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After a few years of faltering sales, The Bee Gees regrouped in 1975 for their 11th album and created a sound that simply altered the course of music history. (Though it wasn’t until the 1977 film <i>Saturday Night Fever</i>, which included songs from this 1975 album, that things really changed.) Together with producer Arif Martin, The Bee Gees fused underground dance and disco with some Philly soul and Stevie Wonder–influenced R&B. It all codified on “Nights on Broadway” and the No. 1 hit “Jive Talkin’.” The well-crafted soul-pop disco drew the most attention here, but other songs, such as the soaring “Edge of the Universe,” are secret gems in the Bee Gees catalog. The gentle, country-tinged “Come On Over” is a comely left turn (Olivia Newton-John later made a hit of it), and the beautiful “Baby As You Turn Away” features a stellar early example of Barry Gibb’s falsetto. Older Bee Gees–styled ballads appear too, such as “Country Lanes” and “Songbird.” The hit “Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)” is as much of a singer/songwriter track as it is soul-dance balladry.

via Apple Music

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