Customer Reviews

One

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The progression in musical maturity from "E.S.P." to "One" is amazing. This was to be the album that combined Andy Gibb with his three siblings. It never happened. Instead this album is dedicated to Andy and the broken heart lyrics are all over the place. "Ordinary Lives" was the big hit in the U.K., while the title track made the biggest impression in the USA since the late seventies. "Bodyguard" is a sexy, sensually woven song utilizing those famous harmonies, while "Flesh And Blood" is simply explicit. "It's My Neighborhood" was initially intended to be Andy Gibb's next single, but the brothers recorded it themselves - great song; it also ended up in the 'Saturday Night Fever' Broadway Show. Signs of Andy also show up in great ballads like, "Wish You Were Here" and "Tears". The heartfelt longing is more than evident. Finishing up the tracks is "Will You Let Me", a great funky dance song and on the IMPORT album only, "Wing And A Prayer", a song written for the Olympics.The song writing is excellent, the vocals are perfect, and the band incredible. This is an earmark moment for the Bee Gees.

In March of 1988, the Bee Gees lost a part of themselves in the death of their little brother, Andy. Heartbroken by his passing and craving success that was refused from them in 1987's, "ESP", the Bee Gees threw themselves into their work. Out of what was considered one of the darkest and most emotional periods that the brothers had ever experienced, came some of the most heartfelt and emotional music that the trio has ever released. Never had the Bee Gees' music been so deeply felt by the fans and the public in general. A maturity out of grievance appeared for the first time with the album, "One", and the longing for Andy to still be alive is apparent in songs like, "Tears" and "Wish You Were Here". Not only does this album showcase some of the best music written by the brothers, and some of the finest vocal performances, it contains the title track, "One", which propelled the Bee Gees onto the charts in America for the first time in almost ten years. The brothers' determination paid off when "One" became their first top ten hit in America since 1979. Despite this achievement, American Radio would soon forget the Bee Gees again until 1997. "One" is my favorite Bee Gees album from the 80's, and one of my favorites of all time. A lot of heartbreak and emotion went into this album, and the outcome is incredible. Fantastic effort from Barry, Maurice and Robin!!

In 1987, when the Bee Gees made a comeback after a long hiatus with the "E.S.P" album, the comeback was considered a failure because of poor album sales in the United States. The results were better overseas for E.S.P. During the "E.S.P" album, the Bee Gees had long shed their "Saturday Night Fever - Disco Days" and kept up with the changing music times by producing a solid adult contemporary album. The Bee Gees deserve a lot of credit for being able to keep up with the times. In a lot of ways, "One" continues the musical path that the Bee Gees did with "E.S.P", by continuing the adult contemporary direction. "One" was released in 1989 and had much better results including a Top 10 single - the title song "One".

This album marked was the first Bee Gees album since the death of their brother Andy Gibb in 1988. There was a lot of talk of Andy joining his three brothers in the group and on this particular album. Andy's death does play a role on this album. There are several songs that no doubt are reflections of some of the pain that Barry, Robin, and Maurice feel for their brother. This is by no means a somber collection of songs, but the specter of Andy is clearly seen on here. At first the song "Tears" seemed like a song about a lost love, but after listening to the lyrics, I get the impression this is spun more as a tribute to Andy with such lines as "Heaven only knows how much I'm missing you", "You're Still Inside and I'm Not Ashamed", and "I Can't Forget Your Face, I Call Your Name". Another song that is a reminder of Andy is "Wish You Were Here". Once again, although this is a song about a lost love there are lines like "Drying these tears I cry, They Were Good Times". Sometimes a tragedy does have a way of inspiring creativity in music and I think this happens here because these are two very good songs by the Bee Gees.

There is one song that has a Saturday Night Fever theme to it and that is "It's My Neighborhood". This is definitely the best song on the album. This has a very catchy 'street like' theme to it. Although its not a Disco song, it does have a feel to the Tony Manero days in Brooklyn. Others must have thought so as well - because this song would be included in the Broadway version of Saturday Night Fever about 7 years later. The Bee Gees went back to some roots here and created a great song that kept up with the times. Another song that keeps up with the times is "Bodyguard". In this song, it has a more of an R&B feel to it and when you hear the intro notes you might actually think it is an R&B song. "Ordinary Lives" shows the Bee Gees remain creative as ever when there is some spoken words in the song that go "We were Ordinary People Living Ordinary Lives" and "The clock on the wall keeps moving. Time Stands Still. No Matter How the Dice May Roll. Someone else always gets to Call the Number". These spoken words (which I believe is spoken by Barry Gibb) adds a nice dimension to this song. "One" is a nice song, but actually one of the weaker tracks. Finally "Tokyo Nights" is another nice song with a slight "asian like" that really is in sync with the theme of the song.

When a lot of people think of the Bee Gees, they immediately think of the Barry Gibb falsetto vocals - and in general Barry's vocals. On this album, Robin Gibb really gets some good opportunities for lead vocals and shows he is a fine vocalist. Robin plays as key a role as Barry does on this album. In fact, Barry does a nice job supporting Robin on many songs. Robin shines on the song "Bodyguard".

I have the version of this CD that was released in the United States. They decided to include the track "You Win Again" from E.S.P. instead of the track "Wing and a Prayer". This was probably to because "You Win Again" did so well in Europe and overseas. They probably tried to give the song another shot in the U.S., so it payed to put it on the CD. Regardless of what CD, "You Win Again" is a great song. To me, on the E.S.P album (which I feel is a good album), it makes a strong statement that the Bee Gees are back and make good music. It has a wonderful mix of percussion and mantra vocals - plus some nice harmonies between Barry and Robin.

As for the liner notes - on my CD, all of the lyrics are included. There are production credits as well. There is no tribute or statement to Andy - and that did surprise me. If you are Bee Gees fan, the songs on this collection aren't the most catchy songs as on previous albums - but these are good songs. The Bee Gees prepared well for this album and it paid off. I'd recommend getting this collection.

I got into the BeeGees thanks to the song "Happy Ever After" included in the High Civilization CD, being born in the 70's I knew about the existence of the BeeGees, I am not a big fan of their disco era productions and I did not know they were making records 10 years before I was born, one day I was browsing at a local flea market in Monterrey, Mexico and came across a worn-out copy of their album ONE and decided to spend the equivalent of 5¢ to give it a try.... After I listened to it, it became one of my most prized posessions! I was completely blown away by the song "Wish You Were Here" but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find the CD anywhere, finally, after 7 years, I have the CD... I don't have to tell you I became a big fan of the group and started buying all of their records. Even if you are not a fan YOU SHOULD OWN THIS ALBUM! P.S. I returned to the same flea market and found a mint condition copy of the album "Living Eyes" in cassette, imported from Korea with the insert intact, all written in Korean. That's my second prize posession... :-)

I've been a big fan of the Bee Gee's since the 70's. They always strive to do something different. It shows in their songwriting and music. The one the stands out to me on this album is the song wing and a prayer. It is different and has a great beat to it. In the middle of the song Barry is mouthing the words and sounds wonderful as always. His high falsetto and sexy voice always gives me goose bumps. Most of the songs were sung by Barry or Robin. I would of loved to hear Maurice sing at least one song on this album I always love his singing. The song they sing as a tribute to their late brother Andy who's the first one for me before I heard of the Bee Gees "Wish you where Here" is a beautiful song which choked me up I was holding my emotions with this one just like it did them. They came back in the studio after a month because they kept crying trying to cut this song. I also love ordinary lives and one which is very catchy, different and a little funky. I recommend you buy this album. You won't be disappointed. Happy listening.

I have the original US version of this CD that was issued by Warner Brothers in 1989. The version being sold here by Amazon is an Import, since the US version is out of print. There are 2 differences between my CD and the one listed here:

#1: Track 1 and Track 2 are reversed. My CD starts with "One" and then goes on to "Ordinary Lives", the reverse of how they are listed here.

#2: Track #11 on this CD is a song called "Wing and a Prayer", my CD has "You Win Again". "You Win Again" was a track off of their 1987 CD, "ESP", and it was a hit all over Europe, but it failed to chart here in the US. I assume Warner Brothers included that song on this CD hoping that if the CD took off, they would give that song a 2nd chance as a hit here in the US.

Some of the other reviewers have referred to this CD as being heavy and sad as a result of brother Andy's passing in 1988. I disagree. While the CD does contain some touching moments (namely "Wish You Were Here"), it also contains some of the most catchy, up-beat numbers that they had done in years.

The Bee Gees as a group had not had a Top 10 hit here in America since "Love You Inside Out" in 1979. 1989 was the year that saw many chart veterans stage impressive comebacks. Besides the Bee Gees, other acts that returned to the Top 10 in 1989 after being away for several years included Donny Osmond, Bette Midler, Donna Summer, Alice Cooper and the Doobie Brothers.

The Bee Gees rode that wave of veteran chart resurgence with the lively "One". It certainly deserved to be a Top 10 hit, and in my opinion, should have gone all the way to #1. The 2nd release, "Bodyguard", was one of the brothers lush ballads. It failed to make the Hot 100, although it did receive a lot of airplay on AC stations.

The rocking, uptempo numbers on this CD include the following: "One", "Oridnary Lives", "It's my Neighborhood", "Tokyo Nights", "Flesh and Blood", "House of Shame", and "Will You Ever Let Me". I can't comment on "Wing and a Prayer" since it is not on my CD. But that is 7 out of 11 tracks being uptempo, and only 2 ballads: "Tears" and "Wish You Were Here".

I was 21 when this CD came out, and I was out having a lot of fun that summer. The fact that so many of my favortie artists were back on the charts made that summer even more memorable. When I listen to this CD, it certainly does not put me in a somber mood. It makes me think of the fun I had and my excitement at hearing the Bee Gees music back on the radio. If you want to hear a Bee Gees CD full of somber music, check out "Still Waters". That CD is good, but there is not one up-beat song on the entire CD.

If you love the Bee Gees, you will love this CD. I am sure the import is as good as the US version, even though it does not include "You Win Again". I'm a bit jealous, because those of you who own the import have heard "Wing and a Prayer", but I have never gotten to hear it.

I first heard the song "One" on the "One Night Only" concerts of the Bee Gees. I fell in love with it the very first time I heard it and I decided that I just must get this album. I searched all over South Africa and I got "Spirits Having Flown", "Still Waters", "Best Of Vol. 1 and 2", "The Very Best Of", "E.S.P" and "High Civilization", but not "One." I don't know why such a great album can't be find, so then I bought it from Amazon.com.

All you big Bee Gees fans out there, if you don't have this album yet, get it. It is really a great album and the fact that they dedicated the whole album to Andy, shows again what wonderful people Barry, Robin and Maurice is. My faves on this album is "Ordinary Lives", "One", "Bodyguard", "Tears" and "Tokyo Nights", but not that the other songs aren't great. Some people say that track 8, "Wish You Were Here" are sang in memory of Andy, but I think that "Ordinary Lives", because it's name would'v been "Cruel World, "One", "Tears" and "Wish You Were Here" are all in memory of Andy.

This album feels a little more serious, more subdued than many other Bee Gees albums. Some of the songs reflect recent grief ("Wish You Were Here", "Tears", "Ordinary Lives"), while "It's My Neighborhood" reflects a more rock-oriented edge. There is, of course, the terrific single "One", another bright pop tune "Tokyo Nights", and some very sultry numbers ("House of Shame", "Wing and a Prayer", "Bodyguard", "Will You Ever Let Me"). I especially love Robin's passionate vocal on "Flesh and Blood". From start to finish, this is a great album and an essential Bee Gees recording.

I must say that this is a very fine album. I don't know why the Bee Gees would take any grief from this album. "Ordinary Lives" and "One" have great sounds to them and "Tokyo Nights" has a wonderful up-beat sound. Of course, there is also a sad song called "I Wish You Were Here" that is about the death of their brother, Andy. Honestly, this CD has some great songs and I would definately recommend this one to a friend.

One is the best number to describe this album. The Bee Gees lost their younger brother, Andy, had been very painful, but they didn't give up. In the song Wish You Were Here, you can hear the heart-touching melody.
One, the title song, was the best song ever written. It's very hard to sing, but Barry manage to get over it. Ordinary Lives' chorus is short, but indeed its very good.
Bodygard and It's My Neighborhood has the song of sweet jazz and hard rock. Flesh and Blood showed their great harmony of three.
This album surely show the strength of the Bee Gees.