Another slightly disappointing move from
Robin Gibb, following on from his 2005
Live Album
and his last 'proper' solo album, 2003's
Magnet. Why he
has chosen to release an album of Christmas
carols on a minor label is beyond me, as yet
again the album is almost devoid of Robin's
creativity in song-writing and production
and it also barely charted. I say 'almost'
devoid because it does feature a completely
new track written by Robin, called 'Mother
of Love'. This is a slow ballad, with
soaring, powerful vocals, and is apparently
inspired by Maurice Gibb. This a a good
song, with pleasant lyrics, but only serves
to emphasise what Robin's fans are missing -
more of what he does best!
The remainder of the album is filled with
fairly bland recordings of Christmas
standards, most of which are not really
suited to Robin's voice, which is much
better singing pop and rock songs rather
than simple carols. The production is often
thin, but really there is probably little
that could have been done to make this album
more appealing. He does, however, adopt an
interesting vocal style on 'Away In A
Manger'. The only genuine item of interest,
other than the opening track, is Robin's
rousing version of 'Noel', which he turns
into an anti-war song with new lyrics for
the chorus.
The CD is also packaged with an accompanying
DVD, which features an interview with Robin
and goes behind the scenes on the making of the
album.
Since the last Bee Gees album in 2001, Barry
Gibb has written and produced an entire
album for Barbra Streisand, written some new
material for Cliff Richard and is (at the
time of writing) working on a new solo album
in Nashville. Robin, on the other hand, has
spent his time singing old Bee Gees tracks,
whether live or on record, having produced a
grand total of only two new tracks
('Inseparable' on Magnet and 'Mother of
Love'). I personally hope that this will be
the last of Robin's superfluous projects and
that he will return to being the creative
force he was in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and
1990s.
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Where to Buy
Buy CD (released 2006)
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