Odessa

Odessa (City on the Black Sea) was good, but far too long. The rest of the songs sounded somewhat similar. I knew precisely what was coming, and sort of had my fill right before the instrumental tracks. I did not enjoy the instrumental tracks.

After their last album we had, I wasn't expecting much from this, but I would say it was better than I expected. Again, not the bee gees disco sound that they are known for though. I didn't really enjoy the more orchestral tracks they had here and a song about a British ship was strange. Some of it was ok though to be fair, but my main issue is that the stuff that was ok mainly sounded like they were trying to do the Beatles and it wasn't that exciting. 2.5

I was in the boat of not knowing the Bee Gees weren't only disco, and I can kind of see why. I'm having trouble seeing much of a narrative or concept in this concept album. Started being good for me on Marley Put Drive, then immediately lost me on Edison. Way too repetitive. The Whisper Whisper ending where it basically turns into a different song brought me back in. Seems like they might have actually had a little fun on that one. Give Your Best was a good one to mix it up a little. Surprised me with the country feel with the fiddle and energetic banjo picking, but in a good way! Seven Seas Symphony is very pretty. From that point, things return to form. Most of the songs feel like they drag on without saying much. They sound good enough, but it needs more substance. Unfortunately a lot of it is just boring.

This feels like a better version of Trafalgar. Definitely has more of a theatrical/dramatic flair and less dancy but a cooler rock / pop album.

This could be used to torture people. I don't enjoy disco Bee Gees but at least that shit is kinda funky and fun. 17 songs and over an hour of runtime of an odd concept album that highlights that these dudes aren't great singers.

Gives off folksy vibes, not bad

I hate the Bee Gees. Their whiney high voices irritate me. I was surprised to hear that they have normal voices too. I didn't hate this like I thought, but it's from an era I'm not particularly fond of.

I never knew The Bee Gees made this kind of music. Was only familiar with the stayin alive style music

Nice to hear pre-disco Bee Gees. I've not spent much time with them because I find the falsetto era a bit insufferable. This had some good stuff - sounded a bit later Beatles at times.

Ok

I knew not to expect Disco-era vibes from this record, but this doesn’t even sound like the same band. Where are the falsetto harmonies?! Where is any semblance of a groove?! Where is the rhythm section?! Where is the songwriting prowess?! Pick any song on this record and then immediately play a B-tier ‘70s Bee Gees hit (e.g. anything off of Spirits Having Flown), and you would think that those are two different bands with completely different singers and two radically different visions. But they’re not, it’s just a 10-year difference in culture that divides them, even though the ‘70s material sounds timeless and classic today, even if it’s not perfect or their best work. Odessa, on the other hand, sounds like a third-rate psychedelic band doing wayyyyyy too much to try and come off as smarter and more talented than they are. And, like, honestly…that is kind of who Bee Gees were prior to the Disco explosion. It sounds like copycat trend chasing because it IS copycat trend chasing. And when that’s your starting point, your record loses any listening value one year after it came out, let alone 50 years after it came out. I will admit that occasionally there are some okay late ‘60s hippie tunes here that I’m okay with, like “Edison,” “Sound of Love,” and “Black Diamond.” But I’m not in love with anything here, even when I’m able to tolerate it. And there’s a lot here! 5-ish songs that I can merely grit my teeth through out of 17 songs total and over an hour runtime? That’s a bad hit ratio. I already don’t like psychedelic anything, so this era is really already sandpaper against my eardrums. When it’s posing and derivative, though, it’s only worse. I think there’s better trend chasing records to show how culturally important the psychedelic movement was in the late ‘60s. I’ve heard them; they’re on this very list. Sure, they might not be good, but they tell a historic story about the genre and large-scale popular music trends, and I could see the argument for including that type of derivative material on a list like this if you believe the purpose of a list like this is to show the history of popular music, great and terrible, and not just highlight the “best” or most “essential” listening experiences ever made. But when you use a popular band who are known for chasing – and, debatably, thriving within– an entirely separate musical trend, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth if you’re on the side of the reader like everyone here is. Especially when that musical trend lasted the same amount of time as the hippie era and has wayyyyy less representation in this book. The fact that Odessa is also just a bad, bland, overwrought and overambitious trudge with nothing really original or appealing to the average listener who wasn’t a crate digger during the literal years of the Summer of Love only adds insult to injury.

the high points were (marley purt drive rules) truly incredible, but a bit too much filler that wasn’t all that interesting [to me].

First thoughts... huh, an iconic disco group attempted to make their own "Pet Sounds", and failed terribly. Upon checking the release year... huh, this predates disco by a decade, makes the history of the Bee Gees that much more peculiar, but the album no more interesting or listenable.

Sentimental mawkish piss

okaaaaay not what i was expecting from these kings. nice easy listening, a few bangers and some less inspiring stuff

This was surprising. I know of these guys from the ridiculous harmonies and folk music, plus their later disco period with Saturday Night Fever and the remake of Sgt. Peppers. This record felt very progressive rock in places, probably due to the orchestration and the general trippy nature of some of the proceedings.

This is the second BeeGees concept album on this list to loosely use historic maritime activities and locations in its concept 💀 haven’t even heard the disco albums yet. Much like Trafalgar, the most dazzling thing about this record is the soaring string arrangements. “You’ll Never See My Face Again” and “Whisper Whisper” confronts the listener with the idea that maybe every white band in 68-70 wanted to sound a bit like the Beatles. But fret not! You can hear the Gibb signature sound more on the next track, “Black Diamond”. “Marley Purt Drive” might be one of my favorites to pick, just for how simple and easy on the ears it is. I would’ve been happy if they trimmed this album down 15-20 minutes. It’s easy to sink into inactive listening about halfway through the album, it lulls you into melancholy without meaning to. “Seven Seas Symphony would’ve been a grand closing track. Pretty mellow 3/5

During the first few seconds I got a Spinal Tap vibe and from that moment the war for me was over.

unlistenable as a whole 1/5

good god, what a slog of an album. I get that this was a necessary stage in the bands growth but why is it here. There are far too many uncooked ideas floating around while the band found itself. Each track was incredibly derivative of the bands contemporaries, just watered down versions. The instrumental cinematic moments were OK, but pretty basic and just randomly tossed about in the second half of the album. no thank you. 1/5

06/04/2025 This was a terrible album.

ambitious, psychedlic, sprawling - but all with a certain charm, and I prefer albums where the reachs exceeds the grasp of the makers, rather than albums where everyone plays safe, plays within known boundaries.

some good tracks in all fairness

Who knew?

BGs expired tbh

Typical Bee Gees' well produced harmonious songs. The Beatles couldn't of done it better. Good album.

I'm not overly familiar with the Bee Gees' library, but I find the selection of Odessa for this list highly questionable... as if someone had an agenda to push this obscure (and fairly terrible) album onto the masses who otherwise would not have (and should not have) ever listened to it. And yet, there have been worse things on this list; so, I guess it'll get a 2 for its relativity.

It’s interesting to me that this album creating so much tension for The Bee Gees. I am shocked that they were arguing over which songs should be released as a single. They should have been disputing on whether to release anything on this album at all. Side note: Their harmonies need work. It’s clear to me they weren’t all on the same page.

This is astonishingly awful. So much of it is shameless Beatles rip-offs, then some folky stuff that sounds like it’s from a Christian-safe version of a Puff the Magic Dragon movie, and then some symphonic shit hits like a glass of cool water on a hot day—but you can’t be sure if it’s actually good or you’re just so fucking glad they’re not singing.

This was an interesting album! It felt like I was listening to a movie and I was thoroughly was impressed and kinda hooked me! I especially thought the instrumental songs felt very cinemaesque! Very cool!

Some of the musical ideas are good. The lyrics are not my thing. If I ignore the lyrics (which I am), it’s a pleasant listen. Further listening is revealing some truly terrible songs (Seven Seas Symphony, With All Nations… seriously what were they doing?).

I can hear why this is not one of Brothers’ best. A good history lesson listen but not a 1001 album for me.

Odessassa on faunin iltapäivä. Ihanhan tässä on ajatusta. En tosin kuunnellut tarinaa, vain aistin että se oli siellä, ja tietysti kertoi laivoista ja vedestä. Ihan tunnelmallinen, vähän tylsä (pituus!). Vois olla tokalla kuuntelukerralla helposti kolmonen, siksi uskallan antaa.

Kaipaatko työmatkoihisi lisää... majesteettisuutta? Värisevää herraskaisuutta? Minä en kaipaa. Mutta tällä levyllä on myös tyydyttäviä hetkiä: kantripalasia, vähän rokkia. Lisäksi Never Say Never Again ja First of May muodostavat aika hyvän kaksikon loppuun. 2,5

Right in the middle of early great to juggernaut. Good record. Bland songs.

Very forgettable. Standout songs: Lamplight Seven Seas Symphony

On first listen, and seeing some other reviews, I was ready to dislike and dismiss this album. And don't get me wrong, I didn't exactly love the album, there were moments that made me feel embarrassed for the band, BUT there were a few moments that really surprised and delighted me. Some were more groovy than expected, like in the jazzy breakdown in Whispers, others were just plain beautiful, like the melancholy melody in I Laugh In Your Face. Listening through this a few times added many more layers to the Bee Gees. So much more than Stayin Alive! They're really living! Ambition! I'm glad this album made the list ❤️

Its weird hearing the Bee Gees not singing at their usual "im crushing my balls" pitch but it was a welcome change. Really enjoyed this album, very whimsy and had some tunes which wouldn't have been out of place in a Disney film or some sort of epic fantasy film. My top faves were: Lamplight Give your best With all nations

It's not bad... it's just like... I mean... I thought they only did Saturday Night Fever stuff but yk ill take it as it is. A few good ones but it's just very 60s, which makes sense. They did perfect their craft 15 years later. Fave Songs: Black Diamond Melody Fair Suddenly ❤️ Whisper Whisper Never Say Never Again ❤️

This is from before they were _The_ Bee Gees, right?

Weird, not what I was expecting when I saw Bee Gees. Varied and kinda ballad-y at times.

AM 60's pop.. It's fine but nothing to get overly excited about.

One doesn’t even sense that this band would become an iconic disco group. And but for the fact that they do this record probably wouldn’t be in this list.

It was kind of novel to listen to a pre-disco Bee Gees. This is just a middle of the road pop album.

It wasn't what I expected. And if it wasn't a double album it might've stayed at a 3. But it's too long for something I didn't really enjoy.

Very listenable

Wild that they later became the Kings of disci

I only ever knew the Bee Gees as disco; that a great surprise of an album. This was interesting throughout. It was long but covered a huge amount of ground in tone, instrumentality, and focus. I'm glad to have heard this and think things like this being part of the list is important. It doesn't land it on every song but the ambition is fantastic. I'm glad they took the shot even though you can half hear it falling apart throughout the album.

The opening track alone almost comes off as an album itself. There is a version of this album in here with a couple tracks taken off that make it much tighter. The country song Marley Purt Drive causes some whiplash. Also Melody Fair could be cut. I Laugh in Your Face is a big song. I like Black Diamond, Edison, and I Laugh in Your Face. Some big production going on here. This is an ambitious album that got a little lost along the way.

Who knew? Where's the falsetto voices, what happened between these two time periods???!!!

This tedious and boring. Give me the disco stuff.

2.5

6/10. I’d put this on doing woodwork or sm it’s chill.

I got halfway through the first track and could go no further. Honestly I’d rather listen to their disco records- at least there’s some kitsch value there.

Nope.

Ick

A soft and smooth album. A lot of very pleasing to the ears songs.

Odessa is peak pre-disco Bee Gees—dramatic, orchestral, and full of ambitious songwriting. Before they were ruling the dance floor, they were crafting moody, baroque pop epics like this. The title track sets the tone with its haunting strings, and the rest of the album keeps that grand, melancholic vibe rolling. It’s definitely a weird one, but in the best way. Proof that the Bee Gees were more than just falsettos and gold chains. Favorite song: I Laugh In Your Face

en plena forma. luego sobreviven con el falsete y la musica disco.

Most people know the disco phase of the Bee Gees - I'm including myself in this group. So I was pleasantly surprised to go into this baroque pop folky early album of the band which has lots of great music and lyrics. A great feel for all of it. The opener is something for the ages. Only the later tracks fizzle out a bit.

A reminder that the Bee Gees were a much weirder band than their Saturday Night Fever-era bangers suggest. I’m glad I heard this overlong, sometimes beautiful and deeply odd album.

Grand, artistic, kinda self indulgent with experimental moments and very silly lyrics for era defining song writers. Perfectly fine, may listen again but not sure it will have a lasting impact

Disco fun one of my faves with so many good and fun memories tied to it.

Goddammit all to hell. I just finished typing up a review on yesterday's boring-ass Arcade Fire album and my stupid brain literally thought, "well, at least I'm about to get something better than this," and now I have to listen to a goddamned Bee Gee's album. I don't know what the fuck is going on here. It's not disco, which is excellent, but it's some sort of weird renaissance fair bullshit. Is this some sort of concept album or something? is this prior to disco or is this their "brave" album where they're trying to adjust their sound? Either way it sucks and I hate it.

If this was labeled The Beatles people would flock to give it 5 stars. Because it’s The Bee Gees they can’t get the feel of velour and sounds of Stayin Alive out of their heads. The album is big (are double albums ever really necessary?) and the ideas are pretty grandiose. But the songwriting was sound. Big flourishes added feeling and there was depth in the content. I’ll listen to it again.

Overall I dug it - there was a lot of material here so a re-listen is necessary, but dug the vibes.

Psychedelic, folky opus. No real stand out tracks.

Nooooo.... It's Friday (a glorious Friday), and I'm supposed to listen to Bee Gees? We'll see how this goes. It's over an hour?!? Okay, I can do this. ... Okay, that was not what I expected... didn't sound like the Bee Gees I know, but not better. It's a concept album.

I've never been to Ukraine.

++: Whisper Whisper +: Black Diamond, Marley Purt Drive, Suddenly, Give Your Best, Never Say Never Again, First of May +-: Edison, Melody Fair, Seven Seas Symphony, With All Nations (International Anthem), I Laugh in Your Face -: Odessa (City on the Black Sea), You'll Never See My Face Again, Sound of Love, The British Opera --: Lamplight 3,2/10

So was this their we have to make a Sargent Peppers album? Not sure why it's here just like Trafalgar. I don't know what it's about but it was better then that one at least. I guess they were better at disco

i am a bee gees fan, and i do really like their early stuff (as well as their disco stuff) and so i was excited to listen to this one, as i'd never heard it but have always heard good things. and it was good. a bit uneven. this album has one of my favorite bee gees songs of all time, 'lamplight' and there are a handful of other songs on here that are great, but there's a lot of mid here too. don't get me wrong, there is some beautiful orchestration on here and some other great moments, but as a whole, it was a little bit disappointing for me.

I genuinely had no idea that the Bee Gees were releasing albums in the 60's. So this would be a pre-disco sound for the brothers. Vocally, this is as good as you'd expect and is easily the highlight of the album. There's absolutely no denying the vocal talents of the brothers Gibb. The harmonies and falsetto are as good as you'll hear. Musically it's odd. It's like if The Beatles were less good and started releasing folky prog music. 'Whisper Whisper' in particular sounds very Fab Four. A lot of the tracks just aren't that interesting and do sort of merge together. The only highlight I can remember is 'Edison' which I thought was a hugely catchy ear worm. It's not exactly bad, but it is pretty dull in places. Not exactly what the Bee Gees are known for.

first time heard 3.5 round down to 3 feels like they tried to make the greatest album of all time and 'end' music the outcome was a pretty good album which somehow feels like a disappointment

Cinematic, but I feel like I'm missing visuals

I never heard pre-disco, pre high-pitch, Bee Gees before, so this was unexpected. In a good (not great) way. Kind of a mix of folk/ psychedelic/ pop/ country. It's a 2 or a 3 but it's no worse than many other stuff from the 60s (incl. the Beatles in their less glorious moments) so I'll say, a 3.

Iconic harmonies and falsetto

This wasn't for me

It’s a 60s concept album by some dudes that sing really well. I think people hate on this because it’s The Bee Gees but honestly, it’s good that they did experiment. Trying to loook at this objectively, I think it suffers from a problem many concept albums have which is it never goes anywhere. Even “The Wall” has another brick pt2 to grab the listener eventually. Overall I’m glad they got to explore, but I don’t think it amounted to much.

A valiant attempt at pushing the boundaries - its not their best work, but I think we should encourage more bands to make the music that they want rather than the music people expect to hear

great album, first time listening to the bee gees. timeless

Not my cup of tea. First album that I didn’t finish. Just couldn’t.

It doesn't really sound at all like what I'm used to the Bee Gees sounding like, which is good. But it also doesn't sound like anything good, which is bad.

Haven't really forayed into the Bee Gees before, tbh. But boy this album (or I guess, double album) felt like a lot. That's the thing with concept albums (my favorites that come to mind from that era are The Wall, Sgt. Pepper's) is when they work, they can be great. When they don't, they sound a lot like this. I like to relisten to albums sometimes to get a better feel for them, but I just couldn't with this one. There might have been 1 or 2 tracks that I enjoyed and the rest felt like filler.

I honestly didn't know that the Bee Gees were active in the late 60s. I always associate them with some form of pop-rock, disco of the mid-late 70s. Not at all what I expected out of the gate. This has a traditional + folksy aspect to it with sweeping strings and drawn out harmonized balladry. Getting some heavy goat overtones from the vocals. Marley Purt Drive is an interesting detour into roots rock. I'm into it. Stepped away from this one and came back in to With All Nations... such a strange album this one. I guess this really sells the "baroque pop" categorization. This is one of those albums that, on the face of it, is completely fine and respectable. And yet, here I am an hour later and I fucking hated this. The whole thing felt pretty all over the place, but in the most boring way possible. There are parts that are individually nice (Marley Purt Drive, vocals on First of May), but my general takeaway is abject boredom. Never again, but also not deserving of a 1. So 2 it is.

Weird album, had a classic rock 70s vibe, some beatles vibe, and then weird symphony sounds. I would say a portion of the album is a 2, some is a 3, and some is a 4. I give it a 3.5 stars

This is not at all what I expected out of the Bee Gees. I was thinking 60s pop/beach rock. This felt more like a rock opera or movie score. Seven Seas Symphony was great.

Funny album that had a combination of good 60s rock with some songs thrown in the second half of the album that sounded like they could be in a musical. When (International Anthem) came on I thought I was about to start the Olympics. This is a low 4/ high 3 but will go 4 because I really liked the singer

This is... not what I was expecting with the Bee Gees. Really not liking these first few songs. I love skiing Black Diamonds but I H8 this one. Marley Purt Drive is much better and has The Band sound to it. Definitely starting to hate the baroqueness of this album and it's dragging on forever.

Individually these songs would be alright but together makes this an extremely confusing listen

It's not my favorite Bee Gees album, but it still is a pretty damn good album!

Very interesting to hear the Bee Gees before their disco hits that are so familiar. Kinda lost me at "remember you're just a woman." Also learned while listening that I was holding an old wives tale in my head, that the Brothers Gibb all died of cocaine in the '70s. So wrong! Two are still alive today and the other made it to 2012. Glad you're still here, guys.

Not my fave really. The warbley singing put me off a bit. I have a feeling if someone were to redo some of these songs with singing more to my taste and less Violins and stuff this has some promise.

Not for me 1/5

Why is this album in this list?? It sounds so half finished... Even the bee gees are probably better than this elsewhere

Okay, being honest, I'm not sure if this is a 10/10, maybe more of a 9/10, but hey, why should I care. This one spoke a lot to me. I'm not sure if it is, but it reminded me a lot of prog rock music, but with a little more sort of...softness to it, gentleness. I adored every song. It didn't feel too long, either. The guitars, the violins, keyboards...it all blends perfectly, to me at least. The album flow is amazing, which also reminded me of prog albums as well. The songs seemlessly blend into each other. The sound brings me back to memories of a warm spring walk by the river (Odessa, huh?). I like this a lot. Like a lot lot. I've been in a bit of rut recently due to medical issues but honestly? This just made me so damn happy. I was listening to this with a big smile on my face. And I think that says something. Beautiful work.

Amazing !!

I am more used to their mid to late 70s work, so this was a bit of a disconnect for me. Still an amazing album.

Non-disco Bee Gees is weird. Are they trying to be the Beatles (a bunch of songs sound like Ringo songs)? Or The Band? What's up with the song about Edison?

2.5/5

4.3 - This was great! Some really good tunes and feels quite epic.

Quite nice. Reminded me a bit of Victoria by the Kinks or whatever that album about Blighty is called. Didn’t really find any standout tracks or moments I’d want to revisit though so can’t go much higher than this. 3.4/5

There's better bee gees albums come on...

Over an hour of Australians attempting to make a conceptual, British-orientated album. In the decade before their monumental disco success, the Bee Gees were apparently catering towards the insatiable British desire for baroque, twinkly, whimsical ditties. The first ¾-ish of this is the same story about something-or-other that’s vaguely relevant to British high culture, in marketable song/album form, and the last quarter is more of the same, split up by respite in Vaughan Williams-inspired instrumental numbers and the lyrical beige that is First of May. Another case of an album being theoretically much better if it was more concise, i.e., ending after the 6th or 7th track. There’s nothing to despise here, it’s just 1960s vaguely experimental pop. And at least it’s not their 70s disco stuff.

Like it. Didn’t know a single song 🤷🏻‍♂️

what a lame piece of crap. folk pop that the Byrds can happily do without. if "so you want to be a rock 'n' roll star" is really meant to be a reference to the Monkeys, congratulations, they did it much better. for me this album is a boring waste of time. perhaps the album had a certain significance at the time it was made, I can't see it today. the album is absolutely dispensable. thank god they have a few other, much better works

Not the Bee Gees that everyone knows and I don't know why i expected it to be that. It reminds me of the drastic change that Fleetwood Mac made to their sound after the Peter Green era. All the harmonies are still here but honestly, they aren't doing anything on this album that anyone during that era wasn't already doing. There's some clear Beatles influence on this record. The songs aren't bad they just don't stand out too much.

They burned the wrong Bee Gees album at Comiskey Park in 1979. Saturday Night Fever is a masterpiece compared to this drivel.

nice

I only ever really knew the Bee Gees for Stayin' Alive so when i heard Odessa and found out that every song on here sounded nothing like that one, I was utterly flabbergasted. This album was way more of a folk/country album with many orchestral elements with some songs even going as far as to just being orchestral pieces without any vocals at all. Even the vocals here are very Beatlesque. I actually did quite like this album in spite of my shock. The instruments (especially the violins) were handled really well and the songs were still catchy at points without being disco like the Bee Gees are known for. The country songs weren't my favorite but this album was never at any point bad. Best Song: I Laugh In Your Face Worst Song: Marley Purt Drive

Nije potpuna kopija beatlesa ko prvi ali je bezveze

I’ll give them points for ambition but this is a mess of an album. For every good track there’s two or three bad ones and it falls under the weight of its own self importance and lengthy runtime. Lamplight is such a low point its almost hilarious that one of them left the band over it not being chosen as the A-side. It's horrendous.

Very good

Had two Bee Gees records in under two weeks, and have both been shite.

Nice, but not mine, unfortunately.

Kinda blew me away...a double albums worth of music all songs I had never heard from a band that I though I knew well. I didn't find anything not to like about this album. Lots of nice melodies, beautiful harmonies and songs that sound from one turn like The Kinks to then The Band to then The Beatles. This is very much a roots music, Americana folk album that seems to transcend it's time and its influences. Bravo. 4 stars

extremely grating. i like the instrumentals but HATE the singing

Decent

the children yearn for disco. Overall I liked some of it and got bored for the other 45 mins

no way this is the same band that made staying alive, wtf some cool songs on here but this was an absolute chore to listen to

kinda beatles-y, i dig it

I did use a private spotify session for this one as I was expecting some disco crap, instead it was bad folky music, bad music, stupid lyrics, poor harmonizing. I could have died without hearing this.

I thought that the songs were super unremarkable and forgettable.

Too beatlesesque, churclike , nasal and long.

Fine

Feel p much the same way ab this as I did ab trafalgar. Did not enjoy the song the album is named after and something about everything else just really worked for me.

6/10 - Some of the instrumental pieces were nice. The Bee Gees are just not what I expect bc it is not stayin alive

Sounds like a boring amalgamation of every Beatles album we've had thus far. Not sure why this list loves the Bee Gees early stuff so much; seems to me like they were ripping people off both early and late in their careers, but at least their disco stuff is fun to listen to

OK.

4.0

I must admit I only knew about 3 or 4 of their songs, thought I'd like this album but not the case.

Majority of the songs don't land, and they feel like they're ultimately missing something. As if they hired half an orchestra, or forget to put soul into their epic single. It's not entirely without merit, but I'd rather much listen to something else.

A Bee Gees concept album!!! and not only a concept album, but it’s an album also that caused the group to break up! I am excited to listen to it all the way through. When I last heard this about 20 years ago, I thought it was naff! Listening again there is a country influence on this album which I don’t think suits them and their melodies. There are also some very odd songs like Edison and Melody fair and no big hits. The Bee Gees have made some of the greatest pop songs of all time. there are not any on this album though. It’s one I wouldn’t listen to again and was not worth the heartache it caused them in the 4 months it took to record. That said I love Robins voice and Lamplight is a great tune! and I love First of May so that gives this album a 2/5. Favourite song: Lamplight and First of May Least favourite: Most of the album Album artwork: Standard yet effective.

Definitely not the Bee Gees you'd expect. And not for the better.

Top review #1: "Well. Not just a Bee Gees album, but a Bee Gees concept album. Not just a Bee Gees concept album, but one where significant creative differences resulted in not just one but two Bee Gees concept albums. About a Ukranian port. The first song alone lasts 1 day, 7 hours and 34 minutes." Top review #2: "Expectation: Some funky Bee Gees beats to energise my day Reality: What the hell is this" Top review #3: "The Bee Gees were a lot more successfull at ripping off black artists than they were at ripping off white artists" And honestly, I don't really think I need anything else. That all perfectly sums up this album.

4.5/5

i like the disco era beegees best.

Going into this album, I was surprised by all the hate I saw in comments and reviews. Once I started listening, I honestly didn’t think it was that bad. Overall, it’s a pretty easygoing baroque pop album with some progressive touches sprinkled throughout. However, about halfway through, it started to feel like the album wasn’t really going anywhere, and from that point on, it became pretty boring.

if you gave me a million guesses to try and name what band this album was by i don’t think i’d ever say The Bee Gees. in the best way possible though! kind of early floyd, beatlesque, abba, king crimson at times. very cool

Non disco Bee Gee's is weird. I mean, I hate disco, but when someone says the band name Bee Gee's, what you expect to get is fuckin Stayin' Alive. This album is more soft rock/pop. It is apparently a failed attempt at a concept album about the sinking of a ship in 1899, and its a double album. The band fought so much about the direction of the album, and which songs should be released as singles, Robin Gibb temporarily quit the band. Favourite songs: Give Your Best, Marley Purt Drive, Lamplight, Melody Fair, First of May, Odessa (City on the Black Sea) Least favourite songs: The British Opera 4/5

Enjoyable listen and a few bookmarked songs to put on playlists later. Pretty easy listening

Das sollen die Bee Gees sein?! Die Stimme passt, aber sonst? Sehr konzertant. Viele Geiger, viel Vibrato in der Stimme. Ganz ungewohnt. Nicht mein Stil.

This was a slog to get through. This record is all over the place and I do not know what they were going for other than trying to make a Beatles-ish record. I could have gone the rest of my life without wading through this and I would have been just fine.

3.5

Great album. A little long, too much filler. And I admittedly wasn't paying attention to the concept of the album. But some awesome songs. God they have some weird and wonderful voices Best tracks: Marley Purt Drive Melody Fair (sounds like McCartney / Lemon Twigs) Whisper Whisper Lamplight Sound of Love Give Your Best Never Say Never Again First of May

Good Song writing

Very moody, did not enjoy

I was expecting pretentious tosh. I got .. surprisingly catchy pretentious tosh.

Nothing grabbed my attention on here, but I didn't dislike it either.

not at all what i expected the bee gees to sound like based on brian regan's imitation

Didn’t hate it but won’t revisit

Too long, too boring. This guys should really switch genre or something

It was alright, better than I expected. Dragged on a bit too long, but solid mid table score nonetheless.

Found this very boring, and was a little dissopointed if I'm honest

It’s crazy how many people The Beatles influenced isn’t it? Imagine it being 1969 and you releasing a song that the Beatles could have done 5 years ago? Just give up on trying to be good Bee Gees and pivot to disco. It’s bad, but in a good way and you do it well

Nooop.

Lidt et alternativt Bee Gees, ikke den gode disco vibe, men mere følsomt, langtrukkent

One of the worst albums that have come up on here in a while. One small decimal over Leonard Cohen awfulness.

Not a fan of concept albums nor this flavor of The Bee Gees. This album isn’t fun and it’s pretty hard to get though.

Pre-Disco Bee Gees? I didn't know that was a thing. It was definitely an interesting album to listen to. Very folksy, pretty Beatles-esque (though not as good).

"I knew that the Bee Gees had more of a soft rock sound before they went the disco route, and a lot of the songs I heard from that era were good. But this album is very boring and absolutely too long. I know it's a concept album, and I can understand why the critics at the time weren't too favorable toward it. It's just so monotone and lacks substance in terms of the concept's subject, which is a port in Ukraine; Not the best subject for an album is it?

Interesting album, though still mediocre. I don't think I'd ever listen to it again. Still better than their disco-era music.

Not bad. A few pretty good songs but overall not special. Liked the one about driving with the kids.

Not The Bee Gees I’m familiar with! What’s week for Beatles knock offs. I do have to give credit for the ambition this album required but none of it really connected with me.

Ok, nothing special

A lot of haters on this one. I'm neutral Will I listen to again: 10%

It was okay. I saved one of the instrumentals but otherwise, background music that I didn't miss after it was gone.

This is not great, but just about as good as the Bee Gees get. There are some real stinkers in here, but a good bit of it is actually somewhat listenable.

A more diverse album than I would have thought.

Knockoff Beatles, but from the pre-psychadelic era.

Not very good and went on and on.

Somente chegando ao fim do disco consegui identificar o Bee Gees. Parece algo fora da curva, não que seja ruim mas longe do que conhecemos.

This album is sweet. Bee Gees are better and more interesting than I thought for sure. Long and ambitious concept album with just excellent songs and parts all over it. Great album.

Weird to think this is the Bee Gees, but in a “huh” way, not a “this is great!” way.

Did the Bee Gees just copy what was popular at the time? As this is the second album in 2 weeks and was just as boring as the other. Still yet to hear their disco album.

This album is really good, but I just can't help being disappointment that this and Trafalgar are on the list, and somehow Spirits Having Flow isn't. On its own, though, Odessa is a very good album.

I love early bee gees but in no way does this beat Mr. Natural.

why do the bee gees have two albums and neither are the ones with songs people like

67/100. While the majority of the songs are enjoyable, the album's structure feels disjointed, with abrupt shifts between genres.

Brittish Rock

Didn't expect this, didn't really enjoy it either

very cool. i like the instrumentals too. 4 stars

I was expecting disco so this threw me. I listened part way through, then stopped to come back later with a fresh mind because I really wasn't liking it. So after coming back with a fresh mind this isn't a bad album. There's some great songs here, but also some filler. Overall the album seems a bit bloated and confused. I think that if some songs were dropped and others were made a little shorter, this could have been a single album rather than a double, and it would have been much stronger for it. With all that said this is actually quite good as is.

This album was a surprise. I assumed the Bee Gees were entirely 70's disco. I didn't imagine they were on their *sixth* album in 1969, and with such a different sound. I guess this is a concept album about a made-up ship, and I feel kind of neutral about that. The one song that caught my attention was Whisper Whisper. Everything else is just OK.

There were bits in there that spoke to talent, but it's just sort of a self important jumble veering from Beatles to Beach Boys to orchestral interludes.

The conceit of a concept album is a seriously difficult artistic endeavor to pull off. When it's done well (Sgt Peppers), it's pretty mind-blowing. When it's not, it's this.

the list is stacked with cruel jokes on listeners, like this one.

something I never thought I would write but I like pre disco Bee Gees, I really enjoyed this album especially the back half.

The Bee Gees depth goes much more than I would've thought with this one. It's charming, whimsical, and nautical: surely a more dramatic predecessor to Yacht Rock. Things weren't stead for the brothers here either, but this definitely moved them more towards their most signature style

Chad. Ez 4.5. Possibly a 5 after a re-listen.

Solid, it ends very strongly with the last four songs.

Interesting album it's strange to listen to the Bee Gees without their high pitch voice style, but nonetheless it's a good listening

Yikes!

Very boring

This where you can understand how talented the bee gees were. This is a concept album from their 1960s run. Then they evolved into what they are known for. They disco era. But before that they were a regular good band but not very disctinct from others they evolved and left the others behind. Not great to me but its well done and recorded pretty decent concept albu But not a story I necessarily got into.

Fell flat for me start to finish.

OKEE DOKEE. Now I am not one who is not compelled by the story of the Bee Gees (outside the fact that I now know they are not from California (!)) and I can hear the immense talent that really sits behind the brother's music. They really deserve the accolades they have received and are actually quite great overall. Now to this particular album. What genre is this? Now I may be one of the most open minded and genre inclusive people I know, but I was like "this sounds almost like choir music" "this sounds like a national anthem" "this sounds like contemporary? Elevator music or?" I suppose ultimately I found it kind of weird I guess?

Oh here comes a controversy one. I love Odessa so much it's like one of my all-time favorite tracks from Bee Gees (I'm not a fan of disco, obviously). It transports me to another time and space, like a spiritual journey on the Titanic or whatever the ship is. I love other songs in this album too, especially the strings, and that classic, nostalgic '60s sound is beyond satisfying. Seven Seas Symphony is massive. I love this one, and I even think it deserves a 4/5.

2.5 The instrumental part is very nice, but the vocals are boring.

Not the Bee Gees I knew or expected. Generous 2.

8/10

This is the best the bee gees have released.

Not for me

I have a coworker who love The Bee Gees and Andy gibb. She always calls out last minute doubling my work load. I can’t wait to tell her I listened to this whole album and was underwhelmed by this knockoff Beatles album with nonsensical lyrics.

I like the Bee Gees, but this album did nothing for me

Dry AF. Couldn't wait for it to end

On another day I may have found things to appreciate but this was a very odd choice to make this list 2/5

This just didn’t work for me. Long and boring

Ambitious record from the Bee Gees and i think this sound works well for them when compared to their disco sound, but it just doesn't do anything for me unfortunately. 2/5 ⭐️

So the description of this album on the challenge page states “the album was not particularly well-received, though now is regarded by many as the most significant of the group's Sixties albums.” And after 3 songs I hit stop and understand why it was not well-received. It’s just garbage. It sounded like they wanted to do a prog-rock epic album and utterly failed. I can imagine the only people enjoying this are those who love to say “You just don’t get it man” before they go into some over pretentious spiel about why the album is so important. I’m good if I never hearing another track from this.

Boisterous, loud, interesting - and not disco. Worth a listen and quite good. Felt like a journey.

I can't think of anything I want less than an hour-long Bee Gees concept album. Get the hell out of here. An unmercifully long listen. Really, truly, thank goodness for disco. This is intolerable Beatles mimicry.

Wow! I know that the Bee Gee's output before the mid-70s could be unusual to say the least but I wasn't expecting this strange! Not entirely dreadful but not great either. It is, at least, interesting.

I had braced myself for an album of disco crap, and was pleasantly surprised by this mellow, pretty album!

J'aimais bien le son de cet album en le commençant, mais plus ça allait et plus je me lassais. Loin d'être un torture à écouter, mais j'estime qu'il est trop long pour son propre bien. Il aurait pu être largement réduit et le produit final aurait été plus intéressant. Au final ça donne quelque chose de très doux et monotone. 5/10

2.5

Did not make it through. The opening song was schmultsy and really tough to get through. Felt like it went on for an hour. I've never heard this side of the Bee Gees before, and I never want to again.

This album is such derivative, self-indulgent garbage and it lasts over an excruciating hour long while feeling like forever. I cannot believe I actually let this play through, actively making me more and more angry with each ill-advised track direction. This may be the worst example of a concept album I've ever heard. It's like they heard bands like the Beatles, the Band, and others and thought, let me just water that down for you and completely convolute it. And then you have symphonic schlock and "The British Opera", "International Anthem", ect like what did they think people would like about any of this....?

Really interesting. before they sold out to disco.

I didn’t hate this as much as everyone else on here seemed to do. I’d really not heard any pre-disco Bee Gees and this is obviously a band trying to find their lane. A couple of songs sound like the Beatles, some CCR, some country. Eventually disco would become their thing and they excelled at it. It’s a journey.

Can't be doing with the Bee Gees

This is not the Bee Gees I was expecting which was a pleasant surprise. I have learned there is "sixties" Bee Gees and then there is disco Bee Gees, and probably some variations in between. Interesting mix of songs that span a range of genres from symphonic, to pop, to country, really all over the map.

This is so NOT rainbow rhythms.

Remember that part in the Mr. Bean movie when Willem Dafoe debuts that self-fellating art house movie that nobody enjoys? It wasn't enough for this to be another instance of meandering nyquil-core from the late 60's. Everything about this album just screams insincere and trying too hard to appear artsy. My listening experience was already bad enough and I don't like to think this way about something since it feels anti-art to just dismiss something in such a way but I really cannot shake the douchey vibe this album gave me. 'I Will Laugh in Your Face', that's probably what they were thinking when they saw people giving this crap praise in retrospect since apparently people had the right idea initially and crapped on this album. What is the importance of keeping this on the 1001? So I can know The Bee Gees were dogshit when they weren't making disco tunes?

The Brothers Gibb giving us absolute generic Beatles clone soft rock music. It's serviceable, but you can see why no one knows anything outside the Bee Gees disco era. Not great, not terrible. Generic and forgettable. Give us a disco record next time thanks.

Aw sweet a boomer nostalgia trip. It's amazing how this album manages to encompass both the fake hippie bullshit and their shift towards conservative neo-liberalism. You just know some cringe ass BOOMER has cried to With all nations. It's amazing how much this album nailed an entire generation like yeah all you cunts are peace and love and anti-establihment now, but by the 90s you'll vote conservative for 30 years out of fear for the price of your home going down. It's also worth questioning how influential ALL these bands could really be since the vocal production on all these fucking albums from this era sound identical. But the turn of the century boomer prediction does go crazy. 7/10 Fav tracks - Odessa (City on the Black Sea), You'll Never See My Face Again, Whisper Whisper, Lamplight, Seven Seas Symphony, With All Nations (International Anthem), First of May, The British Opera Least Fav - A few of the others

Surprised by the opening to this album, given the only thing i know about Redcliffe's finest is all their disco shit, this was wildly different. I don't know what to even call the genre? Reminds me of the Beetles? Soft rock maybe? Either way this album is genuinely facilitating in terms of its range of sounds and switching up. The vocals were good but not really sucking me in as much as the instrumentals. Has that 60s feel to in terms of sound. Overall really interesting album and definitely something i would not have listened to without this 1001 gen. 4/5

More like the Slee Pees An overly-long, sleeping aid of an album. Symphony of the Seven Seas was a good instrumental but overall this album kind of blows. I can remember one track from this distinctively and it doesn’t even have vocals.

I always quite liked the Bee Gees 60’s stuff and went into this quietly optimistic My initial reaction was very wtf But this slowly grew on me. It’s not great and there are moments where the songwriting is weak but those moments are normally followed by an interesting turn or orchestration Like a rough draft of a Scott Walker album A generous 4

3.4 1x catch up on 9/30 decent and not what i expected. worth a second listen down the road

some alright songs but mostly rubbish.

of course the Bee Gees would see their greatest commercial successes when they came up with a different, even more annoying way of singing

Can't believe how shit this is. Sounds nothing like the good songs of beegees. every song sounds like the shit song off a Beatles album

You know what?? Screw all of you guys this was great! It was a very well written concept with album with beautiful melodies and lovable tunes! I’m sorry it wasn’t disco or anything, give the band a break!

Nicht gut?? Muss es denn immer nur rappen, kreischen und lärmen? Ich finde dieses Album großartig! Besser als das bald folgende Saturday Night Disco Gedöns! Volle Punktzahl!

An album that doesn't have a single outstanding song on it - if you compare it to later albums, you wouldn't even notice that it's the Bee Gees. The only exception is the song "Lamplight".

Not great, but people seem unnecessarily harsh to this. Has some element of the Kinks or The Who that I dig.

I've never heard very early Bee Gees, and now I see why it doesn't get as much exposure. Basically an attempt at making a moving, serious, concept album, but it doesn't really work all that well. Way too much vibrato on the vocals, and the music is just like prog rock but not as interesting.

So syrupy.

njaae, jag vet inte riktigt vad jag lyssnar på. det är åtminstone inte så bra.

As if the disco era wasn't bad enough.

This wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I didn’t think it was bad at first, but it got knocked down from 3 to 2 for the following: - too long - boring - concept album

Last Bee Gees album was ~700 albums ago and I am once again shocked this band is more than just the disco icons that they became. Really interesting, this double album was pretty good, but my interest was largely carried by the wide discrepancy between what I think of the Bee Gees and the music I was hearing. Odessa was my favourite song, which is a bad sign since it was the first one and there was an hour of music after that. Probably a 3.5.

Listening to the Bee Gees is a spiritual experience

Pretty good

Bee Gees do Sgt. Pepper, not as well.

OMG - WTF were they thinking? No winder you know none of these songs, or were familiar with this - it's pretty bad, and I consider myself a fan of the Brothers Gibb. Robin was smart to leave over this...

Pish, just goes to show they didn't need to wait for disco to be able to suck. A band I hated when I only knew their popular songs; the terrible ones are even worse!

We have the Beatles at home:

I didn’t like this at first but it really grew on me, instrumental pop rock opera style. Still found it a bit long.

Fikk Beatles vibes egt

Surprisingly varied, and definitely better than the other Bee Gees album on this list. Still very much learning that they can be a fun band, rather than a serious one.

Not my scene

Loved this album musically. The musical structure was pleasing to the ear. Unfortunately, vocally, seemed like a lot of odd choices and none of them rang true. It's almost like they went out of their way to be psychedelic or something similar to the sign of the times. It should be noted that this album was released in 1969, in the hay day of bands like Led Zepplin, The Grateful Dead, 5th Dimension, King Crimson and ofcourse The Beatles. I couldn't enjoy this album, the vocals ruined the experience for me. Ironically coming from a band of brothers known for thier angelic voices.

I like their disco era much better. This feels uninspired and very generic.

Personally, this is the Bee Gees at their worst. They do disco much better.

I find it very unoriginal to say the least. One track has one of the Gibb brothers emulating Paul McCartney. This album is nothing like the Bee Gees' later stuff. But it's not absolutely dreadful like a few albums I've heard. Looks like I'll forget this record within a month. 2 stars for "Odessa".

Higher than 3 but not quite a 4

Hmm, never even heard of this album before and had no idea what to expect. It is not the Bee Gees of the disco era. It is an interesting endeavor, a concept album about a ship. I have not read the details but the album is listenable. I give it a 3 for ambition.

I had no idea they were around before their disco era. That was a much better choice for them than whatever this is. A British band taking a stab at American Southern rock is not it.

Sorry guys. But what I definitely didn’t need to hear was a four disc long pre-disco Bee Gees album. Almost nothing good to talk about here.

This is terrible. And it's not because I prefer later Bee Gees. It's a confused mess of Beatles, meets soft rock, meets very unadventurous prog rock. Not good.

I don't know what I expected from a 60s Bee Gee's record, but an hour long psychedelic baroque pop album about a ship wasn't it. It's not bad but it does drag a bit.

очень олдиз поп, быстро устала

This album is an enigma to me. It fits squarely within the pre-disco canon, but it feels like this is a band aspiring to greatness and being completely unable to attain it. They were just waiting for disco for their mediocrity to save them. If I needed to hear this before I die, it seems like it had to be done just so I would better appreciate their contribution to disco. John Travolta should be the most grateful man in the world.

title track is pretty cool

I really wanted to like this. I love over the top stupid vanity projects. Melancholy and the infinite sadness is my favorite album, but man this goes hard. What a rough listen. It's like listening to someone trying to find a point of view and going nowhere. Doesn't help that I hear Jimmy Fallon singing half of this. Only gets 2 stars because I think it's hilarious that everyone was expecting a disco album.

Christ on a high-pitched bike, what is this? Just the weirdest, most nonsensical album you can imagine. Apparently it's a concept, but the concept seems to be 'what if a talented group of songwriters deliberately made a stupid album'. It's rescued a bit by I Laugh In Your Face, which is funny in a good way, as opposed to laugh-out-loud stupid.

why??????? This wasn't anything I was expecting nor enjoyed??

I did not know that the Bee Gees had a prog rock start. I really like some of the songs here. But others were too long for me.

Their country tracks are nice. But the schmaltzy tracks are dire

I'm a sucker for a Slavic sound, however corny, so if the whole album had followed in the tone of the first track, I might be rating this a 5. But then it's got some so-so rocky and country stuff. Then again, "Seven Seas Symphony" and "With All Nations" and "The British Opera" -- basically the neoclassical instrumental ones -- are fun, and the variety of styles has its own appeal.

First listen. Nah.

Big surprise here not what I was expecting some nice tunes

They really threw everything at the wall to see what would stick on this one. I honestly had no idea The Bee Gees were a Beatles-esque band before they switched to disco so this album was a trip. Most of it did not stick. There were a few decent songs, but this thing is BLOATED! If they cut this down to between 30-35 minutes they could’ve had a decent album. As it is, it’s a meandering mess with a spattering of good songs mixed in.

Nice enough to listen to, but a little boring at times. Some songs are just very irrelevant and it makes me feel like I should be done half way through the album. The orchestration is cool but it kinda feels like a gimmick.

Meh

No. This album is a warbling mess.

I feel like The Bee Gees get a bad rap. Unfortunately this album isn’t doing them any favors. Felt like they wanted to be the Beatles, have their own Sgt. Peppers. Didn’t quite get there.

some good shit. it lost me, then got me, then lost me again. it's a pretty good sixties beatles-like album that i enjoyed

This could be rough listening for those accustomed to the bright, disco-infused chart toppers of the late 70’s. Provided you ignore the glittery part of their career and concentrate on this output as a “late 60’s” album, you’ll find an album that has its highs and has its lows. I believe if you trim the fat off this album you’ll find an overall higher score but this is still able to be considered a good album nonetheless.

Interesting 60’s art rock / concept album. God for one listen.

Cozy album but nothing was memorable after the first listen. May need to go back and try again.

Far from a masterpiece, but it's really solid. There is plenty of really fun stuff here, and its nice to hear what the Bee Gees were doing back before their disco stuff. Neat listen, some really good songs, and some less good.

At least it wasn’t disco

A weird album.

Somewhere inbetween The Beach Boys and David Bowie, more tolerable for me than The Beach Boys but it meanders and seems overblown so it never reaches the self awareness and immediate power of Bowie. Appeal is drowned by ambition despite some good songs.

baroque pop？

This album is mostly music that sounds a little bit like the Beatles and is pretty nice. The later tracks sound like they belong in a soundtrack for a movie and I enjoyed those quite a lot.

Bee Gees pre-disco concept album, let that marinate in your brain before listening, cherish that moment because it all comes tumbling down.

Bee Gees without disco = Bee Gees without fun... nothing majorly wrong with the album, just not very interesting

Better than Trafalgar but still a bore.

Great

Très narratif, parfois épique, parfois presque comique, comme une somme des genres et styles. Toujours beau et mélodieux. Me fait beaucoup penser aux Beach Boys.

It goes on way too long, but it wasn't bad and there were songs I liked (Marley Purt Drive, Suddenly, Whisper Whisper). I don't think I'll be listening to the full album again.

Pleasant early BeeGees Liked their disco stuff better

I listened to this and played Roblox's Only Up at the same time. Guess which activity I liked more

Only liked Give Your Best because it was a folk song

It´s bad, but it does not irritates. It´s a no soul genre music. Totally passible.

# 282 : Very ordinary. Average at best.