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Living Eyes

 
Album Review: Living Eyes

  • Artist: Bee Gees
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: 1981
  • Total Time: 46:04
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

In terms of hit singles and precise musical vision, it would have been difficult for anyone to have to follow-up the brilliant Spirits Having Flown album, but these industry veterans created a real gem in Living Eyes which seems to have gotten lost in the maze that is their deep catalog. The title track is almost up there with "Spirits Having Flown," which is significant praise, and the song "Paradise" follows suit, pretty and passionate. "Don't Fall in Love With Me" has all three Bee Gees brothers contributing to this ballad with their trademark highly creative hooks. The one downer, unbelievable as it seems, is the hit single "He's a Liar." It just doesn't make it -- odd vocals on a theme which goes nowhere. Nicking the Top 30 in October of 1981, well after "Love You Inside Out," their final (and questionable) number one hit, the tune disrupts their staggering array of wonderful singles. To stay off the charts for two and a half years might have been fallout from the Sgt Pepper film debacle; though the successful Spirits Having Flown came after that non-epic, it all added up to massive overexposure. The victim of too much airplay (or too much heaven) was this very decent and highly listenable album. "I Still Love You" has Robin Gibb in classic Bee Gees form with lush arrangements and production. There is even additional information included on the inner sleeve regarding the consoles used in recording and the wardrobe person, as well as photos of co-producers Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson. The album exhibits the opulence enjoyed by the brothers on the front, back cover, and inside gatefold -- regal photos which are enhanced by the fact that the boys had the chops to back it up. "Wildflower," not the 1973 hit by Skylark but a brilliant original with folky overtones, really should have been the single. How it didn't hit for the Bee Gees or the popular acts they were working with -- Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton in 1982 and Dionne Warwick in 1983 -- is evidence of the richness of their songbook. Barry Gibbs' lead on "Nothing Could Be Good" is so perfectly adult contemporary, a song written by Galuten and the three brothers, it is just stunning that they did nothing with it and that this beautiful work is so forgotten. A song from the Staying Alive film soundtrack went Top 25 in 1983, and in 1989 they broke the Top Ten with "One," but there is no reason for such time in between hits. "Cryin' Every Day" has it, another brilliant hook accompanied by dramatic production; the title track has it; and Barry Gibbs' ethereal and dreamy conclusion to this disc, "Be Who You Are," has it. A strong work by a classic group which is worth hearing again. Truly the weakest track is the hit single "He's a Liar," which must have contributed to this album getting lost in the shuffle. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Living Eyes (Lyrics) Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb Bee Gees (4:20)
He's a Liar (Lyrics) Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb Bee Gees (4:05)
Paradise (Lyrics) Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb Bee Gees (4:21)
Don't Fall in Love With Me (Lyrics) Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb Bee Gees (4:57)
Soldiers (Lyrics) Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb Bee Gees (4:28)
I Still Love You (Lyrics) Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb Bee Gees (4:27)
Wildflower (Lyrics) Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb Bee Gees (4:26)
Nothing Could Be Good (Lyrics) Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten, Maurice Gibb Bee Gees (4:13)
Crying' Every Day Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb Bee Gees (4:05)
Be Who You Are (Lyrics) Barry Gibb Bee Gees (6:42)

Credits

Bee Gees (Producer), Bee Gees (Main Performer), Don Felder (Guitar), Don Felder (Piano), Robin Gibb (Vocals), Ralph MacDonald (Percussion), Barry Gibb (Guitar (Acoustic)), Barry Gibb (Guitar), Barry Gibb (Vocals), Barry Gibb (Horn Arrangements), Barry Gibb (String Arrangements), Peter Graves (Horn), Peter Graves (?), Albhy Galuten (Synthesizer), Albhy Galuten (Bass), Albhy Galuten (Producer), Albhy Galuten (Horn Arrangements), Albhy Galuten (String Arrangements), George Bitzer (Synthesizer), George Bitzer (Piano), George Bitzer (Producer), George Bitzer (Fender Rhodes), Bonaroo Horns (Horn), Dan Bonsanti (Horn), Neal Bonsanti (Horn), Don Brewer (Assistant Engineer), Don Brewer (Assistant), Don Brooks (Harmonica), Lincoln Clapp (Assistant Engineer), Lincoln Clapp (Assistant), Hog Cowart (Bass), Kenneth Faulk (Horn), Kenneth Faulk (?), Chuck Kirkpatrick (Guitar), Chuck Kirkpatrick (Sitar), Chuck Kirkpatrick (Slide Guitar), Mike Fuller (Mastering), Mike Fuller (Assistant), Steve Gadd (Drums), Joe Galdo (Drums), Joe Galdo (Drums (Snare)), Don Gehman (Engineer), Maurice Gibb (Guitar (Acoustic)), Maurice Gibb (Vocals), Maurice Gibb (Horn Arrangements), Maurice Gibb (String Arrangements), Bob Glaub (Bass), Dennis Hetzendorfer (Assistant Engineer), Dennis Hetzendorfer (Assistant), Tom Kennedy (Co-Coordinator), Russ Kunkel (Drums), Brett Murphey (Horn), Brett Murphey (?), Gene Orloff (Conductor), Gene Orloff (String Arrangements), Gene Orloff (String Contractor), Jim Pace (Assistant Engineer), Jim Pace (Assistant), Jeff Porcaro (Drums), Jerry Peel (?), Karl Richardson (Producer), Karl Richardson (Engineer), Whit Sidener (Horn), Richard Tee (Piano), Richard Tee (Keyboards), Richard Tee (Fender Rhodes), George Terry (Guitar), David Wolinski "Hawk" (Keyboards), Glenn Ross (Artwork), Glenn Ross (Design), Harold Cowart (Bass), Nicky Kalliongis (Assistant Engineer), Nicky Kalliongis (Assistant), C.P. Sidney (Synthesizer), Al Stegmeyer (Assistant Engineer), Al Stegmeyer (Assistant), Maurice Bigg (Horn Arrangements), Alec Clarke (Assistant), Alex Clark (Assistant Engineer), Sam Taylor (Assistant Engineer), Dick Ashby (Co-Coordinator), Neal Kent (Co-Coordinator), Sarah Lemire (Wardrobe), Greg Lonnman (?), Solly Noid (Drums), Dale Peterson (Assistant Engineer), Dale Peterson (Assistant), Bob Sherman (Photography), Minsei Tominaga (Photography), Ken Wadenpfuhl (?)
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Wikipedia: Living Eyes (Bee Gees album)
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Living Eyes
Studio album by the Bee Gees
Released October 1981
Recorded 1981
at Middle Ear studio
in Miami Beach
Genre Pop
Length 46:04
Label RSO,
Polydor Japan
Producer The Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson
Professional reviews
the Bee Gees chronology
Spirits Having Flown
(1979)
Living Eyes
(1981)
Staying Alive soundtrack
(1983)

Living Eyes is the Bee Gees' fourteenth original album, released in 1981. The Bee Gees began to break away from the disco sound that was prominent on their work in the mid-late 1970s with this album. However the album was not a commercial success, perhaps due to them being so strongly associated with disco. It sold 750,000 copies worldwide (compared to 16 million copies of their previous studio album "Spirits Having Flown" in 1979), and while it did not sell well in either the UK (#73) or the US (#41), it reached #6 in Norway and #4 in Spain.

The album also features minimal falsetto vocals (which had become a Bee Gees trademark by that time), with one notable exception being the song "Soldiers". Living Eyes was chosen to be the first ever album to be manufactured on CD for demonstration purposes, as seen on the BBC TV program Tomorrow's World in 1981, and was featured on the inaugural issue of the Compact Disc trade magazine. It was the first Bee Gees album to be released on CD, in early 1983 when compact discs were first commercially available, though few were manufactured. After RSO Records was absorbed by Polygram Records, Living Eyes was the only Bee Gees album in their catalog not to be released on CD in the late 1980s, and ultimately became quite rare. To date, there is no word on whether Rhino Records or Reprise Records (who have reissued much of the Bee Gees back catalogue in recent years) will re-release it on CD. The album is, however, available as a download from iTunes and other online services.

The first ever CD

Track listing

All songs written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb, except as indicated.

  1. "Living Eyes" – 4:20
  2. "He's a Liar" – 4:05
  3. "Paradise" – 4:21
  4. "Don't Fall in Love with Me" – 4:57
  5. "Soldiers" – 4:28
  6. "I Still Love You" – 4:27
  7. "Wildflower" – 4:26
  8. "Nothing Could Be Good" (Albhy Galuten, B. Gibb, R. Gibb, M. Gibb) – 4:13
  9. "Cryin' Everyday" – 4:05
  10. "Be Who You Are" (B. Gibb) – 6:42

Outtakes

  1. "Heart (Stop Beating in Time)" - later recorded by Leo Sayer
  2. "Heat of the Night"
  3. "Loving You Is Killing Me"
  4. "Hold Her in Your Hand" - later recorded by Maurice Gibb in 1984 for the soundtrack to A Breed Apart

Personnel


 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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