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"This is what the lonely heart must know..."


Everyone always chuckles when I say I like the Bee Gees. Maybe it's their disco period? Regardless, they were a solid recording act for several decades, and deserve much respect. Truthfully, I view their Saturday Night Fever era with nostalgia, more than anything. And not real nostalgia. I was too young to be aware of the disco phenomenon when it was happening. The nostalgia I feel for disco is akin to the kind I feel whenever watching film noir from the '40s, if that makes any sense.

The 1990s is when I truly appreciated the Bee Gees' work. They released three albums that decade, and the second is our focus for today's entry in Matt's Top 10 Albums of All-Time.

#6 - Bee Gees / Size Isn't Everything (1993)

We already know that 1993 was the best year for music, ever. Size Isn't Everything was certainly a part of that. While subsequent re-listens have lowered it slightly on my list of all-time favorite albums, it's still a classic.

The opening stomper, Paying the Price of Love, melds lovelorn lyrics with a heavy bass beat, and the video is fairly futuristic (for the time). Kiss of Life revs things up, then How to Fall in Love, Part 1 slows them down (oddly, there isn't a Part 2). Heart Like Mine is perhaps one of my all-time favorite deep cut albums tracks. Robin Gibbs' voice seems to break with every word, and the song is an ode to loneliness that so many of us can understand.

The back-half of the album kicks off with the jaunty Anything For You, then features the sparely-orchestrated Blue Island (which I saw the Brothers Gibb perform on the old Geraldo show back in the day). Above and Beyond is an ecstatic love song, while For Whom the Bell Tolls is about longing and regret. Fallen Angel is perhaps Robin's high point (literally and figuratively), and to this day never fails to give me goosebumps.

All in all, Size Isn't Everything is a pretty great album. You could argue that it sounds a little dated (some of the early '90s stuff does), but then I see that a plus. Your mileage may vary.



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