Bee Gees

Barry probte hier offensichtlich den 'Crooner'. Nie zuvor (und schon gar nicht danach) sang er mit derart tiefer Stimme, was aber eher positiv zu Buche schlug.

Zwar liefen die Singles 'Don't Forget To Remember' und 'I.O.I.O.' in Europa und 'If Only I Had My Mind On Something Else' in Amerika recht gut, der Erfolg, den Robin mit seiner Single 'Saved By The Bell' vorgelegt hatte, stellte sich jedoch nicht ein.
Parallel zu diesem Album entstand ein einstündiger gleichnamiger Fernsehfilm mit 5 neuen Bees Gees Songs (alle auf diesem Album). Neben Barry und Maurice wirkten Lulu, Blind Faith, Paul Simon und andere als Darsteller mit. Gedreht wurde im August 1969, die BBC zeigte den Film 1971 - dann nie wieder (glücklicherweise).

Bereits einen Monat nach Veröffentlichung von 'Cucumber Castle' trafen sich Maurice und Robin zu ersten Aufnahmen für das Reunion Album '2 Years On'.

Two Out Of Three Is Not Bad!      4 von 5 Punkten
When "Robin's Reign" was a disappointment and Barry and Maurice scrapped their solo efforts, "Cucumber Castle" carried on the Bee Gees name. Extremely typical in their ballad approach throughout this album, they still manage to bring in a few gems...and a few duds. "If Only I Had My Mind On Something Else," is one example. Singing about captains, submarines and an ace in an airplane flying to Spain, might have been more serious in its lyrics as it is in it's sound. "The Lord," "My Thing," "The Chance Of Love" and "Turning Tide" all seem odd and frivolous, as if to fill the album with whatever came to mind. Teenage love songs come to mind. But remember, the Bee Gees were a 'singles' oriented group at the time. They released three singles from this album that went nowhere. Some face is saved by the tempo building "I Lay Down And Die" and an extremely strong blues number called "Bury Me Down By The River," where Barry really belts it out. I only wish they had given credit to the female back-up singers. The Gibbs are, after all, songwriters first. They were paid compliments from this collection by Janis Joplin, who covered "I.O.I.O." and Englebert Humpberdink who recorded "Sweetheart." All in all, a modest, pleasant effort.

Gut, aber nicht perfekt...      3 von 5 Punkten
1969 trennten sich die Beegees wegen Egoproblemen und Probleme im Management. Robin Gibb nahm eine Soloplatte auf und Maurice und Barry brachten dieses Album zum gleichnahmigen Film "Cucumber Castle" raus. Das Album enthält zwei zwar nicht weltweite-Aber immerhin hierzulande erfolgreiche Hits: "IOIO" und "Don`t forget to remember". Diese und alle anderen Songs haben nette, eingängige Melodien, doch was dieser CD einfach fehlt ist Robin. Dieses Album ist der Beweis, dass die Beegees nicht die Beegees sind, außer wenn sie zusammen sind. Glücklicherweise erfolgte 1970 die Versöhnung und es gelangen wieder weltweite Hits und bessere Alben.

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.

Dabei zählen offenbar weniger die deutschen als eher die amerikanischen und britischen Charts als Maßstab. Wo "Don't Forget To Remember" die Spitze der Charts erreicht haben soll, bleibt jedoch ein Geheimnis. Auch "I Started A Joke", ohnehin lediglich in Amerika als Single veröffentlicht, schaffte es dort "nur" auf einen sechsten Platz.

Alle Songs dieser neuen CD sind auch auf der letzten Compilation "THEIR GREATEST HITS: The Record" von 2001 enthalten! Es gibt also nichts Neues, keine Überraschung. Ausnahme ist "Man In The Middle", ein Song vom Album "This Is Where I Came In", der als Tribute an Maurice diese CD abschließt.

In England hat dieses Album 2 alternative Tracks. Zum einen "Immortality" sowie die neue Version von "Island In The Stream". Dafür fehlen "Lonely Days" und "Love So Right".

Ein Teil der (Übersee-) Erstauflage enthält eine Bonus-DVD mit Teilen aus der britischen Musiksendung "An Audience With", wo die Bee Gees 1998 live auftraten. Die DVD enthält fünf Titel, die in den USA bisher noch nicht gesendet wurden. Offenbar aus diesem Grund erscheint diese DVD auch nur in Amerika als Bonus.

Ein weiteres Beispiel dafür, wie die Industrie es sich mit ihren Kunden verscherzt. Altes Material zum x-ten Mal vermarktet und das zum vollen Preis. Kein Wunder, wenn der Kunde diese Politik mit Konsumverweigerung bestraft. Denn dieses Album bracht nun wirklich niemand. Es gibt längst genügend Hit-Kopplungen der Bee Gees, die auch noch viel besser sind. Aber Polydor musste die letzte Möglichkeit dieses Material zu Geld zu machen, noch schnell nutzen.
Ende nächsten Jahres verliert die Plattenfirma die Rechte an der Musik der Brüder Gibb.

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