Bee Gees' Odessa - 40th Anniversary rerelease

BEE GEES’ ODESSA – 

40TH ANNIVERSARY REISSUE

This piece was originally published January 13th, 2009.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the Bee Gees' lavish Baroque double lp pop masterpiece, Odessa. To anyone unfamiliar with the '60s work from the Bee Gees, think not the '70s disco or '80s & '90s soppy gloss. 

Throughout the decade, their most prolific period, the Brothers Gibb crafted some of the most creatively insightful, ambitious and majestic music to rival anyone of the time. Not to mention, having hit single after hit single. 









Odessa, their sixth album, would be the apex of their work together - a double album covered in red flock velvet for the first pressing, heavily orchestrated, and loosely based on the concept of a ship lost at sea. 

Originally titled An American Opera. the title was changed to  Masterpeace then settling on Odessa. 

The plan was to be a concept album and theatrical rock opera (coming out 2 months before The Who's Tommy). After Odessa, the Gibbs fortunes took a downward spin, and they would never again be as creative as this or their earlier work. They would bounce back with a run of some hits that mirrored their earlier work again, but they would also splinter off into solo projects and eventually find their gigantic resurrection as disco icons and mainstream middle of the road performers.

Reprise /Rhino Records puts their usual magical touch to this release by not only replicating the red flocked cover, but by including 3 cds worth of music and extra materials to create a superb deluxe version box set of this previously little know gem. Outstanding in every way possible.