The Studio Albums 1967-1968,
by The Bee Gees
Long before the Bee Gees became Lords of Disco in the late '70's they made
delightful psychedelic pop albums. The smart folks at Reprise Records have
collected their first three records and packaged them, along with a
fact-filled book, into this fine box set.
This six-CD set of the Gibbs' first three international albums in stereo and
mono mixes, non-LP singles, alternate versions and copious outtakes may seem
like overkill for a band remembered for its AM-radio anthems, but Bee Gees
1st, Horizontal and Idea are startlingly filler-free. The excellence of
these songs match their inspired titles; on the first record alone they give
us such gems as "Cucumber Castle" and "Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of
Arts" One of the standouts of "Horizontal, the bands second record is
"Lemons Never Forge."
The first reaction of the uninitiated is to comment on how much these songs
sound like the Beatles. This is only partially true. While there is plenty
of classic '60's pop on these records they also (and this is especially true
for disc 3, which contains the "Idea" LP) mined a territory that was much
more orchestral and baroque than their predecessors.
-Stephen
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