silktempest's Full Review: Children of the World by Bee Gees
It's surprising to notice that, by 2009, the dominating sonority of 1976's BEE GEES' Children of the World record has become the soundtrack to steamy sex. 30 years ago, the epochal analysts believed it to be one of their ‘lightest' albums.
Disco and Sex walked together for so many times we (listeners) erased the memories of the genres' humble beginnings, as underground Soul/Funk with enhanced synthesizers. BEE GEES needed an alternative to their trademark orchestrated Pop with haunting lyrics and nostalgic romanticism. "The Philadelphia sound" - the roots of Disco - was not just a means to the sex end, it was much more a matter of career survival, left in amorous Pop dead end.
The BEE GEES were good Pop craftsman, but they would be even better digital Soul/Funk translators, with Barry Gibb's falsetto lighting the way for uncountable androgynous crooners in the sex decades to follow, from SEBASTIAN thru GEORGE MICHAEL to MIKA and LADY GAGA.
Children of the World was a lighter album in what comes to arrangements, less suffocated by faux orchestras or layers upon layers of simmering strings. A sparse and varied tapestry of Soul/Funk clichés found their way on a BEE GEES record - congas, Saxes, horns, discrete brass section, and many synthesizers apart from the beloved Moog organ. One has to respect a band that takes so many risks, no longer counting on the support of their inspiration Arif Mardin, that man who brought Disco to masses and the responsible for BEE GEES previous attempts on the matter - 1974's Mr. Natural and 1975's Main Course.
But the risks would prove more interesting than the outcomes, if they weren't so talented a band. BEE GEES crafted a career-defining moment during the recordings of Children of the World - that applies to You Should Be Dancing. Many good album tracks, some of them ballads, some of them sanitized Funk, also followed. The album (just 38 minutes, that's entertainment) flows seamlessly from track to track, leaving a thoroughly enjoyable experience in between - light in its unpretentiousness next to the pompous Pop of the past, but daring in its technological, and aesthetical, leap forward to danceable music with intricate arrangements.
One of the moves that paid off tremendously for this band was the freeing of arrangements - and of the band's voices - from the shackles of a 3-minute Pop song. You Should Be Dancing is a trailblazing call to the dancefloor, with vocals sprinkled maddeningly over the frantic arrangement of pumping percussion, lilting drums, limpid bass, laserbeam synths, caressing congas, tight brass section (lifted straightforwardly to STYLE COUNCIL's Money Go Round Part 1) etc. It still sounds fresh 30 years in advance. The melting of Barry and Robin voices, followed by the portentous Maurice bass laps, still send shenanigans around your hips. Lyrics are just pure excitement. It was a taste of many things to come - CHIC, MICHAEL JACKSON, the whole NRG genre etc. When your trendsetter song is the best song in a great record, you may call it a classic. It was included in Saturday Night Fever's soundtrack, even though it was released more than a year before the soundtrack. And it is my favorite BEE GEES song, putting aside Lamplight.
The purring instruments of You Stepped Into My Life belie a warmer approach, following the no-holds-barred assault. It is a romantic number whereas You Should...was pure lustful anticipation. Barry sings his plain romanticism with engagement. The wondrous bass-meets-synths sparkling combination would become a Disco trademark. The track remains halfway between a fascinating Disco Jam and a straightforward ballad, the kind of middle-of-the-road Pop combination that the BEE GEES exceeded at.
The grandiose melodic undertones of the next track unveil a more traditional BEE GEES ballad, Love So Right. After 13 years of hits and solid records, this band was pretty much a cut of two above its peers in what comes to balladry. After lust and tenderness, the spread of lovemaking...You'll love to ball, with flawless backing vocals and a charming bridge automatically reverberating in your mind's ear. Barry once again shines, this time more controlling that effusive. The chorus also benefits from the discrete technological enhancement of production values, with tings of synths providing a bed of roses for the tapestry of brothers' mellow voices. It remained in their live settings in the forthcoming decades.
Maurice's odd voicing (in choruses) marks the fourth number, Lovers, a grittier Soul/Funk staple. The brothers exaggerate their veneration, on the verge of them becoming a background for music they love. Wah Wah courtesy of drummer Dennis Bryon and Carnival synths mark the minor number (with roughly equal footing for each brother, which means a more prominent role for Robin's strangled falsetto). It seems a sketch of a Funk turned Pop fodder. The BEE GEES voices are astounding, but here they float randomly to disjointed rhythmic cells. The overall is funny, but far from solid.
Can't Keep A Good Man Down is a rounder Disco number, with conventional horns and subdued guitar riffs (Maurice) leading the way to Barry's more conventional tone, not less enthusiastic than before, but far from mesmerizing - that belongs to Maurice's exquisite backings. Robin adopts a rougher (!) tone for this one. But the ambiguity remains, as there is a noticeable GEORGE MICHAEL-ish section of whispered vocals in the end of each bridge...The song doesn't lack a defined structure, as Lovers did, but the chorus remains floating over a cloudy abyss of languid synths. Still, this was the birth of Disco, not its nadir, so people loved it anyway. Stay with the brass section and enjoy the rambunctious process.
Boogie Child - with its flaming horns and steady rhythm - was a dry run for many balls the next decade. A classy take on Philly Sound, almost a parody of THE ROLLING STONES playing HUMBLE PIE, infused with the brothers' vocal prowess and some compelling vicious, viscous guitar lines. Finally they hit the stride with a humorous, yet appealing chorus, as well as with convincing Robin lounge lizard vocals. The lyrics, as usual here, are war calls for boogie nights. Sexy sexy. Then the arrangement turns on itself, with a gorgeous rapture of golden synths predating Saturday Night Fever. A solid album track, perfectly on par with the album's overarching theme.
After 6 joint compositions in a row, Maurice takes the back seat to Robin and Barry's Love Me - filler by any other name? Not exactly. A delicate piano finds a decent Wah Wah guitar before Robin arrives in fine dramatic fashion, as if he was in his solo recording from early 1970s. Not a stone cold masterpiece, just a solid 1970s ballad, with nice craftsmanship. There's some novelty here - the contrast between the soaring Robin and Barry's haunting falsetto after the first chorus. This first chorus, on the other hand, lifts the song a little bit...Harder. The conservative arrangement bars the track from reaching greater status - there's even a faux orchestral section (a few seconds, just to remind you what these guys used to do). Anyway, the track remains a minor pleasure, after lust, adrenaline, romanticism and love consumed.
Subway (counting on an extra bassist, George Perry, as well as prominent saxes) could have been a B-Side to SISTER SLEDGE some years in advance. But the pheromones here belong to those brotherly jugulars, especially Barry's. The rather random merging of voices, over a defined sonic pattern, is a remarkable achievement for the group (everybody shares songwriting duties again). Cavalcading synths provide the unusual backdrop for "meeting someone in the subway" way of lovemaking. The surreal combination of glowing synths, male falsetto, double bass and sax builds a larger-than-life mood that uncountable artists would appropriate latterly.
The Way It Was - finally, a nostalgic piece BEE GEES are so keen on? Again, Maurice doesn't take his part on songwriting duties (replaced by keyboardist Blue Weaver, the man responsible for many Saturday Night Fever sonic wizardries). This piano ballad (Maurice plays, note-perfect) shall sound eerily familiar to contemporary ears - of course JAMES BLUNT learned more than a few tricks here, the similarity borders on (future) plagiarism. Barry shows what a great voice he possesses (with his Mannish accent) and what a good melody can do in the hands of overall great arrangers and performers. With another help from his friend Perry on bass, BEE GEES reach truly grandiloquent heights, more reminiscent of their British past than their (then) American Disco future. Who cares? Beautiful number, with tasteful sax licks providing the cherry on cake.
A group has to be proud of its work when they leave the title track for last and listeners won't even care, due to the great musical journey preceding it. And with additional good reasons, Children of the World the track is left for last. It is the overtly serious bookend (echoing the preposterous sleeve) to a relaxing, for most of time unpretentious record. It is a pretty piece of vocal collaboration between the swinging brothers, but it is...Kind of preachy. Idealistic, some may say. Indeed, children of the world, from the Isle of Man through Australia to UK and then, Miami. The track sounds fluffy, with grandiloquent synths burying the soulful bass. The best, undeniably, remain the a capella snippets - you can notice the air curbed by those marvelous silver voices. The title track, in sum, is a souvenir. From children of the world, after a whole new world was displayed on vinyl. Enjoy the ride. See ya there.
* * * * * You Should Be Dancing * * * * You Stepped In My Life * * * * 1/2 Love So Right * * * Lovers * * * 1/2 Can't Keep A Good Man Down * * * * Boogie Child * * * 1/2 Love Me * * * * Subway * * * * The Way It Was * * * 1/2 Children of the World
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