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Following the Bee Gees triumphant return
with their previous album,
Main Course,
they came back for more. This time, producer
Arif Mardin was not available, so the Bee
Gees decided to produce themselves. On this
album the harder edge of
Main Course
was lost to a lighter, disco sound. And
despite the fact the Bee Gees have
constantly argued that they were never
'disco', this album is unashamedly so. The
first track and major hit single, 'You
Should Be Dancing', is pure disco, with
Barry's by then trademark falsetto vocal. It
is undoubtedly exhilarating and would be a
staple part of Bee Gees concerts right up
until the end. But tracks like 'You Stepped
Into My Life', 'Boogie Child' and 'Subway'
are also pure disco, and do sound somewhat
dated now, something that cannot be said
about songs from either the previous album,
Main Course,
or from their next album,
Saturday
Night Fever. This album is actually
at its strongest when it moves away from
disco to ballad. 'Love So Right' and 'Love
Me', with excellent lead vocals by Barry and
Robin respectively, are two of the best love
songs the group ever produced, and 'The Way
It Was' shows Barry's vocal nimbleness at
its best.
There is no question that this album is not
as strong as its predecessor. The disco
tracks can sound repetitive, and some of the
other songs, such as 'Lovers', 'Children of
The World' and 'Can't Keep A Good Man Down',
are fairly lightweight. In addition, the
album has probably the worst cover
photograph the group ever used.
But the album scores as a barometer of where
the group were at in 1976, as they were
about to start writing for their next
project, which would ultimately become
Saturday
Night Fever. This album is therefore
a landmark in popular music.
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Where to Buy
Buy original CD version (released 1989)
Buy reissued CD version (released 2006)
Buy Australian import (released 2006)
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