All the ridicule I remember them taking when I was growing up.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 9 March 2008 16:41 (sixteen years ago) link
The new "remixes" on the Greatest Hits really breathe new life into a few of their songs, e.g., the Supreme Beings of Leisure's remix of How Deep Is Your Love, The Teddybears' remix of Stayin' Alive.
I wish they had more of these remixes on The Greatest Hits.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 9 March 2008 16:43 (sixteen years ago) link
I do have to say that "Tragedy" is way overrated, though, the sound of someone burning out on a sound, and badly.
Sort of true for the whole Spirits Having Flown, but that's part of what makes those songs so compelling.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 9 March 2008 17:25 (sixteen years ago) link
"ESP" has "You Win Again" on it at least (I'm pretty sure), that song's up there w/anything they did
cosign
― tremendoid, Sunday, 9 March 2008 20:16 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah, it is the best bee gees song, hands down
― remy bean, Sunday, 9 March 2008 20:19 (sixteen years ago) link
i also thing tragedy is pretty great
― remy bean, Sunday, 9 March 2008 20:20 (sixteen years ago) link
I've been listening to Spirits Having Flown this afternoon (the single), and it's pretty great.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 9 March 2008 20:24 (sixteen years ago) link
it is a surprisingly sweet song, with unexpected folksiness that i think is lacking from the rest of the album ... a stripped-back cover could be a great single
― remy bean, Sunday, 9 March 2008 20:29 (sixteen years ago) link
Agreed, I think the title track is my favorite song from that album. Yeah, Tragedy sounds kinda...overcooked? Too Much Heaven's great, though.
― dell, Sunday, 9 March 2008 20:39 (sixteen years ago) link
"Tragedy" is a good tune with a sub-Moroder production. Because it's a good tune, some believe it's classic.
Anyway, that "beating" they took was, like, 20 years ago in the decade following disco's demise. Since that time they've been pretty well re-established as pop royalty.
I don't doubt that for a while it was weird to say you liked the Bee Gees or anything. It's just weird for someone to talk about feeling guilty for liking them today, as if it were still 1989 or something.
― Naive Teen Idol, Sunday, 9 March 2008 21:05 (sixteen years ago) link
Well, I'm old. And I'm over it. These songs are great.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 9 March 2008 21:07 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, Tragedy sounds kinda...overcooked?
Yeah, desperate somehow. Like what Ned said above: It's the sound of a band trying too hard to squeeze one more song from a genre that they knew had overstayed its welcome (commercially, at that time). But like I said, I think that's precisely what makes the song compelling.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 9 March 2008 21:32 (sixteen years ago) link
That's a nice theory ("burning out on a sound") but it seems to miss the fact that they actually hadn't tried that sound before. As I said above, the only thing they're trying too hard at on "Tragedy" is to mimic Giorgio Moroder's computer disco style, which was never their thing before or after "Tragedy." I think reading this "Their moment had passed" thing into it is a little melodramatic. Granted it's the Bee Gees, but still.
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 10 March 2008 08:13 (sixteen years ago) link
So I see that a 3-cd box set rerelease of Odessa was released today. Any thoughts on this from people who've heard it? Is it worth seeking out? I love the album despite its lyrical inanity; the vocals are so gorgeous, esp. "Melody Fair". And "Seven Seas Symphony" is stupendous, the kind of tender symphonic pop of which I wish I knew more good examples.
― Euler, Tuesday, 13 January 2009 20:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Apparently released here tomorrow. I will pick it up. Only know the album, but will not own an original version until I have this.
― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 00:38 (fifteen years ago) link
honestly, who gives a shit about mono mixes? never understood why those are "bonus tracks"... curious to hear the other stuff though
― There was even a brief period when I preferred Sally Forth. (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 00:44 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah it looks like there's more than mono mixes thankfully.
― Euler, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 01:50 (fifteen years ago) link
When they embraced disco they embraced their inanity more, emblematic of the nineteen seventies as a decade.
― Dan Landings, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 02:15 (fifteen years ago) link
uh for me, they have a select few excellent singles. plowing through a mountain load of their material in search of goodness, as i was recently, proves a cumbersome task, however.
― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 08:58 (fifteen years ago) link
^^^so wrong
― There was even a brief period when I preferred Sally Forth. (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 16:52 (fifteen years ago) link
honestly, who gives a shit about mono mixes?
some guys. i like them when it's one of those "band were involved with the mono mix, label just paid some dude to do the stereo mix" situations. also bee gees' 1st sound better blasting in mono for some reason.
― HELPING CHILDREN THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 16:55 (fifteen years ago) link
HELPING CHILDREN THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Hahaha. "Hi everyone, let's pitch in 'n get cracking..."
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 16:57 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, sometimes the mono mix is the better sounding. I think that's the only reason. I certainly prefer the mono of SF Sorrow. I don't think I need a 3cd version of Odessa. I bet the public library will get a copy of it eventually.
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 16:58 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, I'm hoping to hear more about what this beast offers, before buying or rejecting it. The packaging sounds great: a red velvet box (get your mind out of the gutter) like the original vinyl release. But are the demos etc gorgeous? And how's the remastered sound?
― Euler, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 17:00 (fifteen years ago) link
anyone know where i can get the original bee gees recording of "emotion?" (not the samantha sang version). downloaded "their greatest hits: the record" which has an AWFUL remix/rerecording of the song.
― akaky akakievich, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 20:53 (fourteen years ago) link
The song "ESP" is great! I've been listening through the Tales box this morning, and it's a pretty strange listen: from the string-laden Beatlesque pop of the late 60s, to the country rock of the early 70s, to the r&b and disco of the mid 70s, to the gloss of the 80s. It all works, somehow; these were guys with great voices and even better connections, and between those they tapped into various zeitgeists that allowed them to make timely pop records in several different eras without sounding silly like, I dunno, the Monkees in 1987.
― Euler, Saturday, 7 November 2009 10:34 (fourteen years ago) link
"Nights On Broadway" remains the best thing they ever did (to my ears).
― Alex in NYC, Saturday, 7 November 2009 13:54 (fourteen years ago) link
"Lonely Days" has always been my go to Bee Gees tune. Rhyming nonchalant with restaurant gets me every time.
― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 7 November 2009 14:02 (fourteen years ago) link
That's an outstanding one, yes.
I wrote an passionate piece about the `Gees on this blog not too long back.
― Alex in NYC, Saturday, 7 November 2009 19:17 (fourteen years ago) link
an passionate!
The Samantha Sang album is all kinds of awesome
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Sunday, 31 October 2010 19:56 (thirteen years ago) link
BBC doc available until Sunday and bloody brilliant:http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b010tbk5/Bee_Gees_In_Our_Own_Time/
― piscesx, Saturday, 30 April 2011 13:25 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2129558/Robin-Gibb-news-Bee-Gees-star-coma-doctors-fear-days-live.html
― nostormo, Saturday, 14 April 2012 11:30 (twelve years ago) link
Unlycky bastards. The Kennedy family of pop? :(
― The GeirBot (Geir Hongro), Saturday, 14 April 2012 16:57 (twelve years ago) link
afaik, none of the Bee Gees were assassinated. So, no.
― Dancing with Mr. T (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 14 April 2012 17:04 (twelve years ago) link
Robin out of his coma now, apparently...?
― heavy is the head that eats the crayons (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 23 April 2012 01:51 (twelve years ago) link
I had a dream of a place far away.I followed a river where the dead man would play.And I'm leaving in the morning.And I'm leaving in the morning.And I won't die, so don't cry. I'll be home.
― buzza, Monday, 23 April 2012 01:55 (twelve years ago) link
I am going to pretend that all the devotional Bee Gees listening I've done in the past week have had a hand in this
― heavy is the head that eats the crayons (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 23 April 2012 01:56 (twelve years ago) link
what he said. robin still has rough road ahead of him, but still. love these guys so fucking much.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 01:40 (twelve years ago) link
Another one bites the dust ...
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 20 May 2012 22:56 (eleven years ago) link
man...
― dell (del), Sunday, 20 May 2012 23:13 (eleven years ago) link
Wow. Just re-discovering their music...of course I knew he was sick, but this might affect my enjoyment. Bee Gees music is eternal and not something one associates with cancer.
I remember struggling with brother Andy's death as a child. RIP.
― โตเกียวเหมียวเหมียว aka Bulgarian Tourist Chamber (Mount Cleaners), Sunday, 20 May 2012 23:17 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpEkugItKQI
― Sisig Steve (stevie), Sunday, 20 May 2012 23:18 (eleven years ago) link
rip robin my favourite bee gee
i know he was really ill but this one hurts
― buzza, Sunday, 20 May 2012 23:21 (eleven years ago) link
a sad week for disco (and other genres)
― Lee971 (Lee626), Sunday, 20 May 2012 23:49 (eleven years ago) link
jesus, fuck this. g'night, Robin
― Stormy Davis, Sunday, 20 May 2012 23:50 (eleven years ago) link
Awesome live vocal of a very underrated song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wufvuw9WQ0
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 21 May 2012 14:23 (eleven years ago) link
I love bustin' out classic Bee Gees for those (most?) that only know their disco stuff:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PLeNdfkoBI
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 21 May 2012 15:06 (eleven years ago) link
Mr. Natural is all time
RIP Robin
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 21 May 2012 15:26 (eleven years ago) link