Will Barry Gibb ever release another new album? Yes! "In The Now" (10/07/2016) *

Yeah, a lovely song. Probably the track I've played the most so far.

 

Interesting - I do like that song, but the one that keeps blowing me away, and also makes me think of his brothers, is "The Long Goodbye".

 

That's lovely too, though a bit tough to listen to sometimes considering what it's about.

 

Just gave it and Diamonds another listen on my way to lunch and back.
I hear something new in each them time.

 

Diamonds is a gem, one of my very faves.

 

Have taken some time to chime in on my thoughts on this release. First off, the vinyl just sounds great! That always helps... But not much is real catchy at first (except the title song), and I find myself really trying hard to like more, and slowly it seems to start clicking on a few more. Overall, as many have said, just great to have new music from Barry but not sure its going to be one I play frequently.

 

I posted upthread about the second half of the album blowing me away, and it was specifically these two back-to-back songs that I was referring to.

 

I have found that to be the case over the years with almost all their album songs,the first listen is quick and a bit cool,the next really pays attention and is not caught up with some but then after a few more the melodies and the lyrics start to grab ya.

 

I find the best albums do that. Most of my favorites were not albums I liked on the first listen. This one is really an adventure, with all the different styles melded with his brilliant ability to keep coming up with strong melodies, plus he really has something to say. These lyrics, compared to You Should Be Dancing...laughable when you compare the two! He's gone from very strong Bee Gees songs with lyrics that for the most part didn't mean much (and they really didn't need to) to great music coupled with lyrics that really mean something. Who'd a thought? Agree with the above post from Castle in the air as well. I kind of knew this was going to be a grower!

 

Album two seemed to have a lot more complex songs when I listened to it the first couple of times, so I was hopeful they would really grow on me and they certainly are. This is an album where it's nice to read the lyrics while listening to the music, almost essential to get the full meaning of his songs. For me that certainly wasn't the case with the Bee Gees. In fact, I bought most of their 70's output as imports from Japan on vinyl a couple years back. They all came with really nice lyric sheets, which the US versions did not. I found that I had their lyrics pretty much wrong all these years. Was laughable what I sometimes thought they were singing and what they actually were. Between my misunderstanding what they were singing, easy to do, and their obviously changing their own lyrics from time to time during the recording process, that showed how strong the music was because it didn't matter much what the heck they were singing about! No so with Barry's album. This is something he can be very proud of. And he should be proud of his son...the guitar playing is incredible imo, and I'm not even that into guitar! A very nice listen all around.

 

Still top 5 in the official Aussie charts.

 

Nice to see him doing so well in Australia. I just checked the Billboard chart (I get it each week) and I think he is in the 60's, which when you think about it isn't that bad (also noticed the new Brittney Spears album, which imo is full of potential pop hits and much better than anything she has put out in a very long time, is at #200 in it's fourth week...say goodbye to that one)!

I read the In The Now reviews in a couple places and with very few exceptions, it's getting excellent reviews. The only negatives, and there are very, very few, are complaining it isn't a Bee Gees album. Well, I wasn't expecting that and it isn't. And perhaps most of the songs benefit from his style over the other, though a couple songs very much sound like his vintage sound. I think he avoided that on purpose and it was a good move imo. Many are pointing to Steve's outstanding guitar playing as well. Columbia needs to get off their butt and push a radio single. I don't see any of his songs on any radio charts, so I'm guess they haven't issued one. Star Crossed Lovers or In The Now need to come out (In The Now may be too limiting, but I guess SCL could be seen as the same). However, it's adult contemporary listeners that would most likely buy it now as how many rockers nowadays even know who he is, so I think that is the audience they should service first. Just do something and don't wait for three months.

 

Grand Illusion is the one I would push as a single.

 

Nigel Williamson in Uncut magazine gives the album a savaging in a 3/10 review.

"desperate... over-produced... soppy ballads... cod-disco... the once great voice is shot"

Blimey, that seems very harsh. Only listened to the LP once but first impressions were that at least half contains pretty good tracks, especially the early and late songs.

 

Listened to "IN THE NOW" for the first time last night. Yes, his voice is a shadow of what it used to be, but the music is still firing on all cylinders. I like the sound of the album, and the variety within it. Perhaps wise to have the voice relatively low in the mix. Still, many gorgeous melodies, and with lyrics reflecting his age and experience. A grower, I think.

 

Definitely a grower...some of the songs didn't really resonate with me until the third listen, which is common for me. I'm liking some songs better now that a couple that really jumped out on first listen (In The Now and the obvious Star Crossed Lovers. On my vinyl system, he is up as much as he should be, definitely doesn't sound mixed down so that's interesting. Wonder if the digital version was mixed differently? Was sad to see the review a couple posts up. On Amazon, where there are a ton of reviews, there are very few negative reviews. And I think all the commercial reviews I've read came across as more positive than negative, and fairly written. However, if not already a Gibb fan I wonder how many would like this? I think for fans it has exceeded our expectations (at least it did for me...I went into it thinking I wasn't going to like it with may a couple exceptions) so we may be overly praising it, but so what. At least it's something the fans are liking. I hope it jumps up on Billboard next week. I think if it does reasonably well there's a chance he would do another album....he seems to love the process.

 

The rather mean-spirited review comes across as though it's written by a non-British Gees or Gibb fan who was always going to slate it. You're right that most of us fans are desperate to love it, but it helps that there is some lovely stuff on it.

I love the fact it's 3 Gibbs once again on this album - though the brothers Stephen and Ashley, rather than the genius twins...

 

Interesting because I thought his voice showed some of the power he had on Nights On Broadway,Wind Of Change and Woman In You without that strained and nasally sound he had developed.
It was not as deep or booming but sounded very natural rather then sung from his throat only.

 

I'm enjoying the album but it took some adjusting to the vocal style, I must admit. He used to have a magnificent range from lower registers to the falsettos and powerful in either range,

 

I agree. I was actually expecting his voice to be a bit weak, but it was overall quite good. Certainly good enough to do a fine job on the new songs.

 

Isn't Ashley a woman?

 

"In The Now" and "End Of The Rainbow" are my favorites. I also like the bonus tracks. I would have put those in the middle of the album in place of some others.

 

Nope