Odessa

Rolling Stone (p.71) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Stripped of window dressing, baubles like 'Melody Fair' prove the Gibbs' effusive melodies and aching harmonies are ends in themselves." Spin (p.82) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "This 1969 double LP took the Gibb brothers' lushly orchestrated, Beatles-influenced pop finery to inspired heights." Entertainment Weekly (p.67) - "[A] gorgeous sprawl, which offers a little bit of everything: lilting melancholy, acoustic roots rock, and lots of syrupy strings..." -- Grade: A- Q (2/96, p.104) - 3 Stars - Good - "...an ambitious double...that spanned the daily grind and the symphonic alike..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.124) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "ODESSA is strangely compelling. File it alongside The Zombies' ODYSSEY AND ORACLE as a baroque, filmic curio from a land that time -- and the Gibb brothers themselves -- soon forgot." Mojo (Publisher) (2/00, p.107) - "...beautifully sung, delicately orchestrated and filled with highly individual songs about lost love, electric light and sinking ships....ODESSA remains one of The Bee Gees' finest albums..." Blender (Magazine) (p.67) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "'Melody Fair' balances folk restraint with sweeping three-part harmonies and Nick Drake-style melancholy; 'Give Your Best' unexpectedly tosses in country fiddle." Pitchfork (Website) - "['First'] boasted a melancholy music box arrangement and one of Barry Gibb's more sonorous croons. It is extremely pretty." Record Collector (magazine) (p.90) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's the unmistakable blend of the Gibbs' voices and the group's unerring sense of melody that gives the work its signature."