[.ca] Brilliant from Birth

The best period for the Bee Gees ?:
If you see the Bee Gees only as the Saturday Night Fever disco-type band, prepare yourself for a shock. Here we have the first recordings made by the band from 1963 to 1966, and we can see how they were influenced by all kinds of music, from old dusty standards from the then-newest pop sound. What the Bee Gees did in these times was first-rate pop music, sometimes with distorted guitars (yes!), brilliant melodies, and (if you except a few tracks) no heavy and annoying orchestral backing like they would do so often later. A message to pop/rock'n'roll fans: before you dismiss the Bee Gees as a no-good MOR band, please listen to some tracks on this set like "I want home", "Exit stage right", "To be or not to be" or "Like Nobody Else". It's absolutely NOTHING like what they do now !

The Latest Release From Festival Records "Down Under":
Festival Records first released, "Birth Of Brilliance 1963-1966" in 1978 on a double LP. Later, in the mid-90's, it was released and remastered on a Double CD with 32 songs from the Bee Gees early Australian years. Now Festival has released, "Brilliant From Birth" (Don't get confused) as another Double CD collection. The latter having 31 more songs on it (63 in total). For the (price)extra, it is worth owning over "Birth Of Brilliance 1963-1966". The additional songs are more overdubs on prerecorded instrumentals, many from stage productions and standards ("Twelth Of Never"), ("You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You"), ("Somewhere"), etc. In themselves, they are unremarkable, save for the maturity and range of the Gibb Brothers vocals. In all, this set contains mostly Bee Gees originals with Beatle's covers and standard songs from the late '50's and early '60's. The packaging is more appealing than the first collection and the liner notes are more interesting and up to date. The choice would be "Brilliant From Birth" over "Birth Of Brilliance". Confused? I was.

RARE, PRECIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL:
If you are a Bee Gees fan, you'll want to check this one out. This CD represents The Bee Gees before the fame. From ballads like "Cherry Red", "Don't Say Goodbye","In The Morning", and "I Don't Think It's Funny", to rockers like "I Want Home", "You Wouldn't Know", "Peace Of Mind", and "To Be Or Not To Be", and covers of songs like "You Won't See Me", "Can't You See That She's Mine", "The End", and "Every Day I Have To Cry". 63 great tracks in all, this is the ultimate early Bee Gees package. The booklet that comes with this is very informative and interesting. If you're curious as to how the Bee Gees were before they became stars, this package is the one to get. Worth every cent, and a 10-star rating as well.

Most complete set of early recordings:
With so many budget albums out there that have the early recordings of The Bee Gees in various combinations, it seemed difficult to get them all without having to many duplicates. This double album makes it easy. Not all songs are all that great, but you can certainly follow the development of the typical early Bee Gees sound. I also like the cover versions of Lennon & McCartney songs they do on this album. So if you want the very early stuff, buy this one - you won't need any other then.

Completes your BG collection:
Well, here it is at last, after years of collecting bootleg cassettes, vinyls and cds and out of print compilations, nothing beats this, the complete collection of their early recordings before 1941 NY Mining Disaster. While this may be for completists and die-hard fans, you'll be surprised at the high quality material found in this package. At the tender age of 17, I think, Barry was a superb tunesmith, much better than Lennon-Mccartney in the early days, though BG sought to produce forgettable boring albums in the early 70s. You'll find a lot of sweet love tunes here, and some mature and serious songs, And Children Laughing, Secondhand People and In the Morning being my favourites. However, I find it quite an embarrassment in those cover versions of Beatles songs and 50s oldies. Nonetheless, a definite buy for fans

• Battle of the Blue and Grey
• Three Kisses of Love
• Timber
• Take Hold of That Star
• Peace of Mind
• Don't Say Goodbye
• Claustrophobia
• Could It Be
• Turn Around, Look at Me
• Theme from Jamie McPheeters
• Every Day I Have to Cry Some
• You Wouldn't Know
• Wine and Women
• Follow the Wind
• I Was a Lover, A Leader of Men
• And the Children Laughing
• I Don't Think It's Funny
• How Love Was True
• To Be or Not to Be
• Cherry Red
• I Want Home
• End
• Hallelujah, I Love Her So
• I Love You Because
• Somewhere
• Twelfth of Never
• You're the Reason
• You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You
• All by Myself
• Butterfly
• Can't You See That She's Mine
• From Me to You
• Monday's Rain
• All of My Life
• Where Are You
• Playdown
• Big Chance
• Glasshouse
• How Many Birds
• Second Hand People
• I Don't Know Why I Bother With Myself
• Jingle Jangle
• Tint of Blue
• Born a Man
• Spicks & Specks
• I Am the World
• Daydream
• Forever
• Coalman
• Exit, Stage Right
• Paperback Writer
• I'll Know What to Do
• In the Morning
• Like Nobody Else
• Lonely Winter
• Lum-De-Loo
• Storm
• Terrible Way to Treat Your Baby
• Yesterday's Gone
• You Won't See Me
• Top Hat
• Just One Look
• Ticket to Ride