One!

Any Gibber can't help but think about the boys' concert antics for this 1989 release. This album came at an interesting time. Andy Gibb died the year before, Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida, and The Brothers Gibb were relegated to doing concerts on The Disney Channel. The music helped the boys cope with the difficult circumstances, and One was a modest and critical success.



As usual, The US has a slightly different perception of anything Gibb, but the first single Ordinary Lives was a hit in the rest of the world. There's a very cool refrain here and a distinct beat. Sometimes the song is listed with the title Cruel World in parenthesis, and its neat to hear Barry utter the words in the song. One was a monster hit with all the hooks one could ask for. The boys do their little One! salutes in concert, and my nieces are just obsessed with watching it over and over. One is so tropical catchy and has great lyrics with cool rifts.



Onto what may be one of the steamier Gibb songs, Bodyguard was very naughty when it was released with a soft core music video. Robin's delivery is on form, and the words are the ones every woman wants to hear. Growl! You deserve more, let me take care and protect you. Hot damn.



Its My Neighborhood is the first departure song on One. It's got that eighties hard edge to it that doesn't always suit the boys. I do like the chorus and the lyrics do have the proper element of bad boy anger. Not the same kind of growl! as Bodyguard, but a growl! nonetheless.



Tears is so real. I am not a major teary eyed type of person, but Tears is just the perfect song for when you need a good cry. Three grown men admit as fact `there will be tears tonight'. It's okay to cry, who knew? Barry's delivery and lyrics of not being ashamed about it just set this kleenex keeper off.



It's unusual in the eighties to see a Bee Gees song written by only a pair of brothers, as opposed to solo material where any combination of the brothers and their teams are expected. With Tokyo Nights, however, Robin and Maurice make a very catchy tongue in cheek song. It's a bit of a tribute to the stalwart Japanese Gibb fans, yet I suspect something more sinister in its ambiguous lyrics. The guests in my car just don't understand when I sing along to this one.



Flesh and Blood might be the better Robin song on this album. Bodyguard is partly shared with Barry, as is the rest of the album Baz dominated. Flesh and Blood is in this hard style the album seems to be going for, and this suits Robin. It's similar to Walls Have Eyes, and perhaps that album would have been as stylized as Blood had it had full blown Gibb production. The nuances here and the delivery are top notch.



I recently discovered a cute little opening effect on Wish You Were Here that I hadn't noticed until my headphones-only listen. It's like a carousel that turns into a lofty echo. Barry, Robin, and Maurice wrote this song in tribute to Andy, and it is a tearjerker with totally real lyrics. It's bittersweet. There are very happy, fond, `wish you well' type sayings mixed in with `don't go we'll miss you' somberness. The perfect reflection of loss in a song.



Yay we come to the Maurice moment of the album! House Of Shame is as usual per Maurice, in a slightly different style than anything else on One. Even the edgy modern stuff isn't quite like Mo's hooky lines here. His delivery varies on the verses, and then he drops a killer chorus on you that I often find stuck in my head even if I haven't heard Shame in ages. Good stuff.



Sometimes this trying to be Prince stuff is just to much, and Will You Ever Let Me is almost a bland imitation. It has its moments, is it me or are all the choruses strong here? A song that I would probably write off if it were anyone else, and The Brothers delivery and hooks still bring me back.



Wing and A Prayer doesn't sound like anything old fashioned, yet it reminds me of that old time song about `coming in on a wing and a prayer.' (I am then also remind of `Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me!' but that's another story.) The Gibb tune here is a bit uneven. I really like the slower parts and Barry's breathy speaking lines, but then the song can turn to the rough stuff and it doesn't all seem to fit. Still One starts and ends on an upbeat note, and any new fans will be surprised to find the depth and seriousness in between.



Special note #4356. Shape of Things to Come is another one of these Gibb oddities that fans are forced to hunt for. Released by Arista for their Olympic album, the song received little notice. No Gibb collection, however, is complete without it, or One for that matter. The album is a unique look at three successful men and brothers, coping, crying, moving on and making music to boot.

The Bee Gees Still Do Good Music!

In 1987, when the Bee Gees made a comeback after a long hiatus with the "E.S.P" album, the comeback was considered a failure because of poor album sales in the United States. The results were better overseas for E.S.P. During the "E.S.P" album, the Bee Gees had long shed their "Saturday Night Fever - Disco Days" and kept up with the changing music times by producing a solid adult contemporary album. The Bee Gees deserve a lot of credit for being able to keep up with the times. In a lot of ways, "One" continues the musical path that the Bee Gees did with "E.S.P", by continuing the adult contemporary direction. "One" was released in 1989 and had much better results including a Top 10 single - the title song "One".

This album marked was the first Bee Gees album since the death of their brother Andy Gibb in 1988. There was a lot of talk of Andy joining his three brothers in the group and on this particular album. Andy's death does play a role on this album. There are several songs that no doubt are reflections of some of the pain that Barry, Robin, and Maurice feel for their brother. This is by no means a somber collection of songs, but the specter of Andy is clearly seen on here. At first the song "Tears" seemed like a song about a lost love, but after listening to the lyrics, I get the impression this is spun more as a tribute to Andy with such lines as "Heaven only knows how much I'm missing you", "You're Still Inside and I'm Not Ashamed", and "I Can't Forget Your Face, I Call Your Name". Another song that is a reminder of Andy is "Wish You Were Here". Once again, although this is a song about a lost love there are lines like "Drying these tears I cry, They Were Good Times". Sometimes a tragedy does have a way of inspiring creativity in music and I think this happens here because these are two very good songs by the Bee Gees.

There is one song that has a Saturday Night Fever theme to it and that is "It's My Neighborhood". This is definitely the best song on the album. This has a very catchy 'street like' theme to it. Although its not a Disco song, it does have a feel to the Tony Manero days in Brooklyn. Others must have thought so as well - because this song would be included in the Broadway version of Saturday Night Fever about 7 years later. The Bee Gees went back to some roots here and created a great song that kept up with the times. Another song that keeps up with the times is "Bodyguard". In this song, it has a more of an R&B feel to it and when you hear the intro notes you might actually think it is an R&B song. "Ordinary Lives" shows the Bee Gees remain creative as ever when there is some spoken words in the song that go "We were Ordinary People Living Ordinary Lives" and "The clock on the wall keeps moving. Time Stands Still. No Matter How the Dice May Roll. Someone else always gets to Call the Number". These spoken words (which I believe is spoken by Barry Gibb) adds a nice dimension to this song. "One" is a nice song, but actually one of the weaker tracks. Finally "Tokyo Nights" is another nice song with a slight "asian like" that really is in sync with the theme of the song.

When a lot of people think of the Bee Gees, they immediately think of the Barry Gibb falsetto vocals - and in general Barry's vocals. On this album, Robin Gibb really gets some good opportunities for lead vocals and shows he is a fine vocalist. Robin plays as key a role as Barry does on this album. In fact, Barry does a nice job supporting Robin on many songs. Robin shines on the song "Bodyguard".

I have the version of this CD that was released in the United States. They decided to include the track "You Win Again" from E.S.P. instead of the track "Wing and a Prayer". This was probably to because "You Win Again" did so well in Europe and overseas. They probably tried to give the song another shot in the U.S., so it payed to put it on the CD. Regardless of what CD, "You Win Again" is a great song. To me, on the E.S.P album (which I feel is a good album), it makes a strong statement that the Bee Gees are back and make good music. It has a wonderful mix of percussion and mantra vocals - plus some nice harmonies between Barry and Robin.

As for the liner notes - on my CD, all of the lyrics are included. There are production credits as well. There is no tribute or statement to Andy - and that did surprise me. If you are Bee Gees fan, the songs on this collection aren't the most catchy songs as on previous albums - but these are good songs. The Bee Gees prepared well for this album and it paid off. I'd recommend getting this collection.

The ONE is FIRST

One is the best number to describe this album. The Bee Gees lost their younger brother, Andy, had been very painful, but they didn't give up. In the song Wish You Were Here, you can hear the heart-touching melody.
One, the title song, was the best song ever written. It's very hard to sing, but Barry manage to get over it. Ordinary Lives' chorus is short, but indeed its very good.
Bodygard and It's My Neighborhood has the song of sweet jazz and hard rock. Flesh and Blood showed their great harmony of three.
This album surely show the strength of the Bee Gees.