Trafalgar (1971)
- Chris Anderson's Review
After Maurice's song 'Lay It On Me' on the previous album, '2 Years On' being less than satisfactory, it's his two songs that are amongst the stand outs on this album. 'Trafalgar' and 'It's Just The Way', both sad songs with a lot of feeling in them. 'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart' was the major single from the album, giving them a number 1 single in the US, and has Robin sing the opening lines of the song, then Barry on the rest. It took a while for this song to grow on me, but when it did, what an impact it made!
'The Greatest Man In The World' has a catchy melody in places, but somehow doesn't quite go where you perhaps expect to. But nonetheless, it's still a good song. 'Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself' has a raw Barry lead, but is once again one of those songs like on '2 Years On' that doesn't stand out like other songs in the past.
'Somebody Stop The Music' is one of my favourites on the album, and probably one of the best. The album ends with 'Walking Back To Waterloo', a slow, building song with a chilly edge to the music that was very rarely there around this time, another stand out on the album.
Unfortunately, like with '2 Years on', there are songs that i can never remember the melodies to no matter how much i hear them, and i'm probably not the only one. Once again, the listener will be left feeling as though something is missing.
I can never help but think with this record and '2 Years On' that the best half a dozen from both albums should have made one album, and probably would have been better for it.
- Barry Kim's Review
When I bought this album, I didnt know really what to expect. But after I listened to it a few times, I started to enjoy this album. It's come to be one of top 7 favorites.
Songs like 'How can you mend a broken heart', 'Israel', 'Trafalgar', 'Dearest', and 'Lion in winter'....good melodies, good lyrics....4 stars. - Trafalgar - By Marty Hogan
Although "Odessa" has been stated to be a concept album, "Trafalgar" seems to be more consistent in it's theme and musical harmony. Taking the motif from the battle of Trafalgar, this album excels in diversity and vocal variety.
"How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" was #1 in the United States for four weeks but "Israel" was only released in Europe as a single. No matter.
"Israel" demonstrates Barry's flair for screaming rhythm and blues with a marvelously typical passion.
"Remembering" and "Dearest" are two ballads that Robin and Barry suck sorrow from their gut that surpasses anything they have sung before this album.
Maurice also excels with a strong, consistent heavy bass and a piano pounding energy in songs such as "Somebody Stop The Music", "Israel" and "Walking Back To Waterloo". He was quoted as saying that Barry loved all his multi-layered work on the song "Trafalgar" and told him not to change a thing. He stated he felt surprised and happy to gain brother Barry's unconditional approval.
"When Do I" shocks the listener with Robin's vocal range, stretching his pronounced vocals to the limit. Robin also screams out the blues on "Lion In Winter", fading into a rising orchestral arrangement.
Maurice gets his way with "It's Just The Way" with some nice overlayed guitar work.
Want to rock? "Somebody Stop The Music" pulls out all the stops and proves the Gibbs can still belt them out.
On a more somber note, I wonder why "Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" was released as a US single. It is far too long for AM radio and somewhat sullen. However, it did get to #52 on the AM charts, so it couldn't have been that unpopular.
What better a song to finish this masterpiece than "Walking Back To Waterloo", a grand finale.
What make this album so consistent? All songs have a orchestral lushness that carries from song to song, giving it a rich and appealing feel. Once Maurice was joking that there were too many strings on this album, but in person he said he felt it was a "wonderful" disc. Now this is a concept album and it is no small wonder that Polydor chose to release it on Ultradisc Gold.
Marty Hogan
- Back to the Battlefield - By Henar
Trafalgar! Either you love it or you hate it. Definitely I love it. Some people may think there are too many ballads, but if the ballads are good -and these ones are, who cares! For me it's their best album from the early 70s before moving to the States.
Trafalgar was the second album the Bee Gees released in 1971. I really miss those days in which making music was a more simple process and the Bee Gees made one or two records every year; now we have to wait several years between records, a long wait though always worth-while.
Well, I'm digressing. The album contains the first number one hit of the Bee Gees in the United States, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, which also meant their first nomination for a Grammy award. In fact the song was written the same day they wrote Lonely Days, which appeared on their previous album, 2 Years On. Both songs were written when the Gibb brothers got together again after the band break-up, and I guess the lyrics relate to that process of being separated and then united again. Their significance and the fact that both did very well in the charts has made these two songs a must in all Bee Gees concerts.
In most albums all songs are signed by the three brothers regardless of who actually wrote each one, but this is not the case in Trafalgar, as it wasn't in Two Years On and wouldn't be in all their next albums till Saturday Night Fever in 1977. In Trafalgar five songs are signed by Barry and Robin (How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, Remembering, When Do I, Dearest, and Lion In Winter), one by Barry and Maurice (Somebody Stop the Music), two by Maurice (It's Just The Way, and Trafalgar), three by Barry (Israel, The Greatest Man In The World, and Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself), and only one by the three of them (Walking Back To Waterloo).
Of the songs written by Barry and Robin my favorite ones are two with Robin on the lead: Dearest and When do I, both very slow ballads; they sound tragic but I love them. The former is about the feelings of a man whose love has died and the latter about someone who is feeling miserable after a break-up.
Of Barry's songs, the one I like most is Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself, which was released as the second single in some countries. It's also a ballad, full of melancholy.
Maurice does a good job on the title track, Trafalgar. Though the album sleeve features a scene from the naval battle of Trafalgar, in fact the song has to do with the square in London that was named after that battle, Trafalgar Square. Maurice sings about a lonely man who goes there to feed the pigeons. It is a really nice song.
The track that closes the album is Walking Back To Waterloo. One could think again that the song is about another historical battle, in this case Waterloo, but it isn't, or at least I think it isn't, since I haven't been able to guess the meaning of this song yet. The last time I listened to it, I interpreted it as a reflection on the situation the Bee Gees and their music were undergoing, as if they felt their music, their ballads, were not appreciated and wanted to show their determination to keep on trying. Anyway, I'm sure next time I listen to it I'll understand something completely different.
