Polydor / Pgd
1975
Main Course
About This Album
It may sound silly to call the 12th album by a group with an eight-year string of gold records behind them a "breakthrough," but that's what Main Course was. The group's first disco album -- and, for many white listeners, the first disco album they ever purchased -- Main Course marked a huge change in the Bee Gees' sound. The group's earlier LPs, steeped in a dense romantic balladry, were beautifully crafted but too serious for any but hardcore fans. Main Course had a few ballads, such as "Songbird" and "Country Lanes," but the writing was simpler, and the rest of it was made up of catchy dance tunes (heavily influenced by the Philadelphia-based soul music of the period), in which the beat and the texture of the voices and instruments took precedence over the words. The combination proved irresistible, and Main Course -- driven by the singles "Jive Talkin'," "Nights on Broadway," and "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)" -- attracted millions of new listeners. It also repelled fans of the group's earlier style, which was a bit ironic. The disco numbers on Main Course displayed the same care and craftsmanship that had characterized, say, "First of May" or "Odessa.
Track List (try tracks 3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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