Charade/Throw A Penny/Down The Road/Voices/Give A Hand Take A Hand/Dogs/Mr Natural/Lost In Your Love/I Can't Let You Go/Heavy Breathing/Had A Lot Of Love Last Night
By this time the Bee Gees had reached their mid 1970s nadir of unpopularity. Nobody could have predicted the amazing renaissance that was just around the corner. Mr Natural is a transitional album mixing ballads with their new R & B influenced sound. (US:178)
“A major departure from the early seventies Bee Gees albums which is in itself a relief. This is the Bee Gees' finest funk and R & B contribution that does not include the famous Barry Gibb falsetto.”
“The introduction to their disco era. They've departed from the minor country pop phase and entered the dance hall with funk lingering about, but no falsetto yet.”
“This represents a last nod to the dominion of the acoustic pop ballad and an excited, though not fully-formed, step towards the blockbusting R & B floor-fillers with which they'd soon remake their reputation. While certainly transitional, this is in many respects one of its odd strengths. Variety and a sense of experiment permeate it, along with an appealing restraint; few laboured ballads or falsetto hysterics here, just an appealing candour. A singularly understated, romantic album that deserves a special place in their pantheon.”
“With their audience having all but disappeared, Mr. Natural found The Bee Gees turning to producer Arif Mardin. The album is instantly recognizable as a Bee Gees product, but it marked a major change in direction for the brothers. If you want to hear the roots of what was to become their late 1970s chart domination, then this is the place to start. Exemplified by tracks such as Charade and Voices there are still plenty of the Gibbs' trademark big ballads, but the brothers seem to have decided that commercial survival required them to toughen up their sound.”
“It's a shame that this album suffered the fate that it did. The Bee Gees second RSO offering was another helping of some very good and well written songs. Once again, we're treated to some beautiful ballads. The brothers also deliver some fusion drenched R & B songs you can actually dance to.”
“It has a little bit of everything - fast, slow, and in between; gospel, soul, country, jazz, and rock. You name it Mr Natural has it. Some of the best vocal work ever recorded is right here.”
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