Even the slight misses on the album, like the semi-sequel to I Started Joke that is I Held A Party – “I held a party and nobody came / strangely I was upset” – have charm because, like Paper Mache, their lyrics are so quirkily morose. Make sure you don't just vote for critically acclaimed albums; if you have a favorite Blondie album, then vote it up, even if it's not necessarily the most popular. It was certainly the time of my youth. Modern mediocrities aside, listening to this is like putting into a blender the best blues, rock, jazz, prog, psych, folk to drink them altogether in a very strong and tasteful vitamin. Accidents Never Happen7. So how come it makes it to 13 on these album rankings? 18. Fronted by Debbie Harry, Blondie paved the way for many bands, creating some incredible music throughout their career. This is unfair to Robin and Maurice in terms of their involvement in the songwriting process, but it’s true that it’s Barry’s falsetto that dominates the album to the point of being present on nine of the 10 tracks while being a lead vocal on both verses and choruses for eight of the 10 (the title track is natural voice for the verses and Until is mostly in natural voice). Where First Of May is unique is that when all the instrumentation goes to leave Barry alone saying, “don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by, someone else moved in from far away,’ his vocal is fading down as he sings. Working with famed Atlantic Records R&B producer Arif Mardin for the first time, Mr Natural was seen as almighty flop when it came out with a peak position of 178 in the US and no traction in the UK. Swap those two songs for a couple of Cucumber Castle’s two lower scoring tracks (namely Turning Tide and I Was The Child) and you’ve got a final total of 111 at a 9.25 average – enough to be the third highest ranked Bee Gees album ever. I can’t help myself leaving it at that though, because Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Sun In My Morning weren’t the only gems left off Cucumber Castle. But one day, absolutely. As colossal as those figures are, they would’ve been even higher had there not been a greatest hits album with four of Spirits’ songs released the very next year. More than that, ESP, One and the subsequent world tour did so much to recast the Gibbs’ previous 22 years of international recordings in a new light: like Rod Stewart, Elton John and Fleetwood Mac, the Bee Gees were now among the rarified air of multi-decade, multi-generational hit-makers. The attitude is one that if it didn’t happen in the States then it didn’t happen at all. The brothers didn’t tend to write autobiographically, but coming so soon after Andy’s death, it’s hard not to feel his presence in a song like Ordinary Lives. The rhythm that BG has in that right hand; insane. It is pained, emotionally-driven pop that both musically and lyrically has shades of Abba’s Knowing Me, Knowing You. Down The Road is good danceable rock (and possesses the wondrous lyric, “ain’t no heavy Mr Leather gonna’ paddle my butt…”), Heavy Breathing is about as heavy as the Gibbs got sound-wise, while the Elton John-influenced Dogs is the album’s centre piece. But what of Cucumber Castle? Wood transforms the sometimes marginal position  (in rock) of sax and flutes into something really fundamental, really essencial, and, of course, delightful. My biggest disagreement is with the low ranking of Children of the World. As a huge Bee Gee’s Fan, I found this ranking very interesting. All very good, even excellent songs. History now shows that Mr Natural was a fitting dress rehearsal for the stylistic overhaul that would soon see the Gibbs dominate the US singles charts in a way no act had done since the Beatles, but in 1974, they were in serious trouble. With the renamed Rings Around The Moon LP swapping Still Waters Run Deep for Rings Around The Moon and Smoke And Mirrors for Love Never Dies, that would’ve been a final total of 109 at an 9.08 average. That average of 8.10 would’ve seen 2 Years On rank 14th instead of 20th. Suddenly the Bee Gees were at the cutting edge. 20. Lyrically it is too with lines that suggest of Andy’s loss even if that wasn’t the intention; there’s talk of glowing “in the sun”, of “incredible highs and lows”, there’s “say goodbye cruel world / no pity no pain tonight / whatever the cost all is lost”, and the visceral impact of the repetition of the lines “we were ordinary people / living ordinary lives”. As for Fanny, it has legendary Atlantic producer Arif Mardin’s fingerprints all over it, especially given its exhilarating back half modulation has echoes of Mardin’s work on Hall & Oates’ She’s Gone from just two years earlier. Arif had helped revolutionise the brothers’ sound and make them current again, so it was with some nerves they set out on their own, albeit with expert assistance from engineer Karl Richardson and arranger Albhy Galuten. Picture This4. (20) 2 Years On 7.08 (7.5) I am a life long fan and continue to discover hidden gems and work like this helps. If I only ranked based on the 5 best songs, then Saturday Night Fever would be #1, but as a total album it doesn’t hold up for me. Used for the film (and soundtrack) Melody that became popular in Japan, Morning Of My Life was never a hit in the US or UK but it didn’t take long for it to establish itself as a fan favourite (it would also later appear on Best Of The Bee Gees Volume 2 in 1973). In between, Lamplight has a big, accessible Bee Gee chorus with three-part harmonies dominated by Barry. Albums like High Civilization and Life In A Tin Can often occupy the bottom couple of slots for many fans and yet I find so much to like (and even love) about both of those. And those harmonies…. This remaster boasts crystalline fidelity while respecting the original 1970 hard-panned production values. https://www.discogs.com/es/Bee-Gees-Kitty-Can/release/1537157. Not a bad time to spend some time with their music while we’re stuck inside…. I’ve also removed from consideration the fine albums Barry, Robin and Maurice wrote for other artists, namely younger brother Andy as well as Barbra Streisand, Jimmy Ruffin, Carola, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers and Diana Ross. From the tight melodic funk of the intro (Blue Weaver on a badass synth bass, while seemingly from nowhere Dennis Bryon announces himself as an R&B drummer to be reckoned with), to the unforgettable opening line – “Here we are / in a room full of strangers,” – to the vocal arrangement that has everything from Barry solo, Robin solo, Barry and Robin in harmony to all three in harmony and finally to Barry in his career-defining falsetto ad-libs; songs like this are proof of the artistry that can be in the DNA of popular music. An even better song was the album’s lead single Ordinary Lives, though that inexplicably missed in both the US and the UK. The first half of the album in particular is excellent with some of the best lead vocal interplay between Barry and Robin of any Bee Gees album.

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