Reviews (page 4 of 8)
What a strange album. I don't know that I can classify this as good or bad, it is simply an artifact. It's definitely interesting to see an earlier phase of this band, who I only knew previously through their disco hits, but ultimately I do think this is really uneven. Because it's like, oh Marley Purt Drive is great, Suddenly is great, Whisper Whisper is great. But then it's like, why is there a whole song about Thomas Edison? Why are there two random symphonic instrumentals in a row? Why is the title track seven and a half minutes long? The most interesting thing about this album to me personally is that I think this style of music is overall much more to my taste than their disco era stuff, but also sounds exactly like a lot of other popular bands of the era. So my knee jerk take was "well, I'd be much more likely to listen to this than later Bee Gees, probably", but actually no, I wouldn't. I'd be much more likely to listen to the Byrds or whatever, if this was the kind of music I was in the mood for. So I guess I've learned that going disco was the right move for them, that's what I've gotten out of the listening experience. Is it good? ...Maybe Do I like it? Not really Is it essential? Absolutely not Would I purchase it? No Will I ever listen to it again? No 1/1089
Got a lot going on here. Mostly feels pretty dated. Like something mom's in the 70s enjoyed listening to.
un poco meh
This is pretty bad. From the mock orchestral sections to the excess vibrato, there's not much to love about pre-disco Bee Gees
A couple good songs but mostly not my thing
I had no idea the Bee Gees could sound like this - being only familiar with their hit singles. This album felt like a movie.
Boy, it’s long. And a little hard to take it seriously since my brain associates their voices so much with the disco era. They are definitely talented song writers.
Mmmm not really liked it but some "decent" songs...but unlike the track "Never Say Never Again", it will be probably never again for me...
Tedious rather than flat-out terrible. The best bits were when I left the room.
Reading the background on Wikipedia, it seems like this album was initially a flop until it was reissued as a significantly paired down single disc version. And man does that track. The music is fine, in a "we'll try to pick up where the Beatles left off" kind of way but it's very bloated and the quality really varies. Even some individual songs seem to drag quite a bit. There are a handful of decent songs here but I could really do without half of them. On the strength of the edited edition, 3 stars seems fair. I'm not blown away but I can see the appeal. Also I'm a sucker for songs about the sea and genuinely enjoyed the opening track. I'm unlikely to return to this album though.
sorry, still don't like it.
Decent. A few moments grabbed me. This feels like an album where my feelings might grow to four stars if I spent more time with it. There is a different Bee Gees album I love and that is Bee Gees 1st. That one is great. To my ears 1st is the best Beatles album the Beatles didn’t make (complimentary).
Huh. Had no idea this was a thing. And now I do. I mean, it’s fine. But weird.
I went back and forth on this one.
I get why it’s supposed to be epic, it’s just not very good.
74% Best: Marley Purt Drive; Whisper Whisper; Sound Of Love; Never Say Never Again; First Of May Must-Hear? Nah. Stick to their golden-era Disco albums. (Maybe a non-disco Bee Gees album is more worth listening to than this. I wouldn't know.)
Back and forth between folk and operatic. Beautiful
This is the second non-disco Bee Gees album I’ve heard now thanks to the generator
There is no doubt that Barry Gibb is one of the greatest pop songwriters of the 20th century. And the bee gees one of the greatest pop groups. Barry had all ten songs in the top ten in the uk at one point. Actually that might not be right but the number of absolute bangers, bops, classics and even a standard or two is phenomenal. This is a good album marred by ego trips and a lack of focus. Still, a good album. I don’t think Barry could write a dud song. And the leads and the harmonies of the brothers … just magic. They were to get better so 3.5 rounded up.
At least it wasn't Cucumber Castle! Let's be frank: no one is listening to these records anymore. It all went stupid when Robin got the shits with Barry, and they really didn't get their act together again (in terms of albums, not singles)until Main Course in 1975. Habibis that's a long time between manoush. This is embarrassingly awful, I'm not quite at prog rock level physically ill, but this is dreadful, I'm not going to make it all the way through. And I'm a massive Bee Gees fan. Don't do it.
I hated this overblown, pretentious piece of over-long wannabe concept album garbage. I could enumerate the ways, but I just want the bitter taste of this record out of my mouth.
I am so tired of bizarre, unlistenable brit pop
The brothers had lovely voices, but damn these were some really turgid boring songs! They were certainly fortunate that disco eventually came along.
Some great moments but as a whole overloaded. Like way too much dessert
i didn’t hate this as much as i hated trafalgar but i still really did not enjoy this. a concept album about a made up ship? no thanks. especially not when it goes for over an hour
So I knew that the Bee Gees started out as a rock band before moving into disco. I did not know that the transition apparently included whatever the fuck this is, but it's good.
I honestly didn't really realize that the Bee Gees had a big pre-disco career. Interesting work.
I only know The Bee Gees from disco, so interesting to hear their work from the 60s
it has its moments. when it veers closer to moody blues/sgt pepper/kinks and away from orchestral pomposity.
How in the hell is this man singing this high!
#721. I could just copy my review of their albums Trafalgar, because I have basically the same thing to say. When you're looking for the Bee Gees, you're really only looking for their disco stuff, not this. 3/5: tolerable, but only just
The pre-disco BeeGees are not very good.
This had potential at some points, and failed to sustain. If it were separated from the Beegees title, it would never have touched ground
Favourite track(s): Edison; Lamplight; I Laugh In Your Face Was expecting a disco album - speaks volumes of my lack of knowledge with regard to music history. When listening to this, I am reminded of The Mamas & The Papas or Barclay James Harvest, the latter of which was actually most active when this album had been released for a good few years. While that may be positive references, I did not like this album all that much. Many songs feature strangely vibrating vocals (not to be confused with the falsetto which the Bee Gees are known for and which is not really present here). There are some Progressive Pop elements here, but that does not bring the excitement one might get from Progressive Rock. Weirdness is cool, but considering tracks on the second half (some of which feel downright disney), this just lacks cohesion.
Is this what I get for not being baptized
I feel like there’s two Bee Gees. There’s the Disco Era group responsible for the greatest movie soundtrack in cinema history, which I’m sure will be on this list at some point. Then there is the early almost-folk band responsible for songs like “I Started a Joke.” This album falls under the latter. It’s contains no big hits, is unnecessarily symphonic at some points … yet I found myself getting lost in it (a little) while driving down my semi-rural country road in the Fall. I think I need more early Bee Gees in my life.
Not a bad album, but 60's BeeGees is *very* different than later decades BeeGees.
Groovy baby 😽
This probably merits more listens. I can see it becoming a 4 in time but I'd need time to invest! First time I've ever listened to a BeeGees album. A lot of it sounded like the Beatles!
So this is the early beegees pre falsetto. Seems fairly well crafted I guess, but there is no identity here. One song sounds like a rip off of the weight. One sounds a bit early pink Floyd, one is maybe beatlesy, then there was a classical concerto, did the opening track even have any audio on it at all? The jumps back and forward didn't help, the fact half of them make them sound American when they're from the isle of man felt jarring. It's not really bad, but it's not cohesive and if I'm talking about the album as a whole it feels pretty messy.
I mean, I get why people are confused not knowing any other Bee Gees' music but it's fine.
A bit of a puzzler, but a dull one.
some of this is too beatlesy and some of it feels like someone perfecting the best parts of the beatles and adding to it in ways that are interesting instead of the insane things the beatles did after a horse named fame kicked them in the head
Should have stayed lost if you ask me, I don't see why this became so critically acclaimed it got reissued besides perhaps nostalgia or a bit of fun surprise finding it after their disco heyday. I look forward to the day I forget they had this era of incredibly sleep inducing ballads mixed with what seems to be classic 80s country songs. I most certainly did not need this knowledge before my death.
They don’t half take themselves seriously here despite the daft lyrics and sometimes ludicrous vocals. There is something pompous about this. I too prefer disco Bee Gees
Crazy how much this sounds like late Beatles stuff.
This was not at all what I expected—the only Bee Gees tracks I recall hearing before are very disco. This album was pleasant-enough, non-descript, and what I would define as easy-listening or 1960s-70s folk-esque. I'm not sure why this is noteworthy—maybe because it WASN'T disco? While not bad music, I don't hear anything that would draw me back to it ever again, so it gets a hesitant 2.4 star rating.
Bleh. Sounded like discount Beatles to me. 1.5
I was waiting at the airport and even then, when I had nothing to do, I chose not to continue listening to an hour of this shit. Honestly completely uninspired, you wonder how they got to be so big a few years later.
Very good. Much better than the disco crap. 3/5
I laughed this album off at first as “The BeeGees before they found disco,” but as it went on, I found appreciation for the orchestration and always beautiful harmonies. It’s a little all over the place, but some lovely songs that seem out of place as a whole record.
i do love the bee gees in their disco phase, but this album was tedious and boring. when a musical act releases a concept album, it has the potential to either be really good or self-important garbage, and this album falls into the latter category.
Well that was not what I expected, but apparently it was from before they became a disco phenomenon in the 70's. Wasn't bad to be fair, but nothing special. I keep thinking 2, but part of me says that's a bit harsh. So I have looked back over the last few albums. And it's definitely better than the good the bad and the queen or fault. And though it's not quite an automatic for the people or gasoline alley,it is just about on par with arrival and talking heads 77. So just scraping it's way to a 3.
What a weird period for music, and this certainly was weird. I wasn’t expecting this at all. No wonder they stumbled into the disco.
I knew the Bee Gees had a very different sound in the 1960's but this was a big surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed the melodies and arrangements etc. Even big chief Gibb didn't sound as though his balls were being kept safe by his pet Doberman. Why did he start to sing like that anyway? Here, his vocals were very good, just a shame about the lyrics, but it was the 60's, so that can be forgiven. Its a difficult one to score.
I’m glad The Bee Gees found disco….and Coke
Man, that was a lot of warbling. Vocals seemed to have trouble staying on tempo too. I’m sorry, but this was not fun to listen to
The Bee Gees Pre-Disco feels just like another 60s band. I never thought I would think that disco actually made something better ...
Haven't heard any tracks on this. Strong Beatles, the Band, Walker Brothers sounds here. Doesn't sound particularly original but there is something interesting here. 3 Heard before? No Owned: No 15/1001, 15/58 (26%) Will I get? Maybe
Didn't realise the BGs had been going that long. In a world pre-disco, they were knocking out lavishly orchestrated, wistful, hippyish, folk-and-country tinged torchsongs, with more than a passing nod to the likes of Byrds or Kinks. Some of it pretty good as it happens. Record turns inexplicably crappy towards the end though. An interesting listen but a real mixed bag.
What can I say, I love sad Bee Gees
***An ok album. Easy listening.
Here's the thing:When a band is at their 6th album they want to experiment or show their influences at that time or do a ''concept '' album which in latter case it will either take off or fail. In this case as it is not clear if it actually is one,you don't know how to rate this correctly. I'm in my 25th album ratings or so right now and nothing confused me and troubled me more than this ''concept'' album.I mean even the Bee Gees got confused about the final direction of this. There's definately a strong Beatles influence in here and if you hear this album as a non Bee Gees one and skip the concept factor is pretty good. There are many wrongs though that just ruin the whole atmophere from time to time,like the poor lyrics and Gibbs's falsettos,but overall i enjoyed this although i felt it was two albums in one. Songs that were pleasant to my ears more: Edison(weird for the album cohesion but still good), Melody fair is like hearing a Beatles bonus track cover but also very good, Suddenly, Lamplight, Sound of love(especially towards the end), Seven Seas symphony is an epic instrumental like a score for a movie-very well done with choir in it and everything), I laugh in your face. Never say never again is also a good song but i felt like they are mocking The Beatles sorry, So with that said it's a 3/5 for me.
In his few best moments, this album sounds like a plain rip-off from the Beatles. The rest is hard to listen to. And the lyrics? Come on…
Found this so tedious. Generic 60s rock and relaly not what I expected. 2.5
Mature and remarkable record! Give it a listen.
dull and boring. a real snoozefest. all songs keep the same guitar tone, and the vocals are grating.
Oh
Second dull pre-disco Bee Gees album in three days, generator please stop this my guy
A high pitched no from my part
I’d much rather listen to their disco albums.
Didn't even want to keep listening after three songs. Nothing really of substance. All blends together. Very much an artifact of its time. 3/10
I honestly didn't mind this album. I kinda like pre disco Bee Gees.
Familiar, complex Bee Gees harmonies, but a bit lost on the concept.
Wonderful album. I didnt know the Bee Gees played rock. I only knew them for their iconic disco songs. Enjoyed this album a lot. my rate: 9 out 10
Was interesting listening to the Bee Gees before the re-invention of their sound. The album should've stuck to the original idea of being a concept album of a lost ship. Interesting idea
I actually just recently discovered The Bee Gees had a pre-disco era and I liked the songs I had heard. Of course I’ve been doing this generator long enough to not be surprised that those songs I liked don’t appear on the album that was chosen. This was ok. I don’t understand what it’s doing on a list like this one.
The opening track set the tone pretty effectively - overlong and grating as fuck, going for a schizophrenic, orchestral type vibe but ultimately sounding like someone talking into a fan over a pound shop rendition of wildlife documentary background music. Did it get any better from there? No, not really, much of what I successfully managed to endure was some of the most turgid drivel I've ever had the displeasure of listening to, even if amusingly so in places. The vocalist actually sounded half decent on a track such as "Marley Purt Drive" when attempting to sing properly, though not to enough of an extent to carry the song towards being anything remotely inspiring. With such inventive lyricism on the following track "Edison" as "Oh, how, look at us now, we've still got a lot to learn but it's someone else's turn", it does at least point to a self-awareness within the band, but a lack of willingness to apply any of their (rightfully observed) criticisms towards their own product. "Suddenly" gives off the vibe of a politician trying to write a love song, "Whisper Whisper" is similarly frigid and a bit skin-crawling to listen to, and "Lamplight" was the point in the album where I began contemplating which of my recent actions warranted receiving this awful mess as today's listening experience. Maybe karma is real after all. "Sound of Love" might just be the worst lyrical offender here with lines such as "I need a life to go my way, so every night I pray. Just give me someone for my life. I feel a clown, people try to play me down, and there's one thing I never found. The sound of love. See the old man walk the lane, see him walk along in pain. It makes me cry to see them smile", "buoyed" by the most annoying, belting vocal approach delivering them. "OK, that's 10 tracks I've miraculously endured, surely it's almost over right?" Nope... SEVEN more to go. Fuck this shit, I'm out. Give me a Kanye x Anthony Kiedis collaboration over this nonsense any day of the week.
Tässä oli niin makeita biisejä että listalle meni!
Another pre-disco Bee Gees album that’s all over the place. This one was better than Trafalgar, but still went on too way long for the little good that was on here. It’s a shame there’s none of their later album on the list, because that stuff walks all over this.
This isn't the funky disco music most think of when they think of the Bee Gees. Instead, it's some rather vapid 60s pop/rock. Pretty boring album without much of note. Some songs veer towards country, others are orchestral chamber pop.
Hmm… clearly a lot of effort went into this recording, I can tell it’s a proper work of art, but it’s not for me. This is not the Bee Gees I know and love. I struggled a bit to get through this.
I think it might be hard for some people to accept that the Bee Gees were, at one point, a rock band. Heck, just that they existed **at all** before the SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER soundtrack. The way their legacy is this day, you'd think they poofed into existence specifically for "Stayin' Alive" and that they hadn't been a band since **1965** — singing 14 Barry Gibb songs, no less! Of course **I** know that, thanks in part to the knowledge that Chumbawamba covered their song "New York Mining Disaster 1941", but I wouldn't blame anyone else for getting this album or the other one on the list (TRAFALGAR) and just being... Y'know, baffled. The same guys who made "Night Fever" — they also made **this**? What **is** this, then? Well, if the Bee Gees (pre-disco) were at one point considered a successor to The Beatles (yes, really), then this would be their WHITE ALBUM. Not just for the fact that it's a double album, but also because it caused such internal strife that Robin Gibb temporarily left the band! Yeah, for a whole dang album, he was just gone. And then there's also the fact that this album is a bit of a mess. As much as THE WHITE ALBUM — no, it's not. But it's still a bit all over the place. Just consider, this was originally meant to be a concept album (about what, I couldn't begin to guess). That got scrapped at some point, so we're left with an album that mixes these spacey, more progressive tunes together with the more-standard pop balladry I'd expect from this group. And there's country music, too. Imagine if a fifth of THE WHITE ALBUM sounded like "Don't Pass Me By". Like all double albums, this one suffers from the problem of "But did this **all** need to be here?" Double albums can be a particularly perilous balancing act in filling and justifying all of the added space an extra disc can allot you. If you're not extra careful, you can come off sounding like an egomaniac. And while I don't think the Bee Gees come off that way, I also can't tell you there's probably a better "single disc" version buried in here. (I mean, heck, from what I read, the Bee Gees didn't even **want** to do a double album; their label nudged them into it. So if I wanna point fingers at anyone, a big one would hafta be directed at the label.) I know "Edison" would be on **my** chopping block. And maybe I woulda spread out the two strictly instrumental orchestral tracks on side three so they weren't back to back? I'unno, this is a thought experiment for another day. And all that to say... Y'know, despite its status as a double album, I don't think it's bad? Not at all? Like the worst it gets is just kinda "Fine, but why did it **need** to be here?" Otherwise, there's something about the scope of it I kind of admire. Just that, in being nudged to make an album like this, they just threw shit at the wall and it often came out pretty well. I mean, I'm a sucker for the Bee Gees' brand of pop balladry (if my enjoyment of the parody "Meaningless Songs" ("in very high voi-seh-heh-heh-heh") is anything to go). They sing in falsetto and let those thousand violins soar, I'm more than happy. And the country's not bad, either — the worst one's the square dance deal "Give Your Best" on side three, and that's in part because only two tracks later it's followed by "With All Nations" — apparently, the international anthem of, like... The world, I guess? Who was at the U.N. when they voted to approve the Bee Gees on this? Or is this more like how "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" is the recognized anthem of World Contact Day? And even that's probably more official. Still: lovely orchestration. I read that one of the previous titles they were considering for the album was MASTERPIECE. And I must ask the same question I asked Elvis Costello's IMPERIAL BEDROOMS when it was marketed as maybe being one: "is it?" I'd say in the grand scheme of music... No. Not really. I don't even know if I'd say it ranks all **that** highly among all of the 60's albums I've heard. But all the same: is it the masterpiece of the Bee Gees discography? Oh, sure, I'd say so. Maybe one of their single disc albums could clear, if just on being a tighter experience than anything else. However, if I were to judge things based on ambition, and on what I imagine would be the peak and pinnacle of their sound — y'know, before they were shakin' their groove thangs... I have a hard time imagining any of them could really top this. And that's again acknowledging that this thing could still be trimmed down. I mean, no masterpiece is flawless. And then might have more than some others — but it's not exactly unworthy, in the right context. And to bring it around to the top again, I guess I'd have a hard time accepting the Bee Gees as a rock band after all — 'coz they're really more of a pop combo. A soft rock trio at best. Whatever they are, they made a lot of good shit, and ultimately, more than any box you wanna shove 'em all, that's all that really matters.
Still weird to me that these guys would go on to make the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, but I guess it goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover. Solid 4 Stars.
I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5 because I liked it enough, but… damn, this thing has some identity issues to me. Our second & final Bee Gees album on this list, meaning we won’t get to any of their disco stuff. The jury is out on whether that’s a bad thing or not. We got Trafalgar back in December 2024, and while I thought it was fine, it felt like an album less suited to the Bee Gees’ strengths. Part of that, of course, is the perception of the Bee Gees as those guys who sang “Stayin’ Alive” & “How Deep is Your Love”, so I just don’t think I was able to really give them the benefit of the doubt as a rock band. Going into this one with that perception helped a bit, as did the acknowledgement that this is part of the post-Sgt. Pepper’s trend of conceptual artsy albums trying to succeed in the wake of the Beatles. This isn’t really a concept album; it’s loosely based around the Odessa theming & the sort of loneliness and search for love that comes after drifting asea, but I would say this is as much of a “concept” album as, ironically, Sgt. Pepper’s – it’s just a framing device that allows the Bee Gees to experiment a little more. They take the experimentation to another level though; the orchestrally driven, almost pompous tone to this album feels heavier in scope & scale than one would expect, and while it kind of collapses under its own weight, the foundation of these tracks (their mildly cheesy songwriting & their vocals) is sturdy enough to stop this from feeling like it’s ever too much, save for a few tracks. I admire the scale of the album, honestly, but it’s part of the identity issues I alluded to; if this album was originally conceived as a full concept album, then the parts of it that remain feel really disconnected from some of the other tracks. For example, why the hell is “Edison” here? Lyrically, it feels about as weird as that Stevie Wonder tribute track from Grandmaster Flash a while back, and both vocally & orchestrally, it’s in such a weird box of trying to fit into the near regal tone of the first 3 tracks of the album. You could try to apply the same thing to “Marley Purt Drive” and its country-rock vibe, but it at least aligns with the sense of trying to rediscover love that was established in the title track. This general disconnect pops up a few times in the album (especially between the vocal & instrumental tracks on Side 3), but “Edison” really sticks out as the least necessary track here. Since most of the tracks here can still fall under the vague linking concept of the album (the rediscovery of love), it begs the question: did this need to be 17 tracks, or is part of it just padding? I would say no; this could definitely be trimmed down to a more essential tracklist, but since I did honestly enjoy the vast majority of this album, I’m not sure the album benefits from actually being trimmed down. While there’s not a super duper highlight standout track to me, there’s never a truly bad one here, and since I vibe a lot with the instrumental approach this album takes, I didn’t find myself with a sense of repetition. Granted, I did listen to the first half of this album & then took a break before listening to the second half, but still. There is one other part to this identity crisis; it’s a smaller one, and one I can’t really fault, but it’s definitely there for me. Some of these tracks are *really* Beatles-y. When I was listening to “Melody Fair”, for example, I couldn’t shake off the perception of “a weirder Eleanor Rigby”. “Lamplight” has an outro that feels a lot like “Hey Jude” to me, and “Give Your Best” feels like a little bit of a riff on “With A Little Help From My Friends”, at least lyrically. I understand you can’t escape their influence fully, but I feel like they were chasing The Beatles just a little too harshly here. There’s other examples of it on the album, but those are the ones that stick out most distinctly to me. There’s also a “chase” that applies in the sense of trying to make something timeless, not just from the album perspective, but from a worldly perspective. I admire the scope, but the most prevalent example of the Bee Gees overstepping their boundaries in a nearly flagrant way here is the bold audacity of “With All Nations (International Anthem)”. I can’t possibly imagine where the idea of making an international anthem would’ve possibly fit into the original concept, let alone on a side that has a square dance only two tracks before it, but even past that; the *Bee Gees* thought they could make a fucking international anthem? I mean, it sounds good, don’t get me wrong, but who let them delegate themselves for the job? It sounds like I’m ragging on this album, and in many ways, I am, but I’m only ragging on it because despite all of these things that might take down any other album as a piling series of mistakes, the Bee Gees somehow honestly make it work. The mixed-match conceptual tracks with the other stuff isn’t a big deal to my ears, since they’re all under the same general orchestral base for the most part, leaving each track less disconnected than they feel. It helps that Robin, Barry & Maurice all contribute some great vocals to the tracks that keeps the energy up throughout. The 17 tracks here is certainly long, but I don’t think the album necessarily benefits from trimming them down. The scope & scale of the album is almost pompously large, but taking that audacious of a swing and creating something that doesn’t totally collapse under it counts as a win in my book. It’s an enjoyable 63 minutes if you lean into it, and while I understand the 2.72 average it has on the site, I think it’s a bit unjustified. While I’m half tempted to bump it down to a 4, I think I admire this enough to bump it up to a 5, despite the sort of “identity crisis” I think it has. At the very worst, I think the floor for this album is a 3. A TL;DR of sorts: I liked it, sue me.
Aggressively boring
väldigt mycket barry gibb i barry gibbs röst
3/5
Different
Was this naff? Was it any worse than the other stuff we've listened to? Can't beat the other cheesy stuff they do.
Don't have time for this
Dull
A very strange mix of the Beatles, early David Bowie, and beach boys. A worthwhile listen and good to know that they made this stuff before they went all disco. Also interesting to know that the brothers Gibb were raised in Chorlton, Manchester. Reading more about how they got to fame was cool. Definitely a tough listen if you were expecting disco though!
This gets off to a slow start. That first long song drags and feels kind of formless. As the album goes on, there are plenty of good songs, but also a fair amount of songs that didn’t gel together for me. They lacked a certain spark. But I love “Marley Purt Drive” — great song. So fun. There’s a version by Jose Feliciano that’s particularly great. I might have actually heard his before the original. I wish there were more hooky songs like that one. Or maybe just some more editing on the album to make the strong songs stand out more. Wow, this last instrumental is impressive. Very cinematic. 2.5
This one really didn't leave much of an impression on me. I have to do a deeper dive into this though as I've read that it's a big concept album about being lost on a ship? Unfortunately I really think a concept album should grab you from the music alone and you shouldn't really have to have some helper text to guide you.. I'm a fan of the Bee Gees but I'm unfamiliar with this record and outside of the last two tracks the rest of the album was just OK.
Didn't sound very Bee Gees but we still enjoyed it. Pretty upbeat and fun, almost with a slight country twang.
Sounds fresh for a 1969 album! Bold inclusion of symphonic pieces. These guys are even more talented than I thought. There is something unique about this effort. 4
Perfectly fine. Great recording and excellent singing. However, way too ambitious for its own good, it never really lands.
An example of when the crew should have gone down with the ship.
This may be the worst ive ever heard. I had no idea i hated beegees this much.
I wanted to score this higher - because I think the idea of writing a concept album about a ship at sea is pretty noble. But I was so bored by the end. Also, for some reason I can’t work out, the production quality is really bad. On my headphones my ears kind of stung even at a lowish volume. It might everything being in the treble. Vocals, violin and acoustic. The vocals sound like they are singing directly into a portable fan. Every bad Beatles track - but worse than that.
Poor quality songs.
While it’s not to my tastes it’s an interesting listen. You don’t get concept albums with such literary aims as telling the story of a ship lost at sea nowadays. It’s very operatic and I like how it weaves in classical elements, but it’s a bit dry for me.
Bee Gees gets a solid 3 from me, it sounded lovely throughout and a lot of it was very enjoyable, but unfortunately for me it lacks the constant interest and engagement needed for an hour long late sixties concept album, I can’t imagine ever listening to this again when I could stick on Sgt Peppers or Pet Sounds, sorry Bee Gees
Largely forgettable to me. Not bad, just nothing stood out. 2/5
not a disco album surprisingly
What a mess! I remember well the first time I heard this album, one afternoon on a day when I stayed home from high school sick with an extreme fever. Perhaps inspired by those first feelings, I still view this album as a mad masterpiece. I love the wild variety of style and sound. The Bee Gees pull out all the stops and spread themselves in every direction to the point of breaking the band. I also enjoy pondering the questionable and weird lyrics. Who on earth would write a line like “I never lived inside your hole, child”? The scope and mystery of this music makes me marvel.
I expected a poppy, disco album given that’s where the Bee Gees hits lie. I couldn’t have been more wrong and I’m not sure I liked what I discovered. It was okay but it went forever. Some of the instrumentation was good and the Bee Gees are great vocalists with great harmonies but this just wasn’t their best stuff.
I feel like if you asked ChatGPT to give you something that sounds like the 60's, it woukd give you this album. It does a lot of things, but nothing oarticularly well. The performances are just ok, the songs drag on a bit and it's way too long overall
Started out slightly spooky. Ghostly even? Oooh I like the guitar. Such a long song. FINLAND MENTIONED. The first song already is quite a journey. "Where are you I love you" me to radek rn. I like the instruments on the songs. Marley Purt Drive has a good vibe to it. If I had fifteen kids I would also leave. Wow there is 17 songs. "There's a girl in the rain alone" that should be me. Track 7 made it to my playlist. What a wide variety of types of songs. Seven Seas Symphony is beautiful but sounds like a completely different album. With All Nations too?? Sounds like a national hymn. I actually like the album. A lot of the songs surprised me. Do do doo do doo.
holy boring
Perhaps the biggest dichotomy between expectations going in vs the reality I've ever experienced in this book. I think that gap in perception earns it 5 stars alone
Today I learned the Bee Gees weren't always a disco/R&B band, and in fact had eleven (!!!) albums before making one with R&B influences. Definitely feeling this album though is at the intersection of stuff like Beach Boys and the Grateful Dead??? Folk rock, baroque pop, country influences. But honestly, almost immediately this is boring me. It's fine, but not really what I am looking for and at over an hour long, its a lot to ask. Very much "grandma" music to my ears. I'd definitely rank the best of their disco output as better than this.
This album is all over the place. Beatles at times, the Band at others. All created by… the kings of Disco? Were the BeeGees just opportunists? I like it.
I rates this low but in a weird way I think this actually is an album you need to hear to be believed.
Well I had a whole fucking note typed out on my phone but then something crashed. Safe to say this album is at least a 4
Good album. Great harmonies. Songs are very Beatlesque. Many are very big, dramatic songs. A little of the famous Bee Gees falsetto is present but nothing the Saturday Night Fever disco stuff.
This was bland, long and not very interesting at all.
It was nice to hear some Bee Gees songs I had never heard before. It would’ve been even nicer to say I liked them. The instrumentation was all well and good, but the vocals really grate on my nerves.
Who came up with this concept: we’re going to make an album that doesn’t feature a single song that has falsetto singing and some songs won’t have singing at all? For me, that makes this their best album. Mostly pleasant trivial songs.
Very Beatles-esque. Nothing stood out for me, though. Give me Saturday Night Fever on repeat, though. One of the best bass lines ever.
Can we vote for albums to be removed? Seriously. This was probably the worst I've heard on this list so far. Absolutely no reason to be on this list. Could definitely be on a list of "albums that were trying to be the Beatles," tho.
Genuinely surprised how much I liked this. More to the Beegees than high pitched disco...
Yeah… I’ll pass. It’s pretty weird and pretentious. Musically it’s fine, but the melodies are uninteresting. Suddenly, I like disco more than usual
Not their best imo
A bad album. Are there people who really think that the BeeGees were a good band but then disco ruined them? This is so boring and sounds like a knockoff version of the Beatles, lacking the creativity and lyricism to make truly great songs. What a bore, and it was over (barely) an hour!
In a nutshell: ambitious but rubbish. Odessa is an example of a failed attempt at a concept album. It's meandering, whiny, melodramatic "so this is a story about..." set of songs with a bleating sheep on lead vocals. Overall: 1/10
Seems to be some sort of mix up, shouldn't this be on the '101 Truly Dreadful Bee Gees Albums You Must Avoid Before You Die' list?
Another miss from the Bee Gees. I don’t think I’ve heard anything else so technically fine that was so boring. Do not let these men back into the studio. SNF is not worth it.
Marginally better than the absolute dross that was Trafalgar, but even still, a 2 seems generous. You should only publish a 7+ minute song if you are confident it's as good as Bat Out Of Hell, and this can't even see the bar.
I consider myself a Bee Gees stan, it’s well documented that young Barry Gibb is one of my biggest crushes in the world, and I will always throw their greatest hits on for a road trip, but I had never heard this one. And probably for good reason. Look, I’m never one to deny ambitious swings and unusual creativity but it sounds like this split the band for good reason. There’s orchestral instrumentals, there’s country music, there’s songs about Edison and Opera. Maybe the fact one is called I Laugh in Your Face actually says it best. But despite the mismatched nature of it all, despite how annoying some moments are, overall I couldn’t help but kind of enjoy the ride. (3.5 stars? I really have no idea)
Consistently lovely music, harmonic singing and random as hell lyrics. Having just listened to Abbey Road, I'm guessing that was just the theme of music in 1969? I don't think I'll ever listen to this again, but I did enjoy it. Great use of the damper pedal. A standard 4 stars.
could i write poetry to this? n
Just as bad as "Trafalgar", an incredibly similar album from the same exact same band. We get it. The Bee Gees were doing Beatles cosplay (focus on the Ringo songs) while performing vocal gymnastics. Me: [Squints hard while pinching the bridge of my nose, signaling clear frustration.] "Look, Dimery... You do know that The Bee Gees only real contribution to music was when they took Disco Music from the Black and Gay dance clubs and delivered it to the White mainstream, right? Right?!? DISCO, Bobby!!! The. Bee. Gees. Are. DISCO. Full fuckin' stop."
Record with a great vision. This magnum opus feels like their try to produce their version of the white album. Many tracks with totally different genres on their. We go from folklore via rock/pop and country to classical stuff. While I can respect this concept approach i have to say that not too many songs stand out for me. Odessa or seven seas symphony are pretty tunes, but i admit, i just wanted more songs like marley purt drive, sound of love or never say never again.
Really surprising from the Bee Gees, no falsetto! Sounded like the Beatles in places, but solid
Je m'attendais à du disco enflammé et des falsettos, à la place j'ai eu concept album d'opéra rock à la Sgt Pepper. C'était pas plus mal, même si c'était beaucoup trop long.
chato
This is the early bee gees incarnation and its all very disinterested in tone. None of the early gems are on this morass. A pudding of an album.
a double album that didn't need to be a double album
8/12/25. Wasn't really feeling this one until I heard the back half. Really unique and colorful instrumental pieces that I didn't know the Bee Gees could pull off. Cool to hear this other side outside of the major disco hits.
An unexpected pleasure! There was theatricality and storytelling that I really appreciated about this record.
So far ahead of it's time. It's bad enough to be released in the 80s. Based on this album, the BeeGees could have their own meek and risk-adverse variety show
I like it :]. Suddenly is a nice little song.
Mix of Beach and Beatle
Not good.
it's a calm listen. nothing like I expected. liked it very much, no one can hate a good concept album. but lacked something, so 4 stars
Huh? C’pas les vrais Bee Gees, où est John Travolta?!!
Not really my style j'ai pas finis l'écoute
Oh dear. I've listened to my elders and betters, and I do believe the people who tell me that the Bee Gees are seriously good songwriters, rather than just a band that did two great disco tracks (Stayin' Alive and Night Fever, obviously). But this didn't do it for me. Objectively good, some of the songs may be. "Nice", even, in places. It seems sincerely meant, and ambitious in scope. But it sucked all of the energy out of my evening, except for when it made me laugh for the wrong reasons. I thought it was pretty awful. Like they'd taken the dreariest bits from other artists of the day, and sat strumming and harmonising earnestly until they had enough for an album. Two albums. The Gibbs are/were very nice guys (hence the second star, I'd feel mean giving them one), but I can think of much more interesting things that were going on in 1969: Led Zep, The Stooges etc. It strikes me that David Bowie (all hail) briefly dabbled in this sort of thing, too. Thank goodness they all moved on from it. And the difference being that, by 1969, Bowie *had* moved on, and was writing such incredible songs as Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed. If I need a thoughtful and authentic folk album from 1969, that doesn't sound twee, I'll stick to Nick Drake.
This is pre-disco era Bee Gees and whilst that might in some ways might sound promising, it’s actually not. I could at least have endured the disco stuff but this was warbling folky nonsense. At times it sounded a bit Beatlesesque and that’s about as much positivity as I can muster.
Fun to listen to The Bee Gees before they became what you think of them as. But I think there is a reason they’re better known for disco.
Very richly orchestrated album with the “Bee Gees” signature vocals. I never knew they did music outside of disco! Lyrics are impressive.
ion like this type of music
This album is alright but i'd prob give peak Bee Gees a 3 and this is kinda not as good as yea. Nice singing tho
I understand why the Bee Gees made this album, it was what they did best at the time, but what were the reviewers thinking?!?! Even Barry Gibb mentions that this album was pointless. Like, seriously, the list should've included their disco albums instead of this insignificant rubbish.
I expected something really funky and soulful but instead I felt like I was in a weird fever dream.
Bloated, messy and the decline of a disco powerhouse.
I honestly had no idea that the Bee Gees were recording music in the sixties. Until today, I thought they primarily made disco music, and for some reason, I thought they were from Scandinavia. I'm not sure how 90% of the things I 'knew' about them were total bullshit, but at least I can say I learned a few things today. I know this album won't be anything like the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, so I have no idea what this is going to sound like. The reviews for this album don't give me a lot of hope, but I've disagreed with the reviewers' consensus plenty of times before, and maybe this album will fall into that category as well! Oof, Odessa was not for me. Reading about this album, the original idea behind it sounded interesting. The ship horn that was used on the first track gave me quite a bit of hope that this album was going to at least partially dive into the original theme about a missing ship, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. I really didn’t care for the vocals on this album, especially the vibrato (I think that’s mostly Robin who does, that right?). I thought the arrangements were pretty good, but the longer this album went on, the more I felt like there wasn’t anything special about those arty arrangements, and the whole album felt pretty soulless. I know that baroque pop tends to not rely on traditional pop melodies and hooks, but it felt like the music on this album was really bland. Side two of the album was probably the best part of this project, but even then, it felt like the Bee Gees were just trying to imitate The Beatles (speaking of, are the Bee Gees The Shitty Beatles from Wayne’s World?), and they did so poorly. What made side two better for me is that musically, it relied more on traditional guitars, sounding more like sixties art rock. But there still weren’t any songs that really hooked me in, and there wasn’t anything about the album as a complete work that I thought was interesting or novel. I can’t remember what song it was that really dove into the country sound, and I can’t be bothered to go back and find out which song it was, but that song really solidified this album as a one-star effort for me. I guess the Bee Gees just aren’t really my thing, and I’m not looking forward to Trafalgar.
Great album would have been great if they went for this type of music.
Day 19 First listen- Nice record with elements of psych and baroque pop. Felt a little too long. (3/5)
Het is goede muziek, en fijn om naar te luisteren. Echter moet ik ook zeggen dat ik het bij vlagen een beetje saai vond.. hierdoor neig ik toch meer naar een 3. Overigens favo was Marley Purt Drive. Het zal je niet verbazen, maar hier zat wat country invloeden in. Lekkah
I like the late 60s albums by the Bee Gees - their singing suited the late 70s disco style more but musically they've done great stuff a decade earlier. Their singing is a bit melodramatic but overall it is a good concept album even if no songs really stand out. 3.5/5 stars.
I'm never thrilled to see the Bee Gees show up as my album of the day, but Odessa starts weird enough that I was curious. For a moment, it almost sounds like a lost Decemberists record. But that intrigue dies fast. By track four, it shifts into pokey, homespun schlock, and the rest tumbles straight off a cliff into a sea of syrupy suffering for my ears. It's overlong and overwrought. "Lamplight" might be the lousy lowlight. In the end, the most impressive thing about Odessa is how unenjoyable it becomes. 1 star.
Very nice
I really don’t understand why this album had such a low overall rating. What do you want? It’s The Bee Gees. Barry sings with ridiculous vibrato, and the one guy usually sounds like he’s singing with his mouth full of marbles. Same as all their albums. I liked this. Pre-disco Bee Gees are the best. Aside from the length (it could have been a few songs shorter) there weren’t really ANY tracks I didn’t like. I mean that. The album wasn’t amazing, but it was decent and fun. Favorite song was “First of May.” Excellent.
Bee Gees: Odessa: This was pretty boring, and REALLY long for no reason. Really samey and the sound is super bland and the dude's voice is a little annoying. Not the worst thing I've ever heard but pass. 4/10
Ugh. I like disco Bee Gees much more. I didn't think all of the songs were awful, but I audibly said, "what the fuck?!?!" to a lot of these songs. 2/5
Pretty good folk rock record. Interesting to hear them before the disco era.
Hrikalega leiðinleg plata.
Vá hvað þetta er leiðinlegt.
And I thought the Bee Gees were bad before I'd heard of this album!!
I'm not into when 60s stuff gets overly baroque and this was so ornate it was the musical equivalent of wandering round the Palace of Versailles. That said I somehow enjoyed a chunk of it, especially what I am guessing was sure 2 of 4. Obviously very Beatles (and others) pastichy in places but it then also sounded like a huge influence on Bowie's album later that year especially You'll Never See My Face Again.
The first thing I notice upon opening this in Spotify was that it was lacking any songs I recognised. An interesting selection? A genius left field addition? Well no. Actually, it turns out that it’s all just a bit rubbish so its no wonder there’s no hits on it. Some weak country music, some nondescript easy listening, “I laugh in your face” even sounds like they could be a Dylan parody band. It’s an album without a definitive sound. It also gives an indication of being a concept album seeking a concept and in doing so it breaks the golden rule of being over an hour long. Stick to the best of the Bee Gees, get your disco flares and metallic lamé out and have yourself a good time rather than force yourself through this forgettable tosh.
20/1001 Bee Gees - Odessa Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ Oh the Bee Gees, I'll get some disco to into work to. Nope, not a little bit of it. A concept album based around a Ukrainian port that throws all sorts of genres into the mix - psychedelia, country, soundtrack, ballads. Does it work? Absolutely not. Far too serious for their own good and often times far too overwrought.
i hate to say it but I really do not care for the Bee Gees. it's awfully boring music to me. I will be giving it a 1 like the other one I listened to. God stop it
I enjoyed that.
I don’t know why this and Trafalgar are both on this list, I get the point of showing the bee gees in this era of their music pre disco but it really annoys me that they get 2 placements of their 60’s albums but the moody blues get none especially when this is so obviously influenced by at least days of future passed (which definitely should have been on this list at least) with the whole orchestral sound, especially on the last song which felt like a song straight out of the mentioned moody blues album. This is a pretty good album though and is better than Trafalgar, although felt very similar in its change in quality with the first half being a bit dull and boring but the second half showing the album in a state which feels like it’s actually settled in and is essentially a better version of what the first half was trying to be. I mentioned the moody blues influence but this is also clearly inspired by pretty much all of the major British Invasion groups and the beach boys with the harmonies and such, also with some American country and folk in the mix as well, it’s actually quite a varied album in a way but also feels quite samey. Also, I would like to mention how the album cover is rubbish for a concept album (loose concept album anyway), Trafalgar has the really nice painting of the ships at sea which would have fit this so much better given this albums theme of the fictional ship lost at sea, although it doesn’t really follow this concept all too much. Anyway, favourites: lamplight, give your best, seven seas symphony and never say never again. I thought there was quite a bit to like about some of the other dongs aswell, the instrumentals were also nice but maybe a bit overdramatic sometimes and also a bit out of place as it just kindled of comes out of nowhere and blasts. This album is maybe a bit too long aswell, cut in half this could actually be really good but given it does have the boring first half, overall 6/10.
Kinda hokey, but nice melodies and harmonies. Possibly a hot take but I prefer this to their disco music. Best song: Marley Purt Drive
A bit weird
It's like a more sober version of the Beatles "Yellow Submarine." I do like it. Apparently this was like the original concept album? Wild!
Låter som Beatles fast bara nästan och utan riktigt bra låtar. Trea
Another slog of a record from Bee Gee's 60s period. There's a pomposity to this that I found super grating - especially the big orchestral instrumentals in the back half which draw heavy inspiration from Elgar but don't feel earned in anyway. All the more galling that actual orchestral (or at least works by contemporary composers) doesn't feature on this list To me it's not a surprise that this period of Bee Gees music is largely overlooked compared to the disco era.
This was... odd. One of my mom's favourite bands during my childhood was the Bee Gees, so I grew up hearing some of their music. This was definitely not that. This was some sort of slow, folky, baroque pop. It dragged on and on and did not need to be a double album. 2.5 rounded up
"Odessa" is the sixth studio album by musical group the Bee Gees (1969). Pop, baroque pop, chamber pop, progressive pop and country are the Wiki-listed genres. They touch on all of those styles. This album is a double vinyl LP album and was originally intended as a concept album. This concept idea created tension in the band along with which song to release as a single which resulted in bandmember Robin Gibb temporarily leaving the band. The bandmembers at the time were Barry Gibb (vocals, rhythm guitar), Robin Gibb (vocals, organ, piano, Mellotron), Maurice Gibb (vocals, bass, guitars, piano. Mellotron), Vince Melouney (lead guitar and his last album with the band) and Colin Petersen (drums). Commercially, the album reached #10 in the UK and #20 in the US. Initially the album was not well received critically but has since received critical acclaim with some citing as their best 60's album. Wind and acoustic guitar open "Odessa (City on the Black Sea)." Next comes harmonized vocals that sound like they're coming from a tunnel. Robin on vocals as he writing a letter to his sweetheart as his ship is lost in sea. There's strings. It's dramatic. There's a touches of flamenco and pyschedelia. Interesting song. Barry takes the vocal lead on the country-folk song "Marley Purt Drive." A banjo. Barry has a Southern US accent. Strings are thrown in in a song about a man with 15 children taking a ride to Pasadena and coming back home where there's 20 additional children. "Whisper Whisper" is a folk-pop song with strings and Barry doing his best Paul McCartney vocal imitation. It's bouncy with a piano and horns. Side three begins with the B-side of the first single "Lamplight." Yeah, it's the one that caused all the internal strife. A strumming guitar, a harp and other strings are featured in this baroque pop song. Subtle harmonies and a grand finish. He keeps sitting under the lamplight waiting for his girl to come back. Soaring vocals highlight a real good deep cut in "I Laugh in Your Face. Strings, a piano and Barry laughing in the face of an uppity woman. The side A of the first and only single is the lovely "First of May." Piano, strings and Barry on lead vocals. The song builds with increased volume in the vocals and strings. A song reminiscing about a Christmas tree and kissing his wife/partner. This is an ambitious hodgepodge of an album. The songs range from baroque to folk to country to Beatles pop to classical instrumentals. The lead vocals, backing vocals and harmonies are very strong. There are a few very good songs. This album should have been trimmed down and/or stuck with one or two styles. This album is worth going back to for a few of the songs and skipping over the others.
Someone once told me that the Bee Gees were much better before disco. After listening to this, I'm not sure I agree.
Started off well, the opening track is brilliant, but the album is otherwise far too long with too few highlights. Could have been cut down by 20 minutes at least, the songwriting isn't strong enough to keep your attention
Better than I expected, worse than I hoped.
Give me disco or give me death. This is a knockoff Beatles concept album in the worst possible way.
This is just middling 60's rock trying to be something it isn't - Good.
It’s very calm and seems like a good album if you want to chill.
ill be listening to it, and ill be like, okay okay i get the point that's enough and then i look and there's still 8 tracks and a part of me dies inside 2/10
The Beatles but Hindu George Harrison took the creative wheel for 1 hour and 4 minutes.
Sounds like The Beatles Mellow; definitely not Stayin' Alive vibes Didn't like Edison Whisper Whisper was weird in a good way The Seven Seas was instrumental, sounded like a Disney soundtrack for an ocean movie The British Opera was another interesting and fun instrumental piece, also soundtrack like Rating: 4 stars (probably would listen again)
Nothing could have prepared me for this album lol. I had NO IDEA the history of the Bee Gees prior to disco, and I am BAFFLED to find out there's like 11 albums prior to their switch to disco.
good
The vibe is good but something just irks me about it
Much more enjoyable than I expected. I did start to get tired of it about halfway through. My favorite song was Suddenly.
This is bad and weird, and I listen to weird music
Nothing interesting
dunno why there's so much hate for the album here. I liked it :)
Expectations: Roller disco vibes 🕺🏽 Reality: The Beatles ordered off Temu 2 ⭐️
Listenable enough, but certainly doesn’t seem like a critical piece of music history.
3 just because the album is named Odessa and it is interesting fact for me ( I'm Ukrainian ). And it was bearable to listen
Was this included ironically? Am I being pranked? Shitty folksy art rock, but 7 years too late. Glad they switched to disco. Can’t imagine why I needed to hear this album before I die
Dogshit. 1/2 star.
Why?
Just bad! Nothing original all songs I was able to get through were rip offs of another bands sound.
Kids probably read these so I’ll just keep it to ‘It was not good’
A couple interesting swings mixed into what is primarily the most dog-shit attempt to make a late era Beatles album. Favorites (relative): “Marley Purr Drive”; “Give Your Best”
Hated then loved. Interesting
pretty nice
It's very eh to me
Not horrible but not up there with the best Bee Gees. I've learned though this that I prefer artistic direction shifts to not be done with double albums. EPs, EPs are fine.
Nothing like I expected. So much variety in styles keeps it interesting the whole way through. There's country, rock n roll, orchestral, and definitely some Beatles influence.
I hated this less than I hate other Bee Gees music.
I didn't know I disliked the Bee Gees so much. The 2 albums I've gotten are awful. This one is slightly better than Trafalgar so I'll give it 2 stars.
wtf was this! Not the bee gees I expected
I wasn't feeling it. A very long album with no memorable songs. The singing is great, but it's usually is from Bee Gees.
For the first five songs, the vibrato vocals are uproariously bad, the songs are meandering or downright absurd, and the lyrics are painfully cringey. Combine all this with a colossal runtime and you would have a candidate for worst album on the list if it wasn’t for some fairly interesting instrumentals on 2 or 3 of the songs. However, the band turns it around on tracks 6-8, before returning to the interminable garbage they started with. 1.0/5.0: Embarrassing
this was a tough listen. i actually enjoyed two of the songs so im not gonna give it the one star it deserves
Technically not bad, but gonna be forgotten by tomorrow.
Holy shit that was so boring. I can’t believe I made it through that whole thing, I like The Bee Gees disco stuff so I was excited to hear a whole older album. But that was just so bland and awful. What the fuck was Edison? Lamplight was pretty good tho
No. There should only be maybe three Ren Faire albums on this list, not 20.
Not really my style.
This record made me feel sorry for it.
This album is an enigma to me. It fits squarely within The Bee Gees pre-disco canon, and while they aspire to greatness, they are unable to attain it. They had to wait for disco where their mediocrity could save them. It does give me a better appreciation for disco, and on that note, John Travolta should be the most grateful man in the world.
The ultimate proof that musical talent and ambition does not equal greatness - although it can't be denied it does help a fair bit.
HOW are these the same guys that sing the michael scott CPR song??? Odessa took my breath away from the very first song, a latin rock opera masterpiece. Lost m e for a couple songs, but the beggining and end were just beautiful. Would give 4.5 stars if I could.
I much prefer the Bee Gees' 70s and 80s output. This is just bleak acoustic rambling without any genuine ideas. Who would have thought? 1.5/5
That's a beegees I wasn't aware of. No ball squeezing disco walks on this one. It's more Beatles leaning. It's alright, but not an album I will revisit. If I could I would give it a 3.5/5
good
I don't like the Bee Gees at the best of time, but a whole hour in one go is a great big no.
Njaa. Nothing special here
I liked it.
One whole single, the looooong way.
Jaime pas le country
Représentatif d'un prolongement très pop des Beatles. La voix de falsetto de Barry Gibb apporte quelque chose de cheesy mais qui somme toute est cool. En fait d'album je préfère Trafalgar sorti quelques années plus tard.
Je rêvais d'une occasion de découvrir les Bee Gees, mais comme n'importe quel mythe de cette proportion, c'est dur de savoir par où commencer. Ça commence bien avec la chanson Odessa, j'adore les narratifs (et les sea shanties, accessoirement). Il y a quelque chose des Beatles, évidemment, mais la voix du chanteur est assez unique (beaucoup plus virtuose que celle d'un Paul ou John). C'est plus proche de Pet Sounds (orchestrations, musique enveloppante, narratifs entraînants) que du disco que je connaissais. Lamplight c'est du vrai beegees. Ça me fait beaucoup penser à Bridge over troubled water aussi. Seven Seas Symphony et With all nations c'est comme dss tounes qui se veut épique mais qui lève pas... et ça détonne sérieusement. Il y a quelques bons trucs mais c'est inégal et beaucoup trop long. Et je peux pas danser vraiment là-dessus... 3 étoiles
Les bee gees avant leur époque disco! Grosse surprise aujourd’hui! Malheureusement ça sonne pas mal comme un pastiche des Beatles et des Beach Boys. Pas grand chose pour me faire revenir à cet album. Quoique j’admire le guts de commencer avec une toune grandiose de 7min30!
Lame, dull, and boring. No falsetto whatsoever.
- Couldn't finish the first song/name sake of the album >.> - Hard meh on this album overall, there are no songs that I would be sad to never hear again :P
Long, cinematic but not really memorable. Great production though
Man, this album is a mess. The production sounds pretty awful, the reverb is terrible and obnoxious, the acoustic guitars don't blend well in the mix, and you know when you can hear yourself talking through your headphones and you struggle to talk, and you end up talking slower, that is how they sing especially on the first song. Every time I think I am overreacting and this isn't really that bad, they play the most annoying half-baked song. This album is also terribly boring and has no reason being a double album. This isn't "that" bad of an album when compared to all music ever written, but compared to everything on this list, it is one of the worst. A lot of times I will say something doesn't deserve to be on this list because it is too generic or forgettable, but this is the rare occasion were this doesn't deserve to be on the list because it is just a bad album. High 1.
I laugh in your face, I know you did with this album!
Not The Bee Gees I was familiar with. Almost a folk album, enjoyed the first few songs
Didnt listen very intently so maybe could be higher but I certainly heard it all
What an oddity. You can hear bits of The Beatles and hints of Creedence Clearwater Revival, fronted by the unmistakable sound of Bee Gees vocals. Then interspersed is an orchestral score for a movie that doesn’t exist. I don’t know if it actually holds together despite individual moments being pretty good. 2.5/5
I’m going to be fully honest, I hate the Bee Gees’ disco era. Like fully hate it, their voices are very annoying to me and I already don’t like disco, but I had a small bit of hope because this one was from 1969, before they went to that sound so I was cautiously optimistic about this one. When they aren’t singing like a bunch of idiots they sound quite nice. I also really like the guitar work and string section on the first two songs. The album has a folky and country feel at times, and it’s jarring to enjoy an album by a group that I only know for music that I hate. I really loved “Melody Fair”. Despite having no vocals the “Seven Seas Symphony” sounds wonderful. This is my most surprising discovery yet.
Масштабная работа с завитушками.
É curioso e até meio triste que grande parte das pessoas não conheça essa fase pop e até, vai, psicodélica, dos Bee Gees, com arranjos orquestrados, sopros e tudo mais. As harmonias vocais e os vibratos, marca registrada da banda, já existia aqui. Imagino que quem só escutou os hits ficaria surpreso com o rock "Whisper Whisper" e sua guitarra distorcida ou a country "Give Your Best". Um disco de muito bom gosto, apesar de um pouco longo.
I found this to be unlistenable. Incredibly boring.
it could be worse
Most significant of their 60s albums.
🎧Big swing, big miss. Favorite track: Black Diamond
These guys better be glad disco became a thing because it would've looked real spooky for them if it didn't. This one right here? Not good. At All.
Who could’ve predicted what they would become after this garbage
These guys needed disco more than disco needed them
Yikes
Not for me
We have the Kinks at home
It had some lyrics that stood out at the beginning, but started to drag on pretty long. Some okay songs in the middle, but nothing that was outstanding.
An album with no identity to me. Thats not really the place where they sound good. Glad it has an ending. They still did 2-3 good songs. (2.0/5.0)
This is a beautifully crafted record, filled with great melodies and string arrangements. I don’t really love that it’s a concept record, and many of the songs sound similar, but there is a lot to love here.
Not at all what I expected when Bee Gees popped up. A concept album about a fictional ship is such a weirdly specific idea that I can't help but be intrigued. I do not like this style at all for them, but the Bee Gees persist. They aren't quite sea shanties, but orchestral soft rock. I was surprised to hear "Never Say Never Again", as I didn't know it was a Bee Gees song. There are a handful of other enjoyable tracks ("I Laugh In Your Face" comes to mind), and plenty of decent-to-good vocal performances, but just nothing that really kept interest. I don't understand why this is on the list
Favorite Track: I Laugh In Your Face
Does feel a *bit* strange to have two of Bee Gees' early maritime-focused (naval-gazing?) albums on this list, yet nothing from their much loved disco period. This one feels like they didn't know what kind of record they wanted to make. Like they couldn't decide between a grand orchestral concept album or a collection of wacky pop and country songs, and never tried to reconcile the two. The result, as you might expect, is that they didn't really succeed at either.
Previously rated: Trafalgar (1/5) ********************* I had forgotten how much I hated the previous Bee Gees album. This is one two years earlier and a double album. Oh boy. You know how some people have punchable faces. One of these guys has a very punchable voice, whichever is Mr. Vibrato. The songs he sings lead on are very lame. There were a couple of decent tracks when they try to sing like the Beatles, so I didn't hate this one nearly as much.
I had no idea the Bee Gees had music like this. I only knew the typical disco hits. I think this sounds like a combination between the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel and the Beach Boys Pet Sounds. Which is pretty cool to me. Not exactly the kind of music I like becouse I'm more of a rocker myself. But this is very cool and well done.
Quite the schmalzfest. Tough to get through and more reminiscent of Engelbert Humperdinck and the likes than of the disco stuff they produced later.
4/10…baroque pop
Bee Geessillä on jotain Suomea vastaan, kun ekassa biisissä lauletaan, "En ymmärrä miksi muutit Suomeen" :D. Ei ollutkaan diskoa D:. Enemmän jotain folk tyylistä, tai kantria. Aika monipuolisesti kaikkea paitsi diskoa. Sinfoniakappaleetkin hienoja. Parhaat: Black Diamond, Lamplight, Suddenly
I thought wow, the fugees have a diverse sound, then I took another look... I listened to the first half and i liked it! 3/5 🐝
i’ll never get over the fact that THIS is the real sound of the bee gees!! there were some really nice songs ngl, but overall it didn't pass the test 2,5/5 🕺🏽
Quite boring to be honest
I didn't know the bee gees did concept albums before the disco hahaha this is quite a revelation. That being said I did not enjoy it and it was quite self indulgent. I don't think this needs to be on the list. Kind of mediocre ramblings of folk music
Not disco - 70s soft rock ballads. Did not enjoy it, but giving it a 2 for the high production value on some tracks.
Couldn't finish this one. So so bad.
This is absolutely awful. I try to listen to the albums completely I had to fast forward through many of the songs on this. Otherwise I am certain I would have put my head through a wall.
In this case Bee Gee stands for Blasted Garbage. This album may be one of the worst I’ve heard on this list. Mockery!
That was hard for me to listen to.
Masterpiece!!
Sounds like dying duck callers. Thank god they found disco
The one or two songs (at most!) I liked nearly saved this from being a one star review but then I remembered how much I disliked the rest of this album. I would never choose to listen to this again, the bulk of it is truly awful! That the author of this project thought I needed to hear this before I died cemented the one star rating. This was punishing.
In their first attempt to fit themselves into spaces that could accommodate their shifting styles, Bee Gees pretty much broke themselves in that process. And yet, it may very well be their most intriguing album in their vast catalog. Odessa, a concept album about an abandoned ship at the turn of the century, needs a solid set of ears to get its message across as it is possible to lose sight of the concept at hand and make note of certain songs that stick out along the way. And there are plenty of songs here that informs those who view Bee Gees one way that they can be viewed in other ways as well. An ambitious step taken, even if the free fall became immediate. Favorites: Odessa (City on the Black Sea), You'll Never See My Face Again, Black Diamond, Marley Purt Drive, Whisper Whisper, Lamplight, I Laugh in Your Face, Never Say Never Again, First of May.
Keep your hands clean!!
When we got the Bee Gees, I expected some 70/80s sounding disco, not this. It was an unexpected and interesting surprise, honestly. I think it was a tad too far fetched in hope that I would love it and it got a little strange and meh but it was good.
Lovely if not a bit dated (which also may add to the quaint mood). It's nice to listen to for the most part and some of the musical aspects can get fairly adventurous. "Melody Fair" almost makes me think of late 80s/early 90s mellow Britpop (Madchester even?) sounds at least vocally - had to be an influence if not subconsciously. The parts that get either tiring or weird can sometimes stem from odd or stilted lyrics but in general at times the crazy warbling nature of the vocals (very notably Robin, see "Lamplight") are too much. Muppety. Honestly just keep the songs with Barry on lead vocals and cut the rest and it'd be a nice abridged version. It's crazy how much this group changed and over such a relatively short time - from this quaint folky material to jive talkin' in 6 years. 6/10 3 stars
The Bee Gees were better with disco.
Robert Dimery’s face when he selected this album for the list: 😏 You’re so clever Robert. I can imagine you at parties, cornering some poor bastard and saying “I actually prefer the the albums the BeeGees made in the sixties…”
Very early Bee Gees. Concept album on the loss of a fictional ship in 1899. Folk rock. Lovely harmonies. A bit silly.
Interesting. Slightly reminiscent of the Beatles, which I guess makes sense. I expected Disco, but this was completely different.
Wow. This is so different from the Bee Gees later material. I like it :-)
4/10 I wouldn't have guessed this was a Bee Gees' album, although there is the odd moment where the future distinctive vocal can be discerned from the largely forgettable late 60s pop on offer. Sounds so much like the Beatles at times, it is almost comical, as are most of their lyrics. I have no doubt that in is time it would have been a decent listen, but today, with the wealth of other music around, it felt irrelevant.
Listening to a Bee Gees album prior to their massive commercial success, which peaked with the soundtrack of 'Saturday Night Fever', is quite interesting. 'Odessa' is intended as a concept album centered around a ship lost at sea, yet the concept fails to fully materialize in a satisfying manner. The album's challenge lies in its excessive musical diversity, incorporating elements of rock, pop, country, baroque, opera, and classical music, which can create a sense of aimlessness or disarray. While the Bee Gees' hallmark strengths, such as their vocal harmonies and instrumentals, are evident, many of the lyrics come across as trite and outdated, even by the standards of 1960s pop. For fans of the Bee Gees or those curious about the evolution of musical groups, this album may offer a worthwhile experience. Otherwise, it may be best to skip it.
even as a bee gees apologist and baroque pop fan, i can't recommend this in good faith. listen to the '69 best of instead.
There must have been some great drugs around in the 60s...this is completely nuts! Poor man's Sgt. Pepper.
I forget that the Bee Gees weren't always a disco group. I think they're much better suited for that genre than whatever this is. I can see why the album wasn't particularly well-received upon release, as the description indicates. I'm just not really sure what this album is. It's boring and a bit odd, not something I will listen to again. 3.5/10 (1.75/5)
odessa- 4 youll never see my face again- 4 black diamond- 4 marley purt drive- 4 edison- 3 melody fair- 4 suddenly- 4 whisper whisper- 4 lamplight- 2 sound of love- 2 no more its not good
This was dire, no wonder they turned to disco if this is what they were doing previously. The instrumental orchestral bits were decent. The rest of it wasnt half as clever as it thought it was. I think the Beatles have a lot to answer for giving half the other 60s bands the misplaced courage to be "experimental", when really its just dodgy ideas dragged on too long. Over an hour of this is not acceptable.