Bee Gees Gold

The Bee Gees Gold, Vol. 1 compiles the group’s biggest singles from their first five years of hit records, beginning with 1967’s “New York Mining Disaster 1941” and ending with 1971’s “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.”

Bee Gees: In Our Own Time is a very good documentary about The Bee Gees, one of the most famous bands of the 1970s with their indelible fashions and unmistakable falsetto voices. In fact, it may be said that the band is almost the epitome of the '70s—the beards, the gold medallions and the leisure suits are all a time capsule of a disco era gone by. Fans of the group will eat up this newly produced film directed by Martyn Atkins (who has directed concert and videos for such groups as Sheryl Crow, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Eric Clapton). Those of us with less of an interest may start to look at our watches close to the foury-five minute mark (at least I know I did).

The group members may disagree for personal reasons, but Odessa is easily the best and most enduring of the Bee Gees' albums of the 1960s. It was also their most improbable success, owing to the conflicts behind its making. The project started out as a concept album to be called "Masterpeace" and then "The American Opera," but musical differences between Barry and Robin Gibb that would split the trio in two also forced the abandonment of the underlying concept. Instead, it became a double LP – largely at the behest of their manager and the record labels; oddly enough, given that the group didn't plan on doing something that ambitious, Odessa is one of perhaps three double albums of the entire decade (the others being Blonde on Blonde and The Beatles) that don't seem stretched, and it also served as the group's most densely orchestrated album.

"Odessa" is a 1969 album by the Bee Gees. Regarded as the most significant of the band's Sixties albums, it was released as a double vinyl record initially in an opulent red flocked cover with gold lettering. Having released three highly successful albums and having an unbroken three-year run of hit singles, the Bee Gees could have just produced another version of Idea. Instead, they took the brave move of releasing a concept album. Odessa takes the listener on an Odyssey, a voyage around the world and through history, and in doing so proved the Gibb Brothers to be the most progressive and innovative recording act of the time.

It may sound silly to call the 12th album by a group with an eight-year string of gold records behind them a "breakthrough," but that's what Main Course was. The group's first disco album – and, for many white listeners, the first disco album they ever purchased – Main Course marked a huge change in the Bee Gees' sound. The group's earlier LPs, steeped in a dense romantic balladry, were beautifully crafted but too serious for any but hardcore fans. Main Course had a few ballads, such as "Songbird" and "Country Lanes," but the writing was simpler, and the rest of it was made up of catchy dance tunes (heavily influenced by the Philadelphia-based soul music of the period), in which the beat and the texture of the voices and instruments took precedence over the words. The combination proved irresistible, and Main Course – driven by the singles "Jive Talkin'," "Nights on Broadway," and "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)" – attracted millions of new listeners.

VA – Time-Life Music – AM Gold 1978
EAC Rip | Included: EAC Log + CUE + Flac + Covers | Size: 479 MB | RAR files
Release: 1997 | Label: Time Life, Polygram Records Inc. | Number: AM1-25
Style: Funk, Soul, Rock | Stereo | FileServe.com, RapidShare.com

This series started out in 1990 as Super Hits, with each issue having a cartoonish photo/drawing as cover art. There were 20 volumes in the original Super Hits series. In 1995, the series was renamed AM Gold. The first four volumes were reissued using the new series title and a modified version of the cover art work from SUD-05, but that was soon replaced with a second AM Gold cover design that featured a gold record. The Super Hits series used the SUD- prefix, while the AM Gold series used the AM1- prefix. In the late 1990s, the AM1- prefix was replaced with the R834- prefix, but the volumes continued as before. Two AM Gold budget box sets were introduced in the late 1990s, with 12 tracks instead of the usual 18-24. These were meant for retail sales, unlike the normal subscription CDs.