Their Greatest Hits

Product Information

Greatest was released on CD as a two disc set, but has since has been deleted domestically with the release of The Record. New Zealand album certifications – Bee Gees – Bee Gees Greatest". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 16 November 2019. A suitably fragile-sounding song about Robin’s return to the Bee Gees – after the First of May fallout – the original version of How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? was the band’s first US No 1, but the song blossomed when Al Green covered it to striking effect in 1972. 19. You Should Be Dancing (1976) The 2020 documentary How Can You Mend a Broken Heart featured a clip of the Bee Gees writing How Deep Is Your Love, pulling its implausibly beautiful melody out of thin air. The lyrical paranoia – “a world of fools breaking us down” – offers a distinctly odd, and thus very Bee Gees, counterpoint. 3. Jive Talkin’ (1975) The No 1 singles of 1967 usually fit one of two categories: turned-on psychedelia, or the MOR reaction against it. But Massachusetts sat somewhere in the middle. Soft and straightforward by Bee Gees ballad standards, the lyrics nevertheless dealt with a hippy hitching to San Francisco but getting no further than New England. 33. Sweet Song of Summer (1972)

Fraternal relations were fraught during the recording of Odessa, something the lyrics of Barry Gibb’s splendidly morose First of May may allude to, happy childhood memories contrasting with latter-day estrangement. If they do, it’s ironic that the song in effect split the Bee Gees, Robin quitting in protest at its release as a single. 27. One (1989)

Tracklist

An unexpected addition to the setlist of Barry’s 2013 Mythology tour, Kilburn Towers is a hidden gem on Idea. A beautiful evocation of the sun setting over Sydney on a summer’s evening, it drifts along on a warm breeze of acoustic guitar and mellotron. Slight, but irresistibly lovely. 24. Melody Fair (1969) British album certifications – Bee Gees – Bee Gees Greatest". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 12 March 2013. Almost all the Bee Gees’ 60s hits tend to the gloomy, but Robin’s songs amp up the sadness to the point where it becomes faintly disturbing. Which brings us to I Started a Joke, on which everything goes horribly wrong, until its protagonist dies, apparently to general rejoicing. 28. First of May (1969) Written for Odessa, but later used as the theme for the 1971 movie Melody, Melody Fair encapsulates the two competing impulses within the 60s Bee Gees. It starts out as parent-friendly MOR pop, then suddenly, thrillingly, dives into a heavy-lidded, stoned-sounding, Lennon-y chorus. 23. You Stepped into My Life (1976)

The second modern standard the Bee Gees came up with in less than a year. Words’ bulletproof tune – and Barry’s fabulous vocal, at turns fragile and anguished – spawned more than 150 covers, including versions by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Terry Wogan and Boyzone, alas not together. 8. Nights on Broadway (1975) The Bee Gees understood that much of the best disco has a tension at its heart – uplifting music chafing against emotionally wrenching lyrics. If I Can’t Have You is an utterly downcast tale of unrequited love that feels completely euphoric. Yvonne Elliman’s cover is definitive, but the original is fantastic too. 13. I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You (1968) Find sources: "Greatest"Bee Gees album– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( November 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Photography By [Booklet] – Anton Corbijn, David Vance (2), Ed Caraeff, Gibb Family Collection, Randee St Nicholas*Billboard's unofficial policy states an album requires at least 33% new material to qualify as a new release; Greatest contains about 28% new material, thus making it a re-issue. The Bee Gees in 1967, with Vince Melouney (far left) and Colin Peterson (second right). Photograph: Pictorial Press/Alamy 21. Charade (1974) Canadian album certifications – Bee Gees – Bee Gees Greatest". Music Canada . Retrieved 12 March 2013.