Odessa

I was expecting the falsetto from "Stayin Alive" so imagine my surprise when he sang normally!

An orchestral pop double album from the 1969 Bee Gees? The closest thing to good is a poor man's CCR driving song (Marley Purt Drive) and there is a lot of long cheesy musical hall stuff like the bad prospective echoes of McCartney solo crap (Melody Fair) and the schmaltz of First of May. An ungainly sprawling self-important mess.

Some kind of misbegotten rock—and classical!—opera with psychedelic and soft rock and country thrown into the mix. Actually one of the country songs is good. But I cannot fathom what the point of the whole was.

1 - Odessa (City On The Black Sea) - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 2 - You’ll Never See My Face Again - 👏 3 - Black Diamond - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 4 - Marley Purt Drive -👍 5 - Edison - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 6 - Melody Fair - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 7 - Suddenly - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 8 - Whisper Whisper - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 9 - Lamplight - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 10 - Sound Of Love - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 11 - Give Your Best - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 12 - Seven Seas Symphony - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 13 - With All Nations (International Anthem) - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 14 - I Laugh In Your Face -🤷🏻‍♂️ 15 - Never Say Never Again -🤷🏻‍♂️ 16 - First Of May - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 17 - The British Opera - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 1/5

Pretty decent

It's pleasant enough, but oh so boring.

Una de las mejores bandas de la historia, así de simple. Son la única banda en poseer un premio Grammy Legend. Con una calidad compositora y vocal difícil de igualar. También es cierto que eran muy cerrados y amigos de culpar a los demás de sus propios errores. Aunque se puede justificar en parte por la salvaje persecución que tuvieron que soportar (Disco Sucks y los Bee Gee Free Weekends) por culpa de haber dominado completamente el universo musical en los años 78-79. Su mejor disco, para mi gusto es Bee Gees first ( que no es su debut, sino un disco precioso de pop barroco). Luego Horizontal o Idea siguieron por ese sonido magestuoso que alcanza su cénit aquí en el doble Odessa. Con Cucumber castle parecía que llegaban a su fin pero resurgieron con Trafalgar y To Whom it may concern para luego reinvetarse con Main Course y despegar con la fiebre del sábado noche hasta Spirits Having Flown. Luego el ostracismo debido a la sobreexposición (algo similar le pasó a Madonna con Erotica) y tener que componer para otros por haber perdido el favor del público. Odessa (City on the Black Sea) es una maravillosa introducción. Marley Purt Drive suena a lo que serán The band, Edison y Marley Purt Drive son golosinas que podrían firmar los Beatles. Whisper Whisper también. Give your best tiene un toque country sin perder su esencia Bee Gees.

I was looking forward to hearing some of their non disco era songs because I had heard good things about them but I was disappointed. It felt a little bland but the first song is weird and interesting then it was just straight pop

Some stream of consciousness notes I took while I was listening: I do love a good concept album, and was disappointed that the title track is really the only one overtly about a shipwreck. But a lot of the songs afterwards have a lonely-person-lost-at-sea-contemplating-life vibe, so that's cool. Favorites: Odessa (City on the Black Sea) (it's like 8 songs in one! And most of them are weird and very good), You'll Never See My Face Again, Black Diamond, Never Say Never Again "Marley Port Drive" - sounds like The Band; would be a good country song by anyone "Melody Fair" and "Whisper Whisper" - sound like the Beatles ("Melody Fair" is especially psychedelic) "Give Your Best" is quirky - also a little Beatles-y, but with banjo and fiddle? Not sure what the three symphonic pieces are doing on this album, but it already has psychedelic rock, proto prog-rock, sea shanties (lite), country, and pop, so why not I guess?

These guys give me the heebie beegees

전체적으로 조용한 느낌이었고, 평범한 느낌이었다. Overall, it had a quiet and ordinary feel.

2.5

Слишком пафосный и возвышенный поп с элементами блюза. Некоторые треки сгодились бы для саундтреков

Actually not half bad. Biggest problem is that it doesn't need to be a double LP, one hour fest. Obviously they experimented to see what sticks, and the veil of a concept album masks that, but I kinda wish they stuck with one sound and rode it. Like maybe progressive pop/rock, or the rootsier side.

Definitely not the Bee Gees album I was expecting. It's not horrible, it's kind of Rennaissancy and is heavily influenced by the Beatles. I liked the second half of this album much better than the first half.

2:5

I enjoyed this! Not what I expected from Bee Gees.

Deux ou trois bons morceaux

Good to see their range, but kinda miss the disco vibes!

Pretty good album, I enjoyed more than I expected. Very Beatles-y. Hard to realize how long The Bee Gees were around and how big they were. This album is again very late 60’s Beatles influenced, and a lot different than what I was more familiar with from the group in the 70’s. 3.5

Woah, who knew the Bee Gees were more than those couple of tracks? Look, it's obvious what they were listening to at the time and that they're far inferior to eg Beatles and Beach Boys. But I'll give it a fuckin A for effort and an extra star. In any case, better than Pink fucking Floyd.

So, the only halfway decent song rips off "The Weight" ok? Nah, this was overlong, overblown, and I really didn't find much that I truly enjoyed listening to here. When I'm between rankings, I tend to find a reason to give the higher score, but not in this case. One two albums, I need more than 1 song that wasn't even a good ripoff to bump it to a 2*

Folky folky

We need to stop acting like The Bee Gees were deep and the disco stuff was a weird stage. The disco hits were their best stuff

They have so many bangers but none to be seen on this album!

The beegees are trying to accomplish something that’s cool and interesting and gritty but it feels so manufactured that it comes across corny

I was promised this is from their pre disco era. I like this first track :) The guitar is pretty in it. and the strings. Cello. Melody Fair is pretty too. Oh wow, Seven Seas Symphony is beautiful! There were some really pretty songs at the end of this album. I was only going to give it 3 stars but these last few symphonic type songs bumped it up to 4. I listened to The British Opera like 3 times!

The list of great 1960s double albums is not long, but it doesn't, sadly, include this. The brothers Gibb were terrific songwriters, and you can hear that on here, just not consistently. It is the sound of a band going through the same 1968 epiphany as everyone else from the Moody Blues to The Band, throwing everything at the wall to see if any of it sticks. There are memorable moments dotted through this, but there's also an awful lot of filler - songs which are just vague melodies in three-part harmony over and acoustic guitar, or padded out pointlessly with strings to make them sound Important. I was previously unaware of it; I'm glad I've heard it; I'll likely never listen to it again.

You know it wasn't too shabby. Felt more like the Monkees than disco. But there just wasn't enough there to really make me want to come back to it. I was missing the falsetto, the swagger, the Bee Gees of it all.

Definitely gets too operatic at times but I kinda like the bones to this one if that makes sense. 6/10

Long et dépressif

ok

I love the Bee Gees. This is a super chill record.

diverse, soft and sweet, would want to listen again to really appreciate it

When I thought of The Bee Gees, I thought about the Saturday Night Fever SDTK (probably more well known than the movie). But this album shows that there was a lot more to The Bee Gees before disco. Some of the stuff sounds like it was influenced by the Beatles, as well as by classical/operatic pieces

Pop, baroque pop, chamber pop, progressive pop, country.

The Bee Gees are not given enough credit for how good they were as musicians and singers. They got exceptionally popular in their disco era, rightfully so, but their previous albums are just as worthy of recognition. Odessa is an odd pull, due to how out there it is compared to the rest of their catalog. Anyone expecting the standard Bee Gees sound is going to wind up disappointed, and I'm of the personal belief that concept albums are always 50/50 on whether they convert a new listener, or get said listener to give up on a band entirely. I enjoy Odessa, but I will also note that I am weird and like weird things. I think the album is great for showcasing the range and experimentation of the Bee Gees.

Aqui hay un muy buen disco de como 8 canciones pero lo que tenemos es quizá demasiaaaado largo.

Mesmerizing, weird, a little bland, a little country, this one is all over the place in ways that are often better than worse. It shouldn't be a double album for sure, and there's plenty of pruning to be done. But all told this is a unique run in pop that probably can't be recreated again. Maybe not essential listening but it'd be way more fun if The Bee Gees stuck to this road instead of going completely commercial.

So you're telling me these are the same guys who did saturday night fever

I thought I liked the Bee Gees

Different time

Well, that was not what I was expecting at all.

Momentous day for me personally as this album is number 1000 from the list. Getting giddy for tomorrow as it should be the final selection from the list but somehow it isn’t. Will have another 88 to look forward to. This was a definite left field album to celebrate 1000 with. Never heard of this album before and something a long way from the BG’s comfort zone and miles away from their disco phase. It’s interesting that the two BG’s albums on this list predate the disco albums for which they achieved most of their fame and popularity. That said I’m at one with the 1001 Gods as their early stuff trumps anything from the Saturday Night Fever era. I can see where they were going with this album but it quickly becomes bogged down with over elaborate production and a storyline which doesn’t really merit a whole album. Maybe they looked at Tommy and thought it was a good idea. So only a mediocre album for 1000. Let’s hope for better things tomorrow when I reach the false finishing line. 2/5 28/9/26

was definitely interesting, not like anything i'd heard from the Bee Gees before

Lot goin on

“I started to cry, which started the whole world laughing” The album is bland and boring. I can't believe anyone would ever want to listen to music after this experience. When it comes to concept and structure, just making a track long doesn't mean you've created Tommy. Recording a song with an orchestra doesn't mean you've made Sgt. Pepper. Picking a fight with your bandmates while recording your "masterpiece" doesn't mean you've just made Pet Sounds. I'd rather listen to a fork scraping a plate for an hour than suffer through this dull, overhyped pop record.

The band led by the Gibb brothers—originally a pure pop act—ventured into making a concept album, though it didn't quite turn out to be one in the strict sense. Everything revolves around the opening track, "Odessa (City on the Black Sea)," which runs for over seven minutes. The result is a highly symphonic record. As a young person living in the GDR, I bought the band's AMIGA release, though it contained only one song from this particular album. Despite its catchy pop sensibilities, I found the music truly beautiful; it was a soundtrack to a period of my life. Listening to this magnificent album now, for the first time in its entirety, fills me with admiration. "Marley Purt Drive" is an earthy, spirited country-rock and bluegrass track—the kind that would have suited CCR perfectly. I find this absolutely astonishing; it illustrates just how open the musical landscape was back then, with bands constantly learning from—or simply copying—one another. The very next track, "Edison," reveals clear influences of the psychedelic and baroque pop styles of the late 1960s. The intimate "Suddenly"—sung almost entirely by Maurice Gibb—sounds like a lost track by a band such as Fairport Convention. "Sound of Love" stands out as a superb piano-and-orchestra piece—arguably the best of its kind not performed by Elton John. Viewed 57 years later, this album is truly a worthy entry in the list of the "1001 Best Albums." I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it.

Not bad, kinda forgettable

This was very different to what I expected. Much folkier and proggier. I quite liked it although bits sound a bit dated.

I really liked, "Seven Seas Symphony". On the whole, I found the album to be a rather eclectic compilation of songs; some better than others.

sla, parece muito beatles, não sei se curti tanto não. mas é legal que em odessa, a primeira música, existe um prelúdio pra próxima música, you'll never see my face again, que ganha uns pontos eventualmente vai ficando legalzinho, mas n consigo deixar de pensar que parece beatles

Couldn't make it past the first song.

Grandiose and a bit muddled, which isn't a problem in itself, but at the same time, Odessa is also boring and tedious to listen to.

A really folksy sound from a group I generally associate with disco. I didn't hate it, there were times where I even liked it. It's way too long though, and none of the songs are particular standouts. I enjoyed the orchestral pieces. I did not follow the storyline of this concept album at all, it's probably one that would take a few relistens, but who has time for that when there are still 275 albums I have to listen to.

I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. Give me this over Night Fever any day

A double concept album for a Sunday. I had not heard this before and whilst I don’t think I will be rushing back, I was glad to have listened to it. Some really interesting bits dispersed with classic Bee Gees pop and then a last night at the proms segment (which I liked)

Nowhere near as bad as I thought a Bee Gees concept album would be. Still a 2 but a perfectly listenable album

New to me, pretty dreadful but just enough goodish moments (“Marley Purt Drive” and “Edison”) to merit two stars. Tom.

Couldn’t get past 3 songs. I probably wouldnt even put it in a book of the 1001 best bee gees albums

Shows the diversity of the BGs - prefer disco era but good to revisit

This is not what I want to listen to when I want to listen to the Bee Gees. It definitely sounds like rock of the '60s. For this particular brand I'd rather give Iron Butterfly a spin. This dated sound is ok but not amazing, not the must-listen Bee Gees experience I'd recommend, but maybe I lack context. The listen is a bit of a chore, though. I'm 2 songs away from finishing this project. On a personal level, I don't really appreciate the nod towards baroque, chamber, and Americana music. I believe it's possible this is on the list for those people, because I find no huge difference otherwise in the '60s rock sound. Nothing particularly special except that it's the Bee Gees with less, or maybe no falsetto at all. 2.2/5

Inte vad jag förväntade mig av Bee Gees. Det var faktiskt bra och inte alls tisko tansi som jag trodde!

it's giving we have the Beatles at home

There’s a very good reason when, if asked to think about the Bee Gees they tend to go more Saturday Night Fever or Stayin’ Alive rather than Trafalgar, or this offering Odessa. Yet, for some unfathomable reason, Robert Dimery decided to put the latter two albums of twee folky/country/baroque/jangle pop into this book. This is massively overlong, simplistic, and basic. It did fool me for a moment with Marley Purt Drive which is a genuinely good song, but the rest of this hour-plus album is just so meh I can’t give it any more than 2.

did not expect this out of bee gees - i didn't even know they made music like this! a lot of the reviews seem to me negative but i didn't hate this - it kind of reminded me of the moody blues who i love.

Solid 80s cheese

Needs ti be listened on headphones, pretty cool

Ok. So better than I was expecting, a lot better in fact. Superb harmonies, decent enough lyrics and a catchiness about the tracks that makes you keep listening. Hints of The Beatles, Elton John, ELO and The Beach Boys through the album! Not all Of them good things! So there was some trash along the way, as well as a track that includes Christmas themes which should be nowhere near a normal album IMO. So worst track- ‘first of May’ Best track- ‘Marley Purt drive’ had shadows of Let it be by The Beatles, ‘whisper whisper’ had a great turn of pace half way through, ‘Edison’ was lyrically funny! the instrumental tracks x3 were all nice too and ‘Sound of Love’ was a great track but ‘I laugh in your face’ was fun and probably the one I would listen to again if I had to pick one. 7/10

Bee Gees - Odessa Took me a couple of listens to work this out. When you're on your 7th album in 4 years and you decide to make it a double concept album there's always gonna be some quality control issues. And that shows all over this. The not so good: Black Diamond - wishy washy Marley Purt Drive - Dylan lite. No thanks. Edison - those lyrics 🤣 Melody Fair - those lyrics 😳 Give your best - trying and failing to be quirky macca First of May - trite shite Never say never - forgettable The good stuff: Odessa - love the crazy story telling You'll never see - Just like it Suddenly - we need more oboe in today's music Whisper whisper - a kind of faces/beatles mash that works Lamplighy - classic Bee Gees chorus with big Roy Orbison esque backing Sound of Love - George Michael would have been proud of this I laugh in your face - My favourite. Just huge. Triumphant out you in your place vibes And the three orchestral pieces provided really nice relief. A bit like an old Disney soundtrack. Made me think the whole album would have worked well as a kind of Yellow Submarine animation. So big ticks for ambition, internal fallouts, a soft touch velour cover. 7/10

Kind of terrible: folksy concept album

# Album Name: Odessa # Artist: Bee Gees # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Honestly, a big no from me. This does not need to be here. What a load of shite. # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? No

For some reason I thought they were a disco band.

Well, here we are. We're finally at the last 60s album of the project... and we're celebrating with a band that 99% of people associate with the 70s. And I thought it was weird to have one pre-disco Bee Gees album on this list! You're telling me there's two of them? Why? Oh well. It has been a while, but I feel like I enjoyed this more than Trafalgar. My only issue with this one in comparison is that it's longer. Other than that, I think it's a bit better. It's still slower and not even close to being disco, but it's not quite as sappy as that one. Odessa actually has a mild concept behind it about losing a ship, so that's neat. It is VERY mild though. Like, it barely comes up at all. This album's kinda like Sgt. Pepper in that way, and in practically no other way. For the most part though, this album's just alright. Nothing about this album is bad, but nothing is outstanding either. The vocals are okay, but I'm kinda missing out on that falsetto that you get to hear in the big hits from later in their career. The music is nice, but there aren't many standout moments, if any at all. "Melody Fair" and "First of May" were the best on the album, but they were still just good and not much more. Odessa is a decent 60s baroque pop album, but it's not one that I personally get a ton out of. It's good but not great. 3/5.

Ugh, another album by the brothers Gibb. This one is very forgettable. Marley Purt Drive is actually not bad and sounds like a few songs that came after it, like Rock and Roll Star and Soulshine, but most of this album - especially those terrible orchestral pieces - is just trash.

Not for me. Very hard work. Reminded me of the fruitier Paul McCartney stuff - "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" etc.

좋은데 내취향은아님

Conceptually meandering and pretty flat sounding. There was some interesting stuff here, but I'm not really sure why this is an essential album. Better than the last Bee Gees album at least.

definitely has some of the tinny warbly harmony energy of Trafalgar, but also pulls some cool shit. also didn't hate the tinny warbly harmonies this time, nor the weird majestic operatic instrumentals. it's funny that history may well remember them as the disco guys. favorite song is Suddenly or Whisper Whisper. solid 4

Rating: 4/10 Oh god why, it felt like it would never end. For every song that was decent there was one I couldn't wait to be over. As a concept double album it was simply not a very fun experience, though not overtly awful. A few better tracks: Marley Purt Drive is honestly not a bad country rock style song which surprised me. Favorite song was Melody Fair which just felt like it was ripping off The Beatles (like a lot of the album). The entire second disc barely had a noteworthy moment, but I liked First of May at least. Please bring me back to The Beach Boys

This one was more interesting than enjoyable for me. I know the BeeGee’s for what they will record in the coming decades. Not as a chamber pop group. This record suffers from double lp bloat. There are some tracks I enjoyed though. 2/5

2/5. I went into this album with exceptionally low expectations as the previous Bee Gee’s album I had on the generator “Trafalgar” is still probably the single worst album I’ve had on here so far. That is to say, Odessa exceeded my expectations! It still isn’t good, but it’s better than I thought it would be and I respect the fact that it actually has some ambition and ideas. there’s even a few tracks I thought were kinda neat like “Whisper Whisper” or the opening title track. But much of this album is still exceptionally lame soft-rock, and it absolutely does not end up earning a runtime that goes over an hour.

It's so boriiiing

bee gees never sound brilliant to me

High 2 ig

What’s this? Not the familiar BGs, I thought it’s beautiful, despite too many sheep in the recording.

Bee Gees need to be thankful as fuck that disco happened

Ok

Gosto de discos concentuais, mas a pretensão cobra um preço caro quando não funciona no resultado final. É o caso aqui, um disco que demora a engrenar e quando engrena parece uma tentativa de imitação dos Beatles. Não entendo ser inserido entre os 1001.

Right away I’m thinking, is this the fucking Beatles? Are they taking me for a mug? Then like 1:30 in the first song I know it’s not the Beatles. But still, this isn’t disco Bee Gees. Like, The Bee Gees play guitar? They use guitar actually? Like acoustic guitar? And this is all thought and realized on the first f’n song. Oh and hints of The Band. I’m liking this. Way to change with the times boys. At least that’s what I’m assuming happened. I still think Dr.Hook adjusted with the times the best. So, if you like the Beatles and bands that try to sound like them, you’ll like this. It’s a healthy formula.

There has to be something I'm missing here ... What is this trying to be?! I forced myself to keep going until the square dance song, at which point I gave up. If I'm missing something, I'll be happy to have missed it.

This was not the Bee Gees I was expecting.

...what?

This is simply a three-star album. Nothing extraordinary going on, but also not bad at all.

I am surprised to see everyone absolutely shitting on this album in the reviews. Like absolutely decimating this shit into the ground, as if they were just served a hot turd for dinner and were then asked to review said turd. Is it really that bad?! I think not.. Is it as good as some of the other Bee Gees repertoire that a lot of us know and love? Not a chance. They definitely hit their stride with their later disco/funk type shit, but this is by no means that bad. Some songs on here were actually pretty decent! Especially the purely orchestral songs where it sounds like they had a symphony out and about. This album was hard to follow as a concept album, and I didn't really understand what they were trying to convey. So it just ended up feeling like a non-cohesive mess, swapping from ballads, to country(?) to orechestral, to beatles-esque pop. Went and listened through Spirits Having Flown right after 2 listens on Odessa, and was much more impressed and into it than this album here. Definitely a missed opportunity including this over some of their other stuff. As this seemed like a half assed attempt at something grandiose.

I don't understand how the Bee Gees made it as a musical group before disco.

This was a lot more low-key than I was expecting. It was more acoustic & ballad driven than disco & I didn't feel like it stood out in any way. It was overall pleasant to listen to, but nothing I'd come back to in a hurry, and nothing really notable stood out.

It was okay !

just mediocre 60s pop rock reminiscent of the beatles, and it is much too long to be justified.

I enjoy the harmonies but this isn’t anything groundbreaking. And the lyrics and subject of the songs are really odd.