Record basics

Album name: Idea
Group name: the Bee Gees
Year: 1968
Number of discs: one
Label: Atco
Collection: Brenner / Gessner
Distinguishing characteristics: “G” written on top left of album, indicating that my father owned it
Buy it on Amazon: $24.98

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this Bee Gees record before, but it’s their second that I’m reviewing, besides Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track (1977). The first, conveniently enough, was called Bee Gees’ 1st (1967), and I thought it was not terrible.

What I expected

Pop rock with vocal harmonies.

What it was actually like

I did not like this record very much. While listening to it, I noticed that a lot of the songs had bells in them. Did they just discover the bells in the late 1960s?

In The Summer of His Years was a particularly terrible slow song, largely piano but also with flute and orchestral backing – of course, with bells tolling. When the Swallows Fly and I Started a Joke were similar, but not as bad, and there was more bad orchestral backing on Kilburn Towers and Swan Song.

Let There Be Love sounded like a Beatles reject from approximately 1965.

The title track Idea was lively, enjoyable and interesting, with lots of guitar, and definitely was not the stereotypical Bee Gees song. Kitty Can was also pretty good, except for these annoying whisper effects they had going in background throughout.

Indian Gin and Whisky Dry were in a psychedelic style, but not very appealing.

The most bizarre song on the record was I Have Decided to Join the Air Force. It left me scratching my head, wondering what it was that I just heard. Some of its lyrics were:

Mother, I’ve got to join the Air Force, you see
I’ve seen my friends and they all agree
That’s it’s better than joining the Army or going to sea

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

Idea by the Bee Gees (Vinyl record album review)