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Love Songs

The Bee Gees - Love Songs Audio CD

A fair review of the The Bee Gees "Love Songs" 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 The Bee Gees reviews here, or go back to the The Bee Gees tabs.

Band: The Bee Gees
Title: Love Songs
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-12-16
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: To Love Somebody 2: Words 3: First of May 4: Lonely Days 5: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart 6: How Deep Is Your Love 7: More Than a Woman 8: (Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away 9: Emotion 10: Too Much Heaven 11: Heartbreaker 12: Islands in the Stream 13: Juliet - Bee Gees, Robin Gibb 14: Secret Love 15: For Whom the Bell Tolls 16: Closer Than Close 17: I Could Not Love You More 18: Wedding Day

Sincerely, The Brothers Gibb
But when it comes down to it, the delightful walks down memory lane have honestly done a much better job at recapturing the eye. There really hasn't been a lot of great music from today's artists that have actually came out this year. That honestly has been the case with The Bee Gees the past few years. Their catalog was recently moved from Universal to Warner Brothers back in 2006, but the feeling of The Bee Gees feels like a distant memory. After Maurice Gibb's tragic death, the soul of pop gems from the great guitly pleasures have sadly been missing heart and soul. But everytime I hear a great classic from them, I honestly am forgetful about how simple and quirky they've been for many fans, and for anyone who hasn't yet heard these great delights. But now a new sign of love from The Bee Gees comes back to the mainstream, but is it really too much heaven, or just a heartbreaker?

The 2005 Bee Gees Love Songs compilation, has finally been re-released for your CD's and MP3 Players. The collection after being discontinued for a few years due to The Gibb's moving their catalog from Universal and MCA to Warner Brothers is now available again for the public. The single disc does offer a few of the greats from the classic Gibb brothers' catalog, but sadly does leace a bit more to be desired for new fans. Still, the collection has been remastered very nicely, and includes some of their biggest ballads like Too Much heaven, More Than A Woman, the simple appeal of their breakout To Love Somebody, and Lonely Days. There also are a few songs that were surprises on the collection like Robin Gibb's solo effort with Juliet, and the lesser-known I Could Not Love You More from their overlooked Still Waters album. There also are a few classics that finally have seen the light of day of songs they've made for others, that the group had recorded as their own like Samantha Sang's Emotion and Dionne Warwick's Heartbreaker, which were released from the 2001's Their Greatest Hits: The Record which sadly is still out of print. Sadly, if you've bought the album from a few years ago, there actually is nothing of a change here. While the album might be a delight for die hard fans, there still were a few great classic songs that were overlooked like One, Alone and the simple elegance of Barry's duet with Barbara Streisand on Guilty.

All in all, while The Bee Gees Love Songs is not sure to please anyone who doesn't own a Bee Gees album yet, as was the case with the re-release of Number Ones earlier this year, but for hard core fans of The Brothers Gibb who've loved those classics but missed out on the collection back in 2005, they have a noble second chance to get the collection now. I just wish that there could've been a few extras here as well, since Number Ones which was re-issued earlier this year had a few extra notes to pound out on. Still I do feel a bit sad that Love Songs by The Bee Gees is a mixed bag, but not a complete heartbreaker.

Songs: C

Price: C 1/2-

Remastering: B

Overall: C .

Ah, Sappy Love Songs!
Oddly enough I received this album for Valentines Day from my honey.

A year after Number Ones was released, Barry and Robin followed up with Love Songs, another compilation set from Universal. Not as heavily promoted as Number Ones, I was even confused about the release date. October? November? Love Songs' packaging even has a rushed feel to it. The flowery artwork is dandy, but the credits inside leave much to the imagination. Universal should have given more love to Love Songs.

When I first bought Number Ones, the one song most notably absent to me was To Love Somebody. The 1967 hit from First is rectified here of course. I mean, we know it's chronological order, but To Love Somebody is THE place to start if you want love songs.

Words is a repeat from Number Ones, but you can't not have Barry's sweet nothings here. It's nice to hear the original again after a few remakes and updates. Classic.

I'm not exactly sure how First Of May found its way here. I thought it was about Barry's dog? I hope May's placement here wasn't just a Barry versus Robin jab, since this is the Odessa song that killed the group briefly. But it is pretty!

Love Songs picks up the pace with Lonely Days. Not necessarily a traditional love song, I'm sure there are some woman out there who just can't get enough of three men admitting how lost they'd be without their women. Besides, you need a song to sing a long to.

Also repeated from Number Ones, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart and How Deep is Your Love's placement here is really un-arguable. Perhaps the number one and number two questions in the universe, and they are both posed by The Brothers Gibb.

My second beef with Number Ones was the exclusion of More Than A Woman, which we find here on Love Songs instead. As much as I love More Than a Woman, I do feel it should have been placed on Number Ones, not Love Songs. Many deserving Brothers Gibb love songs are not here because several other tracks from Number Ones are repeated. A Famous tune like Nights On Broadway, Fanny, or Love Me might have served Love better. I could just go on! I Can't See Nobody, My World, Run to Me anyone?

The Bee Gees version of Our Love Don't Throw it All Away was first released on the Greatest album, but the song is more famous via Andy's rendition. This love lost song can be a tear jerker if you're in the right mood. Barbra even did a soft and sappy version for Guilty Pleasures. Sweet stuff.

Sometimes you simply can't go wrong, like with Emotion, for example. This rerecord by the boys showcases their songwriting solidity and yet also tips the hat to the song's flexibility, like it's original rendition by Samantha Sang.

Too Much Heaven is another baby soft monster of the Bee Gees catalogue that cannot be ignored. There's nothing like harmony to melt a woman's heart.

I'm so glad Heartbreaker and Islands In The Stream get their due here. Originally recorded by Dionne Warwick and Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, respectively, these Gibb updates showcase the Brothers' songwriting talents and importance to the music industry. Oh yes, they were important, and the versions here are spiffy, too.

Juliet is here to represent Robin's solo career, and I suspect to balance First of May. This high pitched eighties diddy hails from How Old Are You, Robin's 82 solo venture that's full of quirky loves songs. Juliet is the best of that lot.

My one beef with Secret Love has always been that it's on the short side. One of the few bright spots from High Civilization, the boys present a naughty motownesque tune that gets you thinking happy thoughts. Although one could argue The Only Love also belongs here, but I think we should just make a Love Songs Part Two or such for all the excluded Gibby Love tunes.

I think I'm wrong but wasn't For Whom The Bell Tolls a European number one? In that case it's on the wrong album, but I digress. This power ballad from Size Isn't Everything is lucky it found its way here. This later day gem prooves my theory that age and time have no effect on the boys musically. I do also believe that Size's Heart Like Mine was on European releases of Love Songs.

I've never really thought of Closer Than Close as a love song, but Maurice's kinky track from Still Waters deserves a spot here, in honor of Mo if nothing else. I Could Not Love You More is the real power ballad from Still Waters but both represent the modern ballad style of the boys, and I love it!

Love Songs closes fittingly with Wedding Day. Barry and Robin debated over releasing this song as the second single off This Is Where I Came In, but nothing became of it. The best Bee Gees song of the new century, Wedding Day shows how far the brothers have come as songwriters and men. Gone are the sappy woe is my love diddys. Wedding Day represents that kind of love you just know.

An oddity called Lovers and Friends also appeared on foreign releases of Love Songs, but it is Ronan Keating singing lead. Boo. I haven`t heard the tune, since I don`t care much for Ronan Keating, whoever he is.

Although I would have liked more variety on the track list, Love Songs still showcases the mojo of The Brothers Gibb and is the perfect gift for anyone special to you. Oh baby! .

No Charade,what?
To me Charade is like a pre How Deep is your love song. My complaint about this collection is it lacks one of the Bee Gees greatest and romantic love songs,Charade from the Mr Natural album. As stated by the Bee Gees themselves from Tales of the bros Gibb,this is a make out song.

scratched cd
I sent it back with the return form but never received my refund. The cd I received was scratched.

Another Good "Love Songs" Collection
I have several of these and plan to buy more. There have been dozens of "love songs" collections released. These collections are usually all or nearly all songs that have been previously released, which means that some fans may be thinking "What! ANOTHER collection?" However, I enjoy these collections because I enjoy the love songs of these artists and hearing them together is often fun.

This collection contains 18 songs released in the 34 years from 1967 to 2001. Many of these songs are often played on easy listening and classic rock stations. Ten of the 18 songs were released as singles, but several of the songs that were not singles occasionally get airplay. Several of the singles went to #1. "Lonely Days," "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," "How Deep Is Your Love," and "Too Much Heaven" were all Bee Gees chart toppers. "Islands in the Stream" was a #1 hit for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. The version on this collection was sung live by the Bee Gees.

Even those songs that were not chart toppers will hold you in their embrace. "Emotion" contains as much emotional power as any Bee Gees' song. "Heartbreaker" is another winner, from the 2001 album "The Record. " "Closer than Close" is a mellow love song from the 1997 album "Still Waters" that is captivating. "I Could not Love You More," also from "Still Waters," has wonderful harmonies that were always the trade mark of the Brothers Gibb.

The Bee Gees became the joke of a generation when disco music fell from favor. However, the Bee Gees were masters of their art, and their music is beautiful. The Bee Gees were especially good at singing love songs, as this collection shows. If you seek another "Love Songs" collection, this one is excellent. If you would like to have a collection of Bee Gees love songs, this one is first rate. As a casual fan of the Bee Gees, I am very impressed by this collection and recommend it for fans of the Bee Gees and lovers everywhere. Enjoy!
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You can see a complete list of all The Bee Gees discography, or go back to the The Bee Gees tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.