Love Songs (Bee Gees Album)

Love Songs (Bee Gees Album)

Love Songs was the third Bee Gees compilation album in four years, though the first to cover a specific musical style. A proposed album of love songs was in the works around 1995 when the Bee Gees recorded old hits like "Heartbreaker" and "Emotion" from the late '90s, but that project was soon shelved and those recordings remained unavailable until 2001.

Following the success of the Number Ones compilation in 2004, Universal once again tried to mine the Bee Gees catalog, this time focusing on their ballads. Spanning their entire career, Love Songs features many of the group's big hits, but also includes some lesser known tracks such as "Secret Love" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls", which were both big hits in Europe. Also, included is a live version of "Islands In The Stream".

The U.S. and the UK versions differed slightly in song selection and running time. Included in the UK version were 1993's "Heart Like Mine" and a song Barry and Maurice wrote together with Ronan Keating in 1999 called "Lovers And Friends", backing Keating both vocally and instrumentally while also producing the recording. Another anomaly was the inclusion of the Robin Gibb solo hit "Juliet" from 1983, which was a big hit in many countries, except in the UK and the U.S.

By the time Love Songs was released, there had been several Bee Gees compilations on the market as well as their entire back catalog, so this release seemed somewhat redundant. In the U.S. it did chart but only managed to reach #166. In the UK it climbed to #51, but its best showing was in France where it went Top 20, peaking at #18.