Bee Gees single by single thread

High Civilization is my favourite Bee Gees album (along with Odessa). It has a harder edged sound then their other albums (although that edge is still present on Size; in fact, in some ways Size is almost seems like a logical next step from Hi Civ). The entire album comes of as very nineties, yet with a futuristic feel about it. I think that it is impeccably produced - multiple listens reveal a myriad of sounds that help paint this dark portrait (helped by lyrics I really enjoy). The title track is like a slap in the face - they throw everything at you and you feel breathless at the end of it. An industrial barrage - I love it! "Happy Ever After" could have been a hit. "Ghost Train" is spooky and experimental. The opening guitar on "True Confessions" is surely from a sci-movie set a few hundred years in the future. And, oh my word, the subject matter of "Evolution"...
How I wish we could get a DVD release of one of their concerts from their Hi Civ tour. Also, the cover is awesome. It complements the music and makes you think. It's the complete package - one collective, intelligent thought. Masterful and beautiful. Detailed and dramatic. Complex and melodic. Interesting and abstract. For me, it hits the spot every time.

 

Contrast that to the live version to see what ultimate professionals they were as artists to hit every note exactly right.

 

Good - someone is defending this album!!

 

"Happy Ever After," " Ghost Train" and "Evolution " are my three favorites and feel these are extensions of the sound and production of the One album.

 

To my ears, the mid-tempo ballad "Wishing You Were Here" and the ballad "For Whom The Bell Tolls", and the underrated 1997 album Still Waters were by far their strongest releases since 1979's Spirits Having Flown album. Surprised that people seem to feel so indifferent to the latter. I really enjoyed Still Waters. I thought it was a really good mixture of vintage and modern-sounding Bee Gees.

 

I love Still Waters too.

I'm often baffled by so-called Bee Gees fans comments in these threads. They didn't make a bad album IMO - certainly some were better than others, and not all were great. But at their worst they are still enjoyable listens.

I'm going to spin HC later today.

 

Not a more well known single, but great nonetheless. Robin definitely delivers on this one.

Not so big on this one. Have to agree with the others that it's problem is it just goes on....and on....and on........

 

I've never heard this one live. Sounds great!

 

Everyone hears things differently,the only album I find it hard to say much good about is Life In A Tin Can as it sounds just where they were musically and professionally at that time,gind of lost.

Some really love it and that is all cool,no wishes for an argument on things like that.

 

The Still Waters album was my earliest introduction to the Bee Gees (I was about 9-10 years old when it was released). I remember my parents buying this album new (along with Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love which of course had the Bee Gees song Immortality). I have fond memories of Still Waters and can't wait until we get to it for discussion.

 

Personally I think Still Waters is the most complete studio album they made after Main Course and Spirits.
SNF being a soundtrack with just a few of their songs,which were all beyond great but not technically a Bee Gees album.

 

Been a "so called fan" for 40 years now so I think I have the right to call out what I consider their bad records without namecalling, especially since the Gibb brothers themselves didn't sugarcoat it.

 

I didn’t call any names or call anyone out specifically - merely surprised at such prevailing negativity in this thread for most of the post Living Eyes albums.

Everyone entitled to opinions - music highly subjective.

 

Agreed - I wasn’t trying to argue either.

Only albums I don’t care for are very first Australian ones, and ironically the very last one TIWICI (too much solo work and not enough BRM collaboration).

I’m sure some on here love those so it’s all cool.

 

The solo tracks are the saving grace of TIWICI. Robin's and Mo's in particular.

 

Robin and Maurice's tracks are outstanding on TIWICI.

 

The 'High Civilizaton' album was bought by more than half a million Germans. It spent 31 weeks on the German Albums Chart, including 15 weeks in the top 10, peaking at number 2 (blocked by Eurythmic's 'Greatest Hits' at the top). During most of that time, 'Secret Love' was simultaneously in the top 10 of the German Singles Chart.

 

Michael Bolton's cover version of 'To Love Somebody' was the next Bee Gees song to chart in the US and the UK. It was the 4th time that the song entered the UK charts (apart from the original version which reached number 41, Nina Simone's version peaked at number 5 in 1968 and Jimmy Sommerville's version at number 8 in 1990). In the US, Bolton's remake peaked six positions higher than the original version in 1967.

Michael Bolton - To Love Somebody
B-side: Now That I Found You
Released: September 1992
Charts: #11 (US), #16 (UK), #2 (Canada)

 

In 1993, British singer Kim Wilde covered 'If I Can't Have You'.

Kim Wilde - If I Can't Have You
B-side: Never Felt So Alive
Released: July 1993
Charts: #12 (UK), #3 (Australia), #9 (Ireland), #18 (Netherlands)



From Wikipedia:
'If I Can't Have You' was covered in 1993 by British singer Kim Wilde and recorded as one of two new tracks on her compilation album The Singles Collection 1981–1993. The single reached number 12 in the UK. It became Wilde's biggest hit of the 1990s and one of the biggest hits of her career in Australia, where it reached number 3. In Europe the song also peaked within the top 10 in Belgium and Ireland, and within the top 20 in Iceland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It was released in several extended remixes on the 12" and CD-single formats. The B-side was an exclusive non-album track called "Never Felt So Alive".

Critical reception
Music & Media wrote about the song: "The brothers Gibb-a.k.a. the Bee Gees wrote this song for Evonne Eliman in the heyday of disco in the end of the '70s and Wilde recycles the song in the dance era. The kids will absolutely go wild(e) on this one."



If I Can't Have You - Wikipedia

 

Not written for her though. The Gibb brothers are on record that the song was written with ABBA in mind although there is nothing to indicate it was actually offered to them in the first place. It doesn't strike me as a song they'd do even if offered.

I liked her version well enough, it's a song that is difficult not to like although I prefer Yvonne's the most.

 

To think that Barry and Robin wrote this 25 years earlier when they were 20 and 17 respectively.
A pop standard for all time yet they always had to fight for respect.

 

To Love Somebody and How Deep is your Love are the 2 most played Gibb songs in the States. Over 6.7 million times played on radio and TV

 

Crime!

"If I Can't Have You" was written for ABBA? That would have been remarkable. I can totally hear it...

 

I vaguely remember hearing this version when I was a kid. Not too bad. Not much of a Bolton fan, but his version ain't too shabby. I can hear why it was a hit for him.

Never heard this one (I'm not even sure who the singer is honestly). While I'm not too much of a fan of this "style" of music, the song totally works in this style. Great cover.

 

The result would have been spectacular - the two greatest pop bands of all time working together. However, I think that the whole thing is a myth. Is there any reliable source that confirms that story?