In 1967, the Bee Gees appeared internationally with “Bee Gees 1st”. In 1977, the Bee Gees were on the brink of “Saturday Night Fever” mania. In 1987, the Bee Gees came back with the great album “ESP”. In 1997 they released “Still Waters” and were awarded the ‘International Award Bee Gees – AMA’ and the ‘Brits Award’. In 2007 they received the ‘BMI awards’ and now in 2017, they are releasing this collection of classics with the 40th anniversary of “Saturday Night Fever”. It’s almost daunting to think about how many compilations the Bee Gees have released over the years. There are simply dozens. So why release this collection? Capitol Records is cashing in on the group along with a new release (including 180g vinyl) of “Saturday Night Fever”. If these albums sell enough, perhaps Capitol will fulfill their promise to release further unreleased tracks from the Bee Gees past. One can only hope. Note that this collection contains all the #1 hits, and all the Top 20 hits ‘in the USA’. “Spicks And Specks” and “You Win Again” are the odd ones out, but they did reach #1 in Australia and the UK respectively. “More Than A Woman” simply had to be included to coincide with “Saturday Night Fever”. The sound? Its as good as it is going to get. These songs have been remastered over and over again. They sound clean, clear and balanced. Barry’s liner notes are short and sweet, but give little more information to the average listener. If you don’t have a greatest hits collection, you will enjoy this, however, I still can’t think of anything better than the “Bee Gees Ultimate” collection (with DVD). The liner notes consist of all the songs with title, writer(s), release date and producer. There are no liner notes other than Barry’s comment. There are a few photos including one of all their albums. The cover made me think it looked like a Christmas album, but then, it is the music that matters. I do hope Capitol Records gets more creative with more material, especially the unreleased songs.
