There are two major differences between
Shadow Dancing, Andy Gibb's second album, at
the album that preceded it,
Flowing Rivers.
The first difference is that Andy has
moved away from the lightweight country-pop sound
that characterised his first album, to be
replaced by a general lightweight pop/disco sound,
with a strong Bee Gees influence throughout.
This album really picks up on the style of
music that the Bee Gees were producing at
the time, but just a little more laid back
and less developmental. The second
difference is that Barry plays a bigger part
in this album, on this occasion co-writing
four songs, twice as many as on
Flowing Rivers.
But the main similarity with the first album
is that the Barry Gibb co-written and
produced tracks are generally much stronger
than Andy's own compositions. I have
therefore dealt with them separately again.
The Barry Gibb tracks are consistently
excellent. 'An Everlasting Love' is a
distinctive pop track, with a gorgeous
chorus disguising quite a complex lyrical
structure. '(Our Love) Don't Throw It All
Away' is a beautiful love song in the 'How
Deep Is Your Love' style, which differs from
the version recorded by the Bee Gees (a
superior version, featured on
Tales
From The Brothers Gibb) in that
there is a falsetto bridge. 'Shadow Dancing'
is the first recorded track written by all
four Gibb Brothers (all four brothers
rarely wrote together) and is a light disco
dance track, slightly repetitive, but
enjoyable nonetheless. 'Why' differs from
the other tracks in that it is written by
Andy and Barry Gibb, with Andy listed first,
suggesting he was dominant. Well, the boy
has done well, because this is an excellent
track, up-tempo with a nice falsetto backing
vocal.
As with the previous album, the songs
composed by Andy alone are less memorable.
Most of the songs are, unfortunately, very
bland. Gentle, inoffensive tracks that you
won't remember five minutes after listening
to the album. With one exception. In the
song 'Melody', Andy shows that he certainly
has got what it takes, with a big ballad
that will tug at your heart strings. I adore
this song. But as a whole, this album is
much more dominated by Barry than the first.
(Indeed, by the time of Andy's next album,
Barry would have taken over entirely on the
song-writing and production - this is the
last full studio album to feature any songs
solely written by Andy).
Whilst his song writing is less consistent
than his older brothers, one thing Andy has
got going for him is his voice, which is
strong and distinctive throughout the album.
It is worth buying for that alone.
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Where to Buy
Buy CD (released 1998)
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