Review
by Nicholas James |
 |
This is Robin's third solo album of the
1980s, following on from the
electro-romantic How
Old Are You and the techno-dance Secret
Agent. On this album, Robin -
perhaps realising that his attempts to do
something different on the previous albums
had not paid off commercially - veers back
towards a more standard Bee Gees sound. This
is probably helped no end by the fact that
Barry Gibb also co-wrote most of the songs
and even sung on one of the tracks.
Despite the
fact that the album is reigned in somewhat
from the previous solo album, it produces
perhaps more stand-out tracks. In fact, this
is an album of extremes. Where songs fall
into the category of 'great', they tend to
be more memorable than songs on any of
Robin's previous albums. Where they don't
fall into the category of 'great', they tend
to be bland, almost rushed.
So which songs
fall into the 'great' category? Certainly
'Toys'. Written by all three brothers, this
is a dark and brooding song that is, to all
intents and purposes, the Bee Gees. It even
has Barry's voice as the dominant voice on
the chorus, and Robin's touching vocal on
the verses is outstanding. 'Gone With The
Wind', one of only two tracks written by
Robin and Maurice without Barry, is a big
ballad with immense power and emotion.
Whilst it could almost be described as
cheesy, this is such a great song, with such
a powerful vocal by Robin and simple,
effective, production, that it genuinely
transcends that description. Other good
songs are: 'Like A Fool', a simple melodic
track, which was oddly released as the first
single; 'You Don't Say Us Anymore', a neat,
electronic track with interesting verse and
'middle eight'; and 'Someone To Believe In',
electronic in sound, but much more
restrained than the Secret
Agent album. Sadly, other songs such
as 'Do You Love Her', 'Remedy' and
'Heartbeat In Exile' come across simply as
fillers and are not memorable.
Despite the
fact that this is Robin's most polished
album, and that it has several really great
tracks, this is the least satisfying of all
his 1980s solo albums. Too many of the
tracks are just too inconsequential, and
whether this more restrained approach was a
requirement of the record company or an
artistic decision of Robin and Maurice (or
their producer Tom Dowd), this is the Robin
Gibb solo album from the 1980s that I would
play the least. It was also the least
commercially successful of Robin's solo
albums and saw the end of his solo career
for almost 20 years.
Why Buy Walls Have Eyes?
To hear the 'almost-Bee-Gees' track Toys and
an album that sounds remarkably like a Bee
Gees album from this era. |
