Review
by Nicholas James |
 |
Robin's third solo album, the follow-up to
the artistically (if not commercially)
successful How
Old Are You, is a very different
beast to its predecessors. Like How Old Are
You, the Secret Agent album is heavily
electronic, but that is where the
similarities really end. This album moves on
from How Old Are You's soft sentimentality
for up-tempo synthesizer-based dance tracks.
Robin's falsetto vocals used in How Old Are
You are also replaced with a much deeper,
harder, and more varied sound. And the songs
move away from extended love stories to
tales of spies, androids, Amazonian temples
and high technology. This album was
genuinely different.
Again the
album is a Robin and Maurice project
(although on this album older brother Barry
co-writes a couple of tracks), and this
shows that the brothers have really grasped
the sound and style of the period and done
something different. Maurice, in particular,
clearly had a lot of fun playing with
different types of keyboard effects and
lifting the songs from the slightly
monotonous backing track of the previous
album to a series of unique, and at times
genuinely fresh (even now!) instrumental
breaks. If there is a criticism of this
album, it is the incessant attempt to sound
high-tech, with barely a single 'real'
instrument to be heard anywhere. It does
give the album a cold and clinical sound on
first listen, but once you 'get into the
groove' (to use another 1980's expression!),
this becomes less of an issue as it is this
sound that takes the album into this new
direction which it otherwise would not have
achieved. However, a couple of slower tracks
might have been a good idea.
And the album
almost saw Robin's solo career take off
commercially. Whereas How
Old Are You spawned a major European
hit with 'Juliet', the album didn't make
much of an impact in the USA. The first
single from Secret Agent - 'Boys Do Fall In
Love' - actually cracked the US Top 40, the
first time a single from a Robin Gibb solo
album had charted on that side of the
Atlantic. However, it wasn't to last, as the
album failed to set the world alight
commercially.
But for those
who did search it out, it was well worth a
listen. 'Boys Do Fall In Love' was an
unbelievably catchy piece of 1980s pop,
which really should have made an impact.
Previously described as a male answer to
Cyndy Lauper's 'Girls Just Want To Have
Fun', it appeared in several extended dance
versions and is one of Robin and Maurice's
best compositions. But there is much else on
the album to enjoy: 'In Your Diary',
co-written with Barry, is another infectious
track with a leaden back beat and genuinely
touching lyrics; 'Secret Agent' is a great
example of how Maurice Gibb was master of
the synthesizer, with lyrics about jet
planes, female spies and the CIA (this track
even features a fight scene!); and
'Diamonds' takes you out into the Amazon in
a song that brings to mind an Indiana Jones
movie. 'Rebecca' and 'King Of Fools' are
also outstanding tracks with very strong
melodies (although, if Robin thought
'Rebecca' was this album's answer to Juliet,
he was wrong!).
On repeated
listens, here is an album that will grow on
you. It is an example of how, yet again, the
Gibb brothers were capable of not only
moving with the times, but also grabbing
something new with both (or in this case
four!) hands and doing something really
innovative. Buy it!
Why Buy Secret Agent?
For a genuinely good attempt at a 1980s pop
album, with a good sense of humour. it is
fun. |
