Review
by Nicholas James |
 |
In
1969 Robin Gibb left the Bee Gees after his
relationship with older brother Barry had
deteriorated significantly. Barry and
Maurice Gibb went on to record the album Cucumber
Castle, which spawned the number 2
hit 'Don't Forget To Remember'. Robin went
on to release his first solo album, called
Robin's Reign.
OK, the cover is awful. But was the music
inside the album actually good? Yes and no.
The pluses are that some of the songs are
deeply emotional and slightly out of the
ordinary, with one or two pleasant melodies
thrown in for good measure. The first
single, 'Saved by the Bell' falls into this
category, being heavily influenced by the
Bee Gees track 'I Started a Joke'. It has a
powerful Robin Gibb lead vocal and an
infectious melody, although the lyrics are
somewhat simplistic (possibly even banal).
The follow-up single, 'August October', is
similarly catchy, as is the jaunty track
'Most Of My Life'. Other pleasantly simple
tracks include 'Give Me A Smile', 'Mother
and Jack' and 'Weekend'. But the album too
often gets bogged down in long, quite
dreary, songs that really go nowhere, both
lyrically and melodically. Tracks like 'The
Worst Girl In This Town', 'Farmer Ferdinand
Hudson' and 'Lord Bless All' all fall into
this category, being quite simply
underdeveloped.
But what really drags this album down is the
production, which is relatively poor
throughout, even on the better tracks.
Incessant drum machines and shoddy
multi-track vocals dominate, with
uninspiring use of strings and very little
use of guitar. The whole album is much less
fluid and exciting than any of the previous
Bee Gees albums, which suggests that Robin
had, by this time either not matured
musically to sustain a complete album, or
that he had gone down something of a blind
alley in a misguided attempt to do something
different. Whether the former or the latter
(and I suspect it is the latter), this is
not an album that stands up to repeated
listening. He would, however, do much better
in future solo albums released in other
decades.
This album also did little to end the feud
between Robin and Barry, both of whom at
this point in their careers believed they
were the main reason for the Bee Gees'
success. Perhaps if Robin's hit single,
'Saved By The Bell' had outperformed 'Don't
Forget To Remember' in the UK charts (the
latter had made it to Number 2), things
would have been different and Robin's belief
that he was the main talent in the group
would have been borne out. However, as it
transpired, 'Saved By The Bell' managed to
rise to...number 2 in the charts, equalling
Barry and Maurice's highest chart placing.
Perhaps we will never know.
Why Buy Robin's Reign?
To hear this creative artist in the very
early stages of his fragmented solo career. |
