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Horizontal

Bee Gees - Horizontal Audio CD

A fair review of the Bee Gees "Horizontal" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Bee Gees reviews here, or go back to the Bee Gees tabs.

Band: Bee Gees
Title: Horizontal
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-01-23
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: World [Stereo] 2: And the Sun Will Shine [Stereo] 3: Lemons Never Forget [Stereo] 4: Really and Sincerely [Stereo] 5: Birdie Told Me [Stereo] 6: With the Sun in My Eyes [Stereo] 7: Massachusetts [Stereo] 8: Harry Braff [Stereo] 9: Day Time Girl [Stereo] 10: Earnest of Being George [Stereo] 11: Change Is Made [Stereo] 12: Horizontal [Stereo] 13: World [Mono Version] 14: And the Sun Will Shine [Mono Version][Version] 15: Lemons Never Forget [Mono Version][Version] 16: Really and Sincerely [Mono Version][Version] 17: Birdie Told Me [Mono Version][Version] 18: With the Sun in My Eyes [Mono Version][Version] 19: Massachusetts [Mono Version][Version] 20: Harry Braff [Mono Version][Version] 21: Day Time Girl [Mono Version][Version] 22: Earnest of Being George [Mono Version][Version] 23: Change Is Made [Mono Version][Version] 24: Horizontal [Mono Version][Version] 25: Out of Line [#] 26: Ring My Bell [#] 27: Barker of the U.F.O. 28: Words 29: Sir Geoffrey Saved the World 30: Sinking Ships 31: Really and Sincerely [Alternate Version][#] 32: Swan Song [Alternate Version][#] 33: Mrs. Gillespie's Refrigerator [#] 34: Deeply, Deeply Me [#] 35: All My Chrismases Came at Once [#] 36: Thank You for Christmas [#] 37: Medley: Silent Night/Hark the Herald Angels Sing [#]

The Bee Gees as a Real Band
On the other hand there is also an overall more convincing "band-feel" to the album. After their enormous success in 1967 with several big single hits and the success of their first European album, there were big expectations for their second album "Horizontal"

The album may at times come out slightly rushed with songs of uneven qualities, unlike their very consisten debut.

The two big hits "World" and "Massachusetts" need no special mention - both being fine examples of early Bee Gees sound

Some of the ballads like "Really and Sincerely" come out too heavily orchestered with strings etc. - but there is a good handful of songs, where you get the feeling that this was really a band at this point. "The Earnest of Being George" and "Lemons Never Forget" are unusually raw for Bee Gees songs, and "Change is Made" may very well the closest the Bee Gees ever came to recording a blues. The simple arrangement for the simple melodic "Birdie Told Me" isvery nice, too.

On the second bonus CD there are some real gems too. "Barker of the UFO", "Sir Geoffrey Saved the World" and "Sinking Ships" and great examples of the often very high standards of the groups B-sides. And of course, "Words" - another big hit for the band.

Among the previously unreleased songs I really like "Out of Line" and the Christmas recordings are surprisingly good too. Another fine release, with a booklet telling part two of the band's early history - of course to be continued on "Idea".

Yeah, well, the BeeGees are very good, but come on, I'm 43, not 73.
Still, some songs are great, and others just fun to listen to once in a while. I care for the BeeGees a big deal and this CD has more sentimental value (although it's before my time), than it has a real musical value. Not my current style. CELTIC THUNDER, The Corrs, Lesiem, well, that's just phenomenal stuff. .

Luxurious remaster
The hallmark of the BG on their early albums is their incredible creativity in making memorable melodies, sung in perfect harmonies of the 3 Gibb brothers' vocals. The basic dozen of songs of the BG's 2nd LP was recorded in the second half of 1967 (soon after the BG had finished work on their debut called simply "1st") and was issued early in 1968 to enter the top 20 (US and UK) in February. The BG were a British pop group that certainly did not dramatically influence the quick developments of rock music of that time. On the other hand, on Horizontal, one can hear reflections of the new developments, e. g. psychedelia, r'n'b, and time-to-time, interesting sounds come from Vince Melouney's guitar. The creativity of the group between 1967 and 1971 (to Trafalgar) was really great - with the exception of the Beatles, I think only a few other groups were able to write so many tunes that you can preserve in your head at first listening. Of course, the most memorable tunes of Horizontal are the biggest hits, i. e. World, Massachusetts, and Horizontal, which regularly appear on divergent compilations. Superficially, you can take BG's music as a romantic hit pop group. However, the group has the inner power to sound very appealing, pleading and expressive.

The remaster of Horizontal is a very delightful thing. You get the whole original LP (total time 36:40 min) both in stereo and mono versions on Disc 1 (73:20 min). The sound is extremely pure and deep and thus to me much better than on the original vinyl. You can admire the outstanding orchestral arrangements which still seem to sound up-to-date. Disc 2 (34:59 min) contains additional melodies, most of them previously unissued. Among them, there are also interesting alternate versions of songs which do not appear on Horizontal (e. g. Swan Song). Some of the tracks sound as superb as those on Disc 1, but some sound inferior and flatter. In addition, Disc 2 offers also another famous BG single, Words. The 20-page booklet introduces details of each of the recordings.

Horizontal is one of the masterpieces of the first BG's era (along with Idea, 1st). Although I think that artistically, an even more interesting album is Odessa, I can recommend Horizontal to collectors, to fans of the old BG and to those, whose vinyls are getting poor - they will appreciate this luxurious reedition (and I suspect that the original 1CD recording is probably currently unavailable). The newcommers to old BG should rather buy one of the numerous greatest hit compilations. .

The Second Album That Proves Their Talent!
Being the second album by the three brothers, Rhino has beautifully remastered the original into one CD that has all the original twelve songs in Stereo and Mono. Wrapped in a snug fold-out digipak, this Rhino re-issue of Bee Gees Horizontal is a wonder to behold. These are different sounding recordings and not simply Stereo condensed into Mono. Classics like, "World" and their first #1 hit in the U. K. , "Massachusetts" is given new life.

Disc 2 contains fantastic Alternate Versions and previously unreleased material. Compare "Swan Song" or "Really And Sincerely" to the original takes. Also included on album for the first time are singles, "Words", "Barker Of The UFO", "Sinking Ships" and "Sir Geoffrey Saved The World". Other new delights are the vibrant, "Out Of Line" and "Ring My Bell". Eastern influence is obvious on "Deeply, Deeply Me" and the second CD concludes with two Christmas songs, the second being a medley never before released. With 37 songs and a running time of nearly 100 minutes, this is a long awaited release. "Massachusetts" went to #11 on the Billboard Charts and #1 in the U. K. (Their first #1!). The album hit #12 in the USA! Also includes a colorful booklet packed with trivia, history, album and single photos as well as comments from Barry and Robin Gibb.
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You can see a complete list of all Bee Gees discography, or go back to the Bee Gees tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.