Size Isn't Everything - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

On 9 August 1993, the album's first single, "Paying the Price of Love", was released in the UK and peaked at #23. The album peaked at #33 in the UK in late September. It then disappeared from the charts, only to return in December 1993 when the album's second single, "For Whom the Bell Tolls", became a UK top five hit. The album again peaked at #23. In all, the album spent sixteen weeks inside the UK Top 100 and was certified gold by the BPI for sales of over 100,000 copies. A third single, the ballad "How to Fall in Love, Part 1", was released on 4 April 1994 in the UK, peaking at #30. This made Size Isn't Everything the first Bee Gees album to contain three UK top 30 hits since 1979's Spirits Having Flown and many consider this album their strongest post-Saturday Night Fever album to date.

Reaction to the album in the US was less successful, where the album peaked at #153 and spent only three weeks inside the whole Billboard 200. The single "Paying the Price of Love" only reached #74 in the US during the Christmas season, presumably due to the fact that by 1993, The Bee Gees were an adult contemporary group and this single was too heavy for AC stations with its hip-hop influenced percussion. The European hit single, "For Whom The Bell Tolls", bubbled under on Billboard's Hot 100 at #109.

Reception of the album was mixed around the world, though it is notable that it was one of the most successful Bee Gees albums in Argentina, peaking at #1 due to the big success of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" there. Worldwide sales of the album are estimated to be over 700,000 copies.

According to Barry, when asked on American breakfast shows why the album was called Size Isn't Everything, he explained that the Bee Gees have never been hyped and that they have always had to prove themselves musically, so the title came from that idea.

Barry also commented that the song "Blue Island" was the nicest song they had ever written.