Bee Gees - "Idea" CD Album

Bee Gees – Idea

CD Album, reissue 1989

Polydor

There are two golden eras for the Bee Gees. One is the “Saturday Night Fever” era of the 70's and then there's the first three albums by the Bee Gees in the '60's. Perfect baroque pop production with songwriting skills of a trained ear. All that plus the addition of the vocal skills of the Gibb brothers added up to a seductive package that couldn't possibly fail, and it didn't. What I find missing is a sense of genius or that one step beyond, that someone like Scott Walker did or even The Beatles at the same time and place. But this I can't fault the band, because what they do, they do it extremely well.

The quivering voice of Robin Gibb adds a great deal of 'personality' to the songs that he sings lead on. It is that series of moments for me that strikes me as that this is a personal take on whatever the subject matter of the song is. Whatever it is by design or just DNA, Robin was a magnificent singer. Barry and Maurice can't be faulted in the voice area at all, but when I rear Robin a light goes on in my ear, and it brilliantly shines on the material.

Idea conveys a sense of promise or adventure that serves Bee Gees well. Their form of pop is more majestic than say the baroque small chamber sound of the band Left Bank. But I would think that it would be impossible to dislike a Bee Gees song from this period (or any period really, but that's another essay) because their work has a vision and it follows through due to the talents of the Gibb brothers.