Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Historic Album, July 25, 2001
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.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Bee Gees Still Do Good Music!, June 25, 2004
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.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Bee Gees album of the 80's, June 25, 2002
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!!
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