Higher Than A Mountain is a fun listen across the board. This is music to soundtrack junior high dances to, no matter what century. On nearly all the covers here, the disco is drained out and replaced with jangling, crunchy, lush power pop sounds. According to the label, Higher Than A Mountain means “to re-introduce some of Andy Gibb’s terrific music to a new generation of listeners.” Its secret dual purpose: show us how freakin’ great these Barry Gibb (and his brothers) songs sound when done in classic power pop style. The basic Bee Gees track can withstand, support, and exult literally any musical approach and come out looking good (check out our Best Bee Gees Covers Ever list for further proof). And as the gods blessed Andy with the standard-issue big breathy beautiful Gibb voice, he delivered them very convincingly (ask any late ’70s tween girl, because yeah).įact: Songs written by the Gibb brothers in any combination have very, very strong bones. The result: perfectly constructed pieces of melodic, sticky, discofied pop, with endless love on their collective minds. Y’see, Andy’s brothers, the Bee Gees, arguably the most popular pop stars on the planet at that point, had a hand in composing a great many of them (Barry in particular). It was a truly impressive run, yet also unsurprising. Top 20, the first three of which went to #1. Their curated covers are the sonic equivalent of Karen Carpenter belting out “Top Of The World” whilst simultaneously giving the finger to all the haters.įrom 1976 through 1980, Andy landed 8 songs in the U.S. In light of what music critics have told us we should collectively feel about this stuff over the years, Curry Cuts’ approach feels almost rebellious. Nope, just a label crushing hard on some seemingly uncool songs with no shame or embarrassment. No sign of the words “guilty pleasures” on any sleeves here. These comps are all refreshingly reverential, safe havens where artists don’t approach the songs mockingly or ironically, but offer them up with genuine, unabashed love. They’ve covered everything from James Bond themes to Paul Williams compositions to ’70s/early ’80s AM radio soft rock. Portland’s Curry Cuts label specialize in indie-pop tribute compilations. The answer is, surprisingly, mostly, yes. So the question is unavoidable: are there enough great Gibb tracks to justify a cover compilation? I remember being actively disappointed by this fact after I’d spent several weeks of hard-earned allowance to buy his debut LP. Not only did Andy release just three studio albums in his lifetime, he was unquestionably a singles artist, meaning those tracks were always the outright best songs on his full-lengths. Upon hearing about Higher Than A Mountain: The Songs Of Andy Gibb, even I, who worshipped the late Andy Gibb as a child–straight-up poster-on-the-wall, scrapbook-keeping loved him–even I questioned the need for an entire tribute album.
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