Bee Gees - Odessa (1969 - Baroque Pop, i.e. The Zombies and The Beatles)

Don't laugh. The Brother's Gibb may have been best remembered for their mid 70's falsetto and glitter-pants shananagans defined by their Saturday Night Fever and Sgt. Pepper's atrociates, but i beg you to look beyond that for just a minute.

Let me tell you a story of an amazingly talended group of child prodogies from Austrialia (via England and then back), who got their career started with their own variety show. Yes, at only ages 15 thruogh 16, Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb recored originals and covers (their Beatles songs are DEAD-ON RINGERS for the originals) which were all grade A top notch, especially compaired to a lot of similar fair that was comming out at the time.

As they got older and the British Invasion was taking over, it made perfect sence for them to pack up and move back to England. They put out a few albums which needless to say, were top contendors for the premire harmonizing-vocal clasical-pop and just general lyte-psych expermenting of the day. Bands like The Left Bank or The Zombies easily come to mind, but the Beatles would be the most obvious point of reference in their similare imposible-to-pigonhole aproach.

So by 1969 when they set out to record their next album, as brothers often do, Barry and Robin got into disagreement over what exactly the direction of the album should be. One of the names tossed around for the project was Masterpeace if that gives you some idea of their ambitions. It was eventually titled Odessa.

Oddly, even though this album almost broke the band apart, the end result is one of the few double albums from its era that ACTUALLY stands up as a double album. You could say that it is somewhat inconsistant, half the tracks reflect the "american opera" concept, while the other half are just rock-solid Beatles-esq genera exercises that have a feel all their own. Either one of these two concepts, if left on their own, would make for a solid disk each, the more operatic songs might have come off a bit grandious, but together you get just the right does of different ends of the late 60's Brittish music spectrum. They even get into some Americana country-rock and the LP is covered in red velvet. Cool, non?














- overview by Denez

Tracklist:

1. Odessa (City on the Black Sea)
2. You'll Never See My Face Again
3. Black Diamond
4. Marley Purt Drive
5. Edison
6. Melody Fair
7. Suddenly
8. Whisper Whisper
9. Lamplight
10. Sound of Love
11. Give Your Best
12. Seven Seas Symphony
13. With All Nations (International Anthem)
14. I Laugh In Your Face
15. Never Say Never Again
16. First of May

128 kps, ripped from vinyl.

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http://rapidshare.de/files/18465988/bee_gees_-_odessa.rar.html