The Bee Gees Uktimate

The Bee Gees' third album is something of a departure, with more of a rocking sound and with the orchestra (apart from a few well-placed harp arpeggios) somewhat less prominent in the sound mix than on their first two LPs. The two hits, "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" and "I Started a Joke," are very much of a piece with their earlier work, but on "Kitty Can," "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry," and "Such a Shame" (the latter written by the group's then lead guitarist, Vince Melouney), among other cuts, they sound much more like a working band with a cohesive group sound, rather than a harmony vocal group with accompaniment.

There is a reason why the Bee Gees have been around for decades, successfully making music – they are innovative craftsmen, who have carved out and maintain a signature sound, while having the ability to adapt to the times that they find themselves composing in…

For the Bee Gees, The Warner Bros. Years run 1987 through 1991 with three albums, two of them major international hits. Those albums are 1987's E.S.P. and 1989's One, records that found the trio skillfully navigating the space between adult contemporary and emerging new jack swing, with the remaining record being 1991's High Civilization, a full-bodied embracement of modern R&B that is stiffly noisy and thoroughly 1991…

This CD was given away free with the British national newspaper, The Mail On Sunday. Companies/organisations mentioned on CD & sleeve: "Upfront", "Reprise Records", "Respect The Value Of Music". All tracks are taken from the Bee Gees live albums "One Night Only" & "Here At Last".

This album, which originally appeared on LP in several slightly different versions and song lineups in different countries, came out at an unlikely moment. The group's first best-of album had coincided with the trio's split in mid-1969, a point when they had more than enough hits worldwide (a couple of which had never been on album) to justify and fill such an album. Best of Bee Gees, Vol. 2, by contrast, was released amid the collapse of the group's commercial fortunes that had begun in late 1972.

The problem with the recent spate of "number one" collections from the pop elite – the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and now the Bee Gees – is that they're consistently marketed as "greatest-hits" collections. The conceptual weight of "number one" singles for the average listener is about as heavy as the slabs of wax they came out on, and compiling an entire record around them only shines the spotlight on the tracks that suffered the cut…