2 CD+DVD set. The DVD, available exclusively in this Deluxe Edition, offers a treasury of unreleased videos, spanning the Bee Gees' entirecareer with previously unreleased television appearances, live performances, and pro... more »mo videos. The Deluxe Edition comes packaged in an 8-panel softpak with a 20 page booklet and an O-Card. The Ultimate Bee Gees is a double-disc career retrospective featuring the group's many hits and chart-topping singles, performances of a selection of hit songs they wrote for others, and liner notes by Tim Rice. Tim Rice's liner notes accompanying The Ultimate Bee Gees puts the group's extravagant popularity into perspective. 'Within this package is a collection of performances and songs that very few practitioners of popular music of the past could match for quality, originality, and emotion. It's the singing, the harmonies, the arrangements, the sound, the rivalry, the love, the intelligence, the determination, but above all it's the songs.'« less
2 CD+DVD set. The DVD, available exclusively in this Deluxe Edition, offers a treasury of unreleased videos, spanning the Bee Gees' entirecareer with previously unreleased television appearances, live performances, and promo videos. The Deluxe Edition comes packaged in an 8-panel softpak with a 20 page booklet and an O-Card. The Ultimate Bee Gees is a double-disc career retrospective featuring the group's many hits and chart-topping singles, performances of a selection of hit songs they wrote for others, and liner notes by Tim Rice. Tim Rice's liner notes accompanying The Ultimate Bee Gees puts the group's extravagant popularity into perspective. 'Within this package is a collection of performances and songs that very few practitioners of popular music of the past could match for quality, originality, and emotion. It's the singing, the harmonies, the arrangements, the sound, the rivalry, the love, the intelligence, the determination, but above all it's the songs.'
Member CD Reviews
LAURIE N. (buriedncds) from GLENS FALLS, NY Reviewed on 4/18/2013...
amazing cd and dvd!!!
1 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.
CD Reviews
The 50th Anniversary!
Martin A Hogan | San Francisco, CA. (Hercules) | 11/04/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For having so many greatest hits packages, the first question is why another? 2009 is the 50th Anniversary of the Bee Gees and the first time they announced that they would, after all, reunite as the Bee Gees. When Maurice Gibb passed away in 2003, it was declared the Bee Gees were over and Barry and Robin went their separate ways. This is a celebration.
The nicest surprise is that fans are now given an official video disc of 18 of the Bee Gees more popular songs. "Spicks & Specks" is the original grainy black and white version, but "New York Mining Disaster 1941" is a rare clip, interspersing montages of children and coal miners which is a more direct reference to the lyrics. "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" represents the year the Bee Gees temporarily lost Robin but is a great song from their TV special "Cucumber Castle" and a nice addition even if a bit fuzzy. "For Whom The Bell Tolls" is one of their under appreciated gems and this video is one of their best (I miss "When He's Gone" as a video). "Still Waters Run Deep" is a rare video in that it is the single version of the song with an electronic harpsichord (not the album version). However, the most professional video has to be "Alone" with its images over the years spliced into the song.
The sound is far superior to all previous releases (other than the videos), including Tales from the Brothers Gibb and The Bee Gees - Their Greatest Hits: The Record. Everything has been remastered to sound better than all previously releases. It appears that `most' of the songs chosen were all in the Top Twenty either in the USA or the UK. This makes for a nice Anniversary Edition, even if you already own most of these songs. The box is (as most are nowadays) a cardboard foldout with a slipcase. But the insert has a nice write-up from Sir Tim Rice with some photos of the group as they progressed over the last fifty years. Its not extensive, but gives enough information to sum up the Bee Gees career (so far).
Below is a chart listing from The Bee Gees: Tales of the Brothers Gibb. All USA with the UK when noteworthy.
Yes, another GREATEST HITS...big difference tho...2009 REMAS
Larry Davis | NYC/Long Island, NY | 11/05/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, it's a new "greatest hits" package, with many of the songs in previous collections...the big difference is: 2009 REMASTERS!!!!! These remasters, post "Odessa" are the first time they're released...previous packages by Rhino like "Greatest Hits: The Record" and "Gold", plus "Love Songs" and "Vol 1" & "Vol 2" are not just OLD masters, but straight reissues from Universal...NOT 2009 REMASTERS!!!! Did you like the remasters on the album reissues so far??? "Odessa" was killer, right?? Take that quality of remaster and add it to their whole catalogue...it's a taste of what's to come!! I popped on CD1..."You Should Be Dancing"...the difference is instantaneous...the remasters in your face...I heard instruments that were BURIED...percussion parts, bits of piano, guitar riffs, a warmer sound...I did NOT expect this at ALL...my eyes popped out of my skull...and there was no advance word of this type of KILLER remastering...it wasn't hyped like the new Beatles remasters, but these remasters are on par with the Beatles...one of the most shocking (in the best way possible) remaster jobs I've ever heard...now I REALLY need the rest of the remastered catalogue ASAP...I have "The Albums 1967 to 1968" and "Odessa", now this...WOW!!! Oh yeah, the DVD is fun to watch, the packaging is not cheesy AT ALL...the discs are well-protected and secure...the notes are well-written, and the pics are nice...my two complaints are on the edits of "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "Secret Love", cuz they are a bit short, but they could be UK 7" single versions...yet the edit on FWTBT was much more jarring on "The Greatest Hits: The Record"...also, while the first disc is nicely filled up...78 minutes & change...the second disc tops out at 68 minutes and end with a short 3-song live medley of songs that others covered...instead, they could have put the studio versions ("Islands In The Stream", "Heartbreaker" & "Guilty") and added the missing songs from "The Record"..."Immortality" (Demo), "Love Me", Robin's solo "Saved By The Bell", maybe the title track to "Odessa", as that was a cancelled single and "First Of May", whilst a great song, doesn't represent the masterpiece "Odessa" opus too well...maybe "Paying The Price Of Love"...they could have filled up 15 minutes of space easily...small quibbles...GREAT package...and again, those 2009 remasters KILL ME...if the new 2009 remaster of "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" doesn't give you chills like never before, something's VERY wrong with your ears...sorry.
I also wish the DVD was a FULL video collection, but this is just a taste...something will come...I wish the clips of "This Is Where I Came In", "When He's Gone" and "Paying The Price Of Love" were included...but I'm happy the rare UK & Europe-wide #1 hit "You Win Again" (#75 US, dispicable) clip is on there...love the 80s arty industrial feel...and Mo's guitar synth!!!! Overall, this package stunned me cuz I didn't expect the remastering to bowl me over like it did, and it's a taste of what's to come...woohoo!!!"
The Bee Gees Biggest & Best Hits
Lou1972 | 11/03/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Compiling a greatest hits compilation for one of the most successful bands of all time can be a little challenging since The Bee Gees have had hits all over the world, many times in some countries and not in others, so choosing the biggest and best hits will ultimately leave a few by the wayside. But "The Ultimate Bee Gees" pretty much covers all of their biggest hits in a neatly packaged two-disc set. In contrast to 2001's The Bee Gees - Their Greatest Hits: The Record which was presented in chronological order, this collection starts off with 1976's "You Should Be Dancing" and continues with their big 70's hits and progresses into the 80's and 90's hits. It's not until disc two where we hear late 60's hits like "I Started A Joke" and "To Love Somebody". It's on disc two where the compilers of this collection (the Gibb brothers?) have chosen to include mono mixes of "Words", "I've Gotta Get A Message To You", "New York Mining Disaster 1941", "Massachusetts" and "World". Though these are the original mono single mixes (also available on The Studio Albums 1967-1968), proper stereo mixes for all these songs were made in 1990 for the Tales from the Brothers Gibb box set and would better suit this collection than the mono versions. Aside from that, the packaging includes liner notes by Sir Tim Rice with detailed track information as well as photos of the group from each decade.
The Bonus DVD is the real treat here. There are 18 video clips included, from original promotional films to live performances to modern videos. One real oddity is the raw alternate studio version of "Lonely Days" used for the promo clip. Highly recommended!"
Technical "Specks" of the DVD
Cesar | San José, Costa Rica | 11/13/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Format: 4 x 3 (full screen)
(Anyway, only "For whom the bell tolls" and "Still waters" are originally widescreen. In this case they are presented NON anamorphic).
Picture quality: from good to acceptable, taking into account the age of some sources.
Sound: LPCM Mono/Stereo
There are no additional audio options. In fact, the audio quality is a mixed bag. Songs like "Spicks and Specks" (from Bandstand -Australian TV-), "Massachusetts" (from Top of the Pops UK) & "Lonely Days" (Promo) keep the original audio of the presentation, which is VERY bad (for today's standards). In the case of the first two, it's easily understandable. Although Spicks and Specks is basically the studio version, it contains dialogue, so it would have been really contrasting to use good sound for the music and keep the bad sound for the dialogues (and it's funny: although this is a tv presentation, it was filmed like a clip). Massachusetts, on the other hand, is sung live, so they basically respected it. But LONELY DAYS? No reason why to keep the original audio. IT IS A PROMO VIDEO !!!.
Other TV presentations (like "How can you mend a broken heart" and "Run to me") keep the original "live" sound, but their quality is better.
THERE ARE NO HIDDEN VIDEOS. Just in case...
I think this dvd should be taken as what it is: a sampler of what the CD collection contains. By no means it was intended as an exhausting dvd collection. It should be obvious, but some people get upset because there are many videos missing. "He's a liar", "Living eyes", "The woman in you", "ESP", "When he's gone", are some examples. But they are not included in the cd collection.
Now, I concede that some obvious videos of songs INCLUDED in the cd's are missing: "This is where I came in" and "I started a joke" (which has many tv presentation circulating out there).
So the people in charge still owe us a satisfactory video anthology, with the proper treatment of audio.
But by now, this is what is available."
5 stars for the dvd + 3 stars for the remastered cds = 4 sta
art 87 | LA, Ca USA | 11/12/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"this is a mixed review. i love the dvd, a generous 18 videos across the Bees 40 year career. the 5 prime ones from Jive Talkin to Too Much Heaven i bought from iTunes for about $10. are all here with better sound & vision. its a treat to watch the young Robin sing the earlier hits & the later hits are also worth watching. too bad they didnt include the vid for Thats Where I Came In so we have it in one place. also, it'd have been nice if they threw in some Andy Gibb vids. (Andy is part of the upcoming Mythology box, but no vids there).
however my disappointment is with the 2 cds here. i love the resequencing of the songs but its the sound quality i find confusing. i did a comparison of all the tracks with the 2001 The Record. overall, the sound is nearly the same with The Record being slightly better. with Fanny, How Can You Mend..., I Gotta Get a Message..., If I Cant Have U, Love so Right, & Stayin Alive, its really noticeable that the 2001 remasters are better.
for one thing, The Record is a HDCD. maybe they should have used HDCD here too. Neil Young, also on Reprise used HDCD on his 2009 remasters.
so i'll keep The Record for the music, but i'm very happy with the dvd."
Track Listings (19) - Disc #1
LAURIE N. (buriedncds) from GLENS FALLS, NY