Idea

Bee Gees

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 9, 1997)
• Original Release Date: August 1968
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polydor / Umgd
• ASIN: B000001FNE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #173,090 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Let There Be Love

2. Kitty Can

3. In the Summer of His Years

4. Indian Gin and Whiskey Dry

5. Down to Earth

6. Such a Shame

7. I've Gotta Get a Message to You

8. Idea

9. When the Swallows Fly

10. I Have Decided to Join the Airforce

11. I Started a Joke

12. Kilburn Towers

13. Swan Song

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Deleted in the U.S., this is a German pressing of their top 20 1968 album featuring the top 10 hits 'I Started A Joke' &'I've Gotta Get A Message To You'. 13 tracks total.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THAT'S A GOOD IDEA!!!, November 17, 2002

By	Jared Insell "hitman_37" (Canada) - See all my reviews

By late 1968 the Bee Gees had already had a string of hit singles as well as two fairly successful albums 'The Bee Gees 1st' and 'Horizontal'. In the summer of 1968 the Bee Gees scored their biggest hit to date with I'VE GOTTA GET A MESSAGE TO YOU (which reached #8 in the U.S). Captilizing on the single's success the band released their third album 'Idea' in September (it reached #17). Unlike their bright lush pop rock debut, or their colder more hard rocking follow up, 'Idea' was more of a transitional stage for the group as their are various styles of music on this album.

The band decided to put I'VE GOTTA GET A MESSAGE TO YOU on the U.S. version of the album. For whatever reason it was omitted on the U.K. version in place of the blues rocking SUCH A SHAME which is the only song not sung or written by the brothers Gibb (it was written and sung by the group's guitarist Vince Melouney) Thankfully we can enjoy both songs on this cd version. The other hit here is the follow up single I STARTEDA JOKE which was released in December of '68 (it followed the same success peaking at #6). Apart from those two hits the rest of the album is filled with wonderful progressive pop rock of contrasting styles. LET THERE BE LOVE is a beautiful love ballad that could have been a single. Both Barry and Robin's voice are great on this one! The bouncy KITTY CAN and the catchy INDIAN GIN AND WHISKY DRY are nice simple novelty pop tunes. IN THE SUMMER OF HIS YEARS and DOWN TO EARTH are tragic ballads. DOWN TO EARTH is a particular is a great song. The title track IDEA is an awesome catchy rock 'n roll song. WHEN THE SWALLOWS FLY is a nice tune with a great Barry Gibb vocal. I HAVE DECIDED TO JOIN THE AIRFORCE is a novelty rock tune but it's by no means the best track here. Still it's listenable. KILBURN TOWERS is an excellent smooth jazz experimentation Barry's vocals are once again wonderful here. The last track SWAN SONG is a beautiful yet powerful ballad that appropriately closes 'Idea'.

The Bee Gees were definetly becoming more confident as a group third time around. Their song writing was improving and 'Idea' was another success for the Gibbs. Although the two singles GOTTA GET A MESSAGE and I STARTED A JOKE are the true highlights, other songs like LET THERE BE LOVE, DOWN TO EARTH, IDEA, WHEN THE SWALLOWS FLY, KILBURN TOWERS and SWAN SONG proved that 'Idea' wasn't just two singles and bunch of filler.

Overall 'Idea' is a good effort by The Bee Gees. Whether or not it's their best 60's album is up to you but it is worth getting thats all I can say! Highly recommended.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Confident 3rd Album!, July 19, 2001

By	Martin A Hogan "Marty From SF" (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules)) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)

After their unique introduction on "Bee Gees 1st" and a more somber 2nd album, "Horizontal", the Bee Gees are far more confident in their writing, singing and performing on this CD. Barry Gibb's guitar work is exemplary and his voice is strongest on "When The Swallows Fly" and "Swan Song", as well as Robin Gibb on "In The Summer Of His Years" and the huge hit, "I Started A Joke". Maurice experiments a great deal with his bass guitar on the bouncy "Kitty Can", the pensive "Down To Earth" and strong pulsating bass notes (and piano) on the massive hit "I've Gotta Get A Mesage To You". Lead guitarist Vince Melouney writes the only Bee Gees song never written by the brothers; "Such A Shame", an upbeat, harmonica driven rocker with his Mickey Dolenz sound-alike voice. It is the last strong group effort of an album, before the Bee Gees, temporarily went their separate mucical ways.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great third album., August 9, 2002

By	duke14 "duke14" (NE Philly, PA) - See all my reviews

Showing young vocal abilities in Let There Be Love and Down To Earth make them the best songs on the album. But I Started A Joke and I Gotta Get A Message To You are two great hits that zoomed to the top of charts. Kilburn Towers has a beautiful tune and a great Barry Gibb single voice. The rest of the songs are all great and show different vocal stuff except the silly non-BeeGee written Such A Shame.