Greetings,
This has been a rough year. We have lost several people who we may not have known but certainly loved. One of them was Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. That loss devastated me because I have been an admirer of his for so long. So now, of all the Gibb brothers, the only one we have left is Barry. I must be honest. While I do love him, I never clicked with Barry as much as I did with his brothers, Andy included. I have no idea why, but now that he is all we have, I think I've learned to appreciate him more than ever before. I sincerely feel bad that it took this long and all these tragic losses for me to do so. Anyway, in honor of his birthday, which is tomorrow, I will be devoting this weekend to the career he shared with his beloved brothers. And I am starting with my all-time favorite Bee Gees album, Still Waters.
Though I always liked the music of the Bee Gees, at least what little of it to which I was exposed, it wasn't until I saw a performance of theirs in 1996 that I began to self-teach. I really began to look into their career, specifically, everything outside of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. And then in May of 1997, I had the privilege of doing something for the first time - buying a Bee Gees album on the day of its release. It was, of course, Still Waters.
In the late nineties, there seemed to be a great interest in all things seventies. This, therefore, led people straight to the Bee Gees. While everyone seemed to wax nostalgic about their past music, it also sparked interest in their new music. So this album was actually a bit of a hit. No surprise when it had such a great, current sound, and they were helped by legendary producers like David Foster and Arif Mardin. It was certainly more successful than you'd think for a group that many people had foolishly considered practically irrelevant for the previous two decades. I bet they were surprised when they heard this masterpiece. And a masterpiece is exactly what I think this is. So let's begin.
The album starts off with the track "Alone", which was the lead off single. It got a decent amount of airplay and went top ten in several countries. Not ours, of course, because sometimes even we Americans just don't get it. The second single released was a beautiful love song entitled "I Could Not Love You More", and I don't know why, but this one actually made me a little misty the first time I heard it. It was so moving and classic, exactly what you would expect in a love song from the Bee Gees. The title track was the final single released. It is certainly one of the strongest on the album, though I do like some of the songs better. Let me discuss those.
The song "I Will" is absolutely gorgeous with a fantastic vocal performance from Robin. Before I heard it, I wondered if it was going to be a cover of The Beatles song of the same name, until I realized that they stopped trying to be The Beatles quite a while earlier. Actually, and some people may call me sacrilegious for this, I think this "I Will" is better than the one from the Fab Four. Sorry. Moving on.
"Smoke and Mirrors" is the closing track and, listening to the lyrics, I think this one was the perfect choice on which to end. Parts of it almost sound like something of a prayer with which you would send off a loved one. Seems like a good way to finish things off. Now, of course, we get a song with Maurice singing lead called "Closer Than Close". They always let him have at least one song. He was like the Ringo of the group. Oh, well, so much for not wanting to be The Beatles.
But my absolute favorite song on this album is "Miracles Happen". It's just gorgeous, especially the lyrics, and you all know what a lyric snob I am. It has an ethereal sound to it, and it's another one that makes me cry sometimes. I think I feel that way because those wonderful words bring me great comfort. It is, in my opinion, one of the finest songs they have ever written.
There are, of course, more songs featured here, but these ones are the highlights for me. There is truly not one weak track on this album. It's one of the most consistent sounding and well-produced projects in their whole career. No wonder it's my favorite.
Now I know that there may still be some people out there who think that the Bee Gees did nothing besides Saturday Night Fever. Right, because everyone can sustain a forty+ year career on six songs from a soundtrack album. But for those of you who know there is more, but haven't heard it, start with this album. It's the Brothers Gibb at their absolute best, and the fact that we will never have anything from them again, makes me treasure it all the more.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
