Review
by Nicholas James |
 |
Yet another hit album from a period when the
Bee Gees could do no wrong. This was,
believe it or not, only the second live
album the Bee Gees had released (the first
being Here
At Last...Live in 1977). So it was
certainly long overdue. And the absence of a
greatest hits package for a number of years
helped this album to become a surrogate
'Best Of' collection and one of the
brothers' best selling CDs.
But it is far from perfect. It is such a
shame that they did not release an album of
their One For All Tour 1989 (which was much
more adventurous in its choice of songs) or
the electrifying High Civilization Tour 1991
(when the Bee Gees performed at their most
energetic). The One Night Only tour saw the
Bee Gees slow down a little (well, they were
pushing 50!) and sing what was effectively
an oldies collection. The tour was therefore
backward-looking, rather than celebrating
their new music, which was the purpose of
their 1989 and 1991 tours and is when the
Bee Gees are always at their best.
The album was recorded at the MGM Grand, Las
Vegas. And, sadly, that is another weakness.
That concert was made for an American
audience, so (with the exception of three
tracks from the last album,
Still Waters
(only two of which appear on this CD) it
completely ignores everything the Bee Gees
themselves had
recorded since 1979! So there is no 'You Win
Again', no 'Secret Love' and no
'For Whom The Bell Tolls'. It is basically a
1960s/1970s tour. It does, however, include
Bee Gees versions of some post-1979 songs
they had written for other artists,
including 'Guilty' and 'Immortality'.
The only really adventurous moments on this
album, where they steer off the Bee Gees
standards, are really just gimmicks; for
example, their version of Grease, or singing
'Immortality' with Celine Dion. Their
performance of 'Our Love (Don't Throw It All
Away)', as a tribute to Andy was a nice
touch, though, and it was good to hear them
sing 'Islands In The Stream' and
'Heartbreaker', which were both US hits for
other artists.
As only their second live album, this is
still a worthy buy, but I can't help but
wonder how much better it would have been
had they released their much more varied
1998 Wembley Stadium concert instead of the
earlier Vegas concert.
Why Buy One Night Only?
It is one of only two Bee Gees live albums,
the first for over 20 years! |
