Barry Gibb's first solo album was a
major project. The album was loaded
full of experimental tracks, and
most tracks were also recorded as a
pop video, which formed part of the
accompanying
Now Voyager film (now
available on DVD).
This
album experiments with a whole
series of different musical
influences, including rap, calypso,
rock and pop, although few of the
tracks were commercially accessible
pop songs. In this album, Barry
purposefully eschewed the inclusive
and distinctive style of the Bee
Gees, or even his productions for
other artists. The result? The album
was reasonably well-received
critically, many reviewers citing
this as exactly the sort of album
that one of the world's most
influential and creative songwriters
should come up with, but it was a
commercial disaster. But despite its
inaccessibility and unexpected
commercial failure, this album has a
great deal to commend it. And,
despite the slightly dated sound of
some of the songs, it has actually
aged well, and is always
interesting.
The
best track by a square mile is the
lead-off single, 'Shine Shine'. This
is just an incredible piece of
music, mixing a powerful pop melody,
enigmatic and moving lyrics with a
driving calypso beat. From start to
finish, this song is nothing short
of uplifting, and the trumpet-led
instrumental break in each chorus
will have you dancing in your front
room (or the train, if you are
listening on an iPod). Breathtaking.
Other
memorable moments include the
hi-tech and highly sexually
suggestive 'I Am Your Driver',
ostensibly about a commercial
interplanetary airline ("You can
rearrange your bags in the aisle",
says Barry!), the danceable 'Fine
Line' (yes, Barry Gibb raps on this
one) and the powerful synth-rock of
'The Hunter'.
Barry
also manages to include a few
pleasant ballads, although with the
exception of 'Face to Face' (a
classic Bee Gees-style duet with
Olivia Newton-John), these tracks
all veer into new musical
directions. 'She Says' is an
infectious piece of pure 1980s pop
with a killer verse; 'Stay Alone' is
a simple, gentle and slightly odd
piano ballad; and 'One Night (For
Lovers)' brings to mind palm trees,
white sand and lovers walking
hand-in-hand along a Caribbean
shoreline.
At
times the album becomes far too
intense and it is difficult to know
exactly where Barry Gibb was going
(the thumping sing-along
'Shatterproof'; the tale of sexual
experimentation 'Lesson In Love' and
the Michael Jackson influenced
'Temptation' being perfect examples
- these are difficult songs to
love).
Special mention must be made of the
album's fantastic cover photograph,
take in the listed Victoria Baths, a
much-loved swimming pool in Barry's
former home town of Manchester,
England. This iconic swimming pool
features heavily in the accompanying
DVD, which goes some way to
explaining how all the songs fit
together (the DVD is also
beautifully filmed and, despite some
slightly dodgy acting from Barry,
really adds to the whole Now Voyager
experience).
In
hindsight, Barry should perhaps have
relaxed a bit more and made this
something less than the deadly
serious and intense album it turned
out to be. His next album, which
never got a full release (although
partly found its way into the
Hawks
movie soundtrack, would have
probably moved further into this
territory. But, criticisms aside,
this project is something of a
musical landmark that defined this
period in Barry's song writing
career, and it provided us some
excellent tracks to boot. For that,
it deserves every one of the four
stars I award it.
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of this album to BeeGeesReviews.info and if
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Where to Buy
Buy vinyl version (released 1984)
Buy DVD (released 2006)
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