Review
by Nicholas James |
 |
In 2001, it was 11 years since the Bee Gees
released a Best Of collection (The
Very Best Of The Bee Gees in 1990
being the last one), and since that time,
they had scaled the heights of the singles
charts around the world several times over.
So, the time was right for another
collection.
Their Greatest Hits: The Record doesn't
disappoint. As a double CD, it is a more
complete collection than
The Very Best Of
The Bee Gees, and features worthy
hits excluded from that collection, such as
'I Stared A Joke', 'Lonely Days' and 'How
Can You Mend A Broken Heart'. It also brings
the song list bang up to date, featuring big
hits released since 1990: 'Secret Love',
'For Whom The Bell Tolls', 'Alone' and 'This
Is Where I Came In', although it has a much
stricter policy for the recent tracks,
excluding minor hits which would have been
included based on their chart placing had
they been released in the 1960s and 1970s. I
have put that down to the fact that many of
their recent hits were not as big in the US,
so they gave less weight to those compared
to songs that also scored in the US.
But none of the above would be enough for me
to give this collection 5 stars, as most
fans can buy these tracks on other albums.
What makes this album unique is the addition
of several songs that the Bee Gees wrote and
produced for other artists but had never
recorded themselves. So we are treated to a
new version of 'Emotion' (which they wrote
for Samantha Sang' and was later made famous
by Destiny's Child), 'Heartbreaker' (for
Dionne Warwick), 'Islands In The Stream'
(Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton) and
'Immortality' (Celine Dion). 'Emotion' is a
fine track, with Barry singing a punchy
lead. Sadly 'Heartbreaker' sounds like a
demo, and is a vastly inferior production
when compared to Barry's original 1982
masterpiece. 'Islands In The Stream; is a
soulful version sung by Robin to a
up-to-date Maurice Gibb accompaniment.
Sadly, when it gets to 'Immortality', the
album sleeve does Barry a disservice by not
describing this as a demo (which it
genuinely is), as Barry's vocals are far too
high and would have benefited from some more
work.
When you add to this the fact that all the
old recordings have been remastered, meaning
they are noticeably crisper and clearer on
this collection than they ever have been
before, this album is a must have for
everybody.
Why Buy Their Greatest Hits?
Fans buy it for the new recordings and the
sound quality. Those with a casual interest,
buy it because it is the best hits
collection of the Bee Gees so far released. |
