Bee Gees
When disco nose-dived, it must have scared the beegeesus out of the Gibb brothers, the most identifiable proponents of the genre. But the Down Under boys have shown astonishing staying power. This LP, their first studio effort together in almost three years, shows they've still got the abracadabra of pop magic. Besides their genetic harmonies, their main strength is packing in so much texture and surprise that it is hard not to be swept away for a few glorious, if vacant, minutes. There is still enough of their plaintive falsettos for those who swoon to that sort of music, but it's not overdone. Matching some of their best work on 1975's Main Course, one cut, Be Who You Are, has a fine orchestral introduction leading into a beautiful ballad sung by Barry. Numbers like the title song and Paradise bear repeated listenings too, though the Gibbs stumble when they hazard a political song called Soldiers. Perhaps the most telling lyric is in Living Eyes: "But be alive/I know that we will/The world keeps on moving/But I'm holding still." Hats off and ears open to the tenacious trio.
Your Reaction
