The Marbles are well known to serious
Bee Gees fans for covering a number of
Bee Gees compositions, as well as being produced by
Barry Gibb. Those expecting a sort of
Bee Gees Jr., however, will be sorely disappointed by the Marbles' sole, eponymous album, even if five of the 12 tracks were penned by
the Brothers Gibb. It's a far more blustery, orchestral brand of pop/rock than the relatively tender one mastered by
the Bee Gees in the late '60s, even when they're doing some songs
the Bee Gees themselves recorded back then (like "I Can't See Nobody" and "To Love Somebody"). Most blustery of all is
Graham Bonnet's overbearing voice, which sounds a bit like a cross between
Tom Jones and
the Righteous Brothers, painting mental pictures of some tuxedoed guy sweating it out on the northern England cabaret circuit, his bulging neck muscles turning red with the effort. The pop and soul covers -- including "A House Is Not a Home," "Storybook Children," and "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" -- are rendered schmaltzy by both the vocals and arrangements.
The Marbles' few attempts at their own songwriting (numbering only three) are better though not great, convincingly emulating the bittersweet aspects of the early
Bee Gees, though sometimes with even more ornate orchestration than
the Bee Gees employed. It's of most interest to
Bee Gees fans, though, for the inclusion of three
Brothers Gibb compositions
the Bee Gees didn't record at the time on their own records: "Only One Woman" (a number five British hit), "The Walls Fell Down," and "By the Light of a Burning Candle." They're characteristic of
the Bee Gees' late-'60s style, but given such a bombastic treatment that you can't help wishing that
the Bee Gees had done them instead. The 2003 CD reissue on Repertoire adds six bonus tracks, including mono single versions of four tracks from the LP and two 1969 B-sides. ~ Richie Unterberger