E.S.P. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by the Bee Gees | ||||
Released | 21 September 1987 [1] | |||
Recorded | January – March 1987 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 48:25 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
| |||
The Bee Gees chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from E.S.P. | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Los Angeles Times | [3] |
Number One | [4] |
Record Mirror | [5] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [6] |
E.S.P. is the seventeenth studio album (fifteenth worldwide) by the Bee Gees released in 1987. It was the band's first studio album in six years, and their first release under their new contract with Warner Bros. It marked the first time in twelve years the band had worked with producer Arif Mardin, and was their first album to be recorded digitally. After the band's popularity had waned following the infamous Disco Demolition Night of 1979, the Gibb brothers had spent much of the early 1980s writing and producing songs for other artists, as well as pursuing solo projects, and E.S.P. was very much a comeback to prominence. The album sold well in Europe, reaching No. 5 in the UK, No. 2 in Norway and Austria, and No. 1 in Germany and Switzerland, though it failed to chart higher than No. 96 in the US. [7] The album's first single, "You Win Again", reached No. 1 in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Norway.
The album cover photographs show the Gibb brothers at Castlerigg stone circle near Keswick in England's Lake District.
With the Bee Gees now back in the Warner-Elektra-Atlantic conglomerate, producer Arif Mardin was once again available to work with them.
The Gibb brothers began writing and recording songs for E.S.P. around September 1986. They worked at Maurice's home studio, informally known as Panther House, rather than at Middle Ear. Maurice set everything up and Scott Glasel was effectively the assistant engineer. Scott's recollection years later is that Barry brought in the songs as demos, featuring just his voice and guitar, and that they recorded the fuller demos based on Barry's songs. Scott also recalls Barry and Robin many times arguing heatedly over trivial things and calling off the project, only to have Maurice call Scott a few days later to let him know they were starting again. [8]
Over the previous few years Barry and Robin had become accustomed to different recording styles. Barry preferred to write the songs and record demos, then go into the studio with session players to record polished versions for release. Robin instead liked to use the recording sessions themselves to work out the songs. Maurice liked a hands-on approach and where he had a voice in production he either appears prominently on the finished tracks or worked out arrangements with a few session players during recording. The compromise recording method adopted for E.S.P. was for the brothers to start all the recordings themselves and then complete them with session players and a producer. If they started with an idea and a rhythm track, they built a song onto it as they recorded, something that would accommodate what all three preferred to do. The result of this process would then be a demo, with vocals by the three brothers and instrumentals by Maurice and Barry. The album made extensive use of the Fairlight CMI as much of the drumming was programmed using the instrument by Barry and Maurice and their engineer Scott Glasel. The Gibb instrumental tracks were done from October into 1987. The second stage appears to have been recording the main vocal tracks, and where this was done is unknown. The demo of "E.S.P." on the box set Tales from the Brothers Gibb is at this second stage. Lastly, session musicians replaced most of the instrumental parts and the brothers dubbed additional vocals. They also edited some of the tracks, inserted new sections, and sped up at least two of them. A song titled "Young Love" was scrapped from the album, and was the only outtake. [8]
All tracks are written by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb
No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "E.S.P." | Barry and Robin | 5:38 |
2. | "You Win Again" | Barry and Robin | 4:02 |
3. | "Live or Die (Hold Me Like a Child)" | Barry | 4:41 |
4. | "Giving Up the Ghost" | Robin and Maurice | 4:26 |
5. | "The Longest Night" | Robin | 5:46 |
6. | "This Is Your Life" | Barry | 4:50 |
7. | "Angela" | Barry | 4:57 |
8. | "Overnight" | Maurice | 4:20 |
9. | "Crazy for Your Love" | Barry | 4:40 |
10. | "Backtafunk" | Barry | 4:22 |
11. | "E.S.P. (Reprise)" | Barry and Robin | 0:34 |
Total length: | 48:16 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "E.S.P" (demo version) | 4:43 |
13. | "Angela" (edit) | 4:18 |
14. | "E.S.P" (edit) | 4:17 |
15. | "You Win Again" (extended version) | 5:14 |
16. | "E.S.P" (extended version) | 6:15 |
Total length: | 73:02 |
Bee Gees
Additional musicians
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Germany (BVMI) [26] | 3× Gold | 750,000^ |
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [27] | Gold | 10,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [28] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [29] | 2× Platinum | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [30] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide | — | 2,000,000 [31] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
This Is Where I Came In is the twenty-second and final studio album by the Bee Gees. It was released on 24 April 2001 by Polydor in the UK and Universal in the US, less than two years before Maurice Gibb died from a cardiac arrest before surgery to repair a twisted intestine.
Michael Bublé is the record label debut studio album by Canadian singer Michael Bublé. It was released on 143 Records and Reprise Records. The album was released on February 11, 2003. The album spawned four singles: "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", "Kissing a Fool", "Sway" and "Spider-Man Theme".
Mr. Natural is the twelfth studio album by the Bee Gees, released in 1974. It was the first Bee Gees release produced by Arif Mardin, who was partially responsible for launching the group's later major success with the follow-up album Main Course. The album's rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and hard rock sounds initiated the group's reinvention as a disco and blue-eyed soul act, which would solidify on subsequent albums. However, Barry Gibb has said that the album was "whiter" than Main Course. The cover photograph was taken at 334 West 4th Street, Greenwich Village, New York City by Frank Moscati, which is today known as The Corner Bistro tavern.
Size Isn't Everything is the twentieth studio album by the Bee Gees, released in the UK on 13 September 1993, and the US on 2 November of the same year. The brothers abandoned the contemporary dance feel of the previous album High Civilization and went for what they would describe as "A return to our sound before Saturday Night Fever".
"Jive Talkin'" is a song by the Bee Gees, released as a single in May 1975 by RSO Records. This was the lead single from the album Main Course and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100; it also reached the top-five on the UK Singles Chart in the middle of 1975. Largely recognised as the group's comeback song, it was their first US top-10 hit since "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" (1971).
Still Waters is the twenty-first and penultimate studio album by the Bee Gees, released on 10 March 1997 in the UK by Polydor Records, and on 6 May the same year in the US by A&M Records. The group made the album with a variety of top producers, including Russ Titelman, David Foster, Hugh Padgham, and Arif Mardin.
Spirits Having Flown is the fifteenth album by the Bee Gees, released in 1979 by RSO Records. It was the group's first album after their collaboration on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The album's first three tracks were released as singles and all reached No. 1 in the US, giving the Bee Gees an unbroken run of six US chart-toppers in a one-year period and equaling a feat shared by Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. It was the first Bee Gees album to make the UK top 40 in ten years, as well as being their first and only UK No. 1 album. Spirits Having Flown also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and the US. The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.
Main Course is the thirteenth studio album by the Bee Gees, released in 1975 by RSO Records. It was the group's last album to be released by Atlantic Records in the US under its distribution deal with Robert Stigwood. This album marked a great change for the Bee Gees as it was their first album to include mostly R&B, soul and funk-influenced songs, and created the model for their output through the rest of the 1970s. It rejuvenated the group's career and public image, particularly in the US, after the commercial disappointment of their preceding albums. Main Course was the first album to feature keyboardist Blue Weaver who had just left the Strawbs and toured with Mott the Hoople. The album cover with the band's new logo designed by US artist Drew Struzan made its first appearance here.
Children of the World is the fourteenth studio album by the Bee Gees, released in 1976 by RSO Records. The first single, "You Should Be Dancing", went to No. 1 in the US and Canada, and was a top ten hit in numerous other territories. The album was re-issued on CD by Reprise Records and Rhino Records in 2006. This was the first record featuring the Gibb-Galuten-Richardson production team which would have many successful collaborations in the following years.
Their Greatest Hits: The Record is the career retrospective greatest hits album by the Bee Gees, released on UTV Records and Polydor in November 2001 as HDCD. The album includes 40 tracks spanning over 35 years of music. Four of the songs were new recordings of classic Gibb compositions originally recorded by other artists, including "Emotion", "Heartbreaker", "Islands in the Stream", and "Immortality". It also features the Barry Gibb duet with Barbra Streisand, "Guilty", which originally appeared on Streisand's 1980 album of the same name. It is currently out of print and has been supplanted by another compilation, The Ultimate Bee Gees.
2 Years On is the eighth studio album by the Bee Gees, which reached No. 32 on the US charts. Released in 1970, the album saw the return of Robin Gibb to the group after an earlier disagreement and subsequent split following Odessa. 2 Years On was the first album with drummer Geoff Bridgford, who remained a full-time member of the group until 1972 although he was not pictured on the sleeve. The best-known track is "Lonely Days". Released as the first single by the reunited brothers, it charted high in the US, but peaked at No. 33 in the United Kingdom.
Living Eyes is the sixteenth studio album by the Bee Gees, released in 1981. It was the band's final album on RSO Records, which would be absorbed into Polydor and subsequently discontinued. The album showcased a soft rock sound that contrasted with their disco and R&B material of the mid-to-late 1970s; having become a prominent target of the popular backlash against disco, the Bee Gees were pressured to publicly disassociate from the genre.
One is the Bee Gees' eighteenth studio album, released in April 1989. At the time of its release, the album had varying degrees of success across the world and saw them touring internationally for the first time since 1979 through One for All World Tour.
High Civilization is the nineteenth studio album by the Bee Gees, released on 25 March 1991 in the U.K., and 14 May 1991 in the U.S. It was their last album recorded for Warner Bros. Records, after a four-year contract. Possibly in reaction to firm resistance from U.S. radio to the previous two albums, E.S.P. (1987) and One (1989), which had done well in other countries, the U.S.-based Warner Bros gave this one less promotion and did not issue remixes. They recorded this album and their next album Size Isn't Everything with engineer Femi Jiya.
Eaten Alive is the sixteenth studio album by American R&B singer Diana Ross, released on September 24, 1985, by RCA Records in the United States, with EMI Records distributing elsewhere. It was Ross' fifth of six albums released by the label during the decade. Primarily written and produced by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, with co-writing from his brothers Andy, Maurice, and Robin, the album also includes a contribution from Ross' friend Michael Jackson who co-wrote and performed (uncredited) on the title track.
Eyes That See in the Dark is the fifteenth studio album by American country singer Kenny Rogers, released by RCA Records in August 1983.
"E.S.P." is a single by the Bee Gees. Released in 1987, it was the follow-up to their successful single "You Win Again". The a cappella intro found on the album version was edited out for radio airplay.
How Old Are You? is the second solo album released by British singer Robin Gibb in 1983, thirteen years after his debut Robin's Reign in 1970. The album was not a great success in America and failed to chart in Britain but it did spawn an international hit in "Juliet" which topped the charts in Germany. The album reached No. 6 in Germany. The album was produced by Robin and Maurice Gibb with Dennis Bryon.
In the Now is the second solo album by British singer-songwriter Barry Gibb, released on 7 October 2016 by Columbia Records. Although his second solo album, it is the first of all new material since the Bee Gees' final studio album This Is Where I Came In (2001). Gibb said of the album: "This is a dream come true for me. It's a new chapter in my life. I always hoped one day that the Bee Gees would be with Columbia or indeed Sony so, it's a great joy for me to start again this way with such great people."
"Crazy for Your Love" is a song by pop music group Bee Gees, which was released in 1988 as the third single from their seventeenth studio album E.S.P. (1987). The song was written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb, and produced by Arif Mardin and the Bee Gees, with co-production by Brian Tench. "Crazy for Your Love" peaked at No. 79 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for two weeks.
L'album "ESP", che, con due milioni di copie vendute il mondo (cifra lontana dai record dei passato, battutu solo da