept album and it is no small wonder that Polydor chose to release it on Ultradisc Gold.

Einziger Vermouthstropfen: Die Song fallen in ihrer Qualität ein wenig zum Ende hin ab; eigentlich müßte es umgekehrt sein...