Trafalgar - THE BEE GEES***

How Can You Mend A Broken Heart/Israel/The Greatest Man In The World/Its Just The Way/ Remembering/ Somebody Stop The Music/Trafalgar/Dont Wanna Live Inside Myself/When Do I/Dearest/Lion In Winter/Walking Back To Waterloo

The early 1970s were relative wilderness years for the Gibbs Brothers. However Trafalgar did yield the US No. 1 hit single How Can You Mend A Broken Heart to keep them firmly in the public consciousness. (US:34)

"How Can You Mend A Broken Heart is an excellent, beautifully crafted pop song. The trouble with Trafalgar is finding anything else to like beyond this first track.”

“Quite remarkable to note that this is the same group that would produce the likes of the heavily syncopated Jive Talkin' a few years down the road or, for that matter, had authored the masterful Words a few years prior. Back in the wilderness years of the early 70s, these guys could bore a diamond to pieces.”

“Trafalgar embodies an awkward period in the Bee Gees career; between the bright and concise late 60s stuff and before they discovered the joys of rhythm. In the interim, they had a soporific line in creaky, by-the-numbers balladry that pretty much guaranteed their declining interest.”

“This possibly could be referred to as Odessa lite. It goes through some of the same motions but lacks the muscle and it definitely is not as good. Take three or four of the best songs, and a few moments from some others, and you have excellent examples of the Bee Gees at their best.”

“The sound of Trafalgar really is astounding. The acoustic guitars, colourful bass, piano chords that alone direct your feelings, lead guitar that always come where it should, drums that you really listen to. It's all so clear and is a very well-crafted record. There's a space in the sound that I have never heard anywhere else.”

“Like all the other Bee Gees albums I've ever heard, this one is uneven. I really like about half the songs; the rest are either interesting failures or just not very memorable. Also, the unrelentingly lugubrious tone of the album ensures that I would never want to listen to more than about half of it at one sitting. The best tracks are How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, which ranks among their classic singles, and Remembering, a good old over-the-top ballad complete with huge vocal harmonies on the chorus.”