17th May, 2024
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Home >> Reviews >> Vinyl Reviews >> Staying Alive - The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Various Artists
Staying Alive - The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Various Artists

This sequel to the immensely popular 2 x LP  ‘Saturday Night Fever’, many say this film lacks the box-office clout of the original and the soundtrack album was likewise a disappointing seller, but it actually contains some of the better Bee Gees work of the '80s, notably the sad ballad Someone Belonging to Someone. While SNF not only made John Travolta a star, it also escorted the music to new levels, discotheques, nightclubs and into the glare of the mainstream music.

You have to remember when you were in your teen years like me, way back then. I loved and grew up on this music of SNF and not so much to ‘Staying Alive’, but the music of the Bee Gees is forever.

The music is great to dance with and has a great beat, some of the songs are some I never heard from the Bee Gees. This music is right from the movie. This is a great movie and a fantastic soundtrack. There is a really good mix of slow and fast songs. There are several Bee Gees songs that really make you groove, but apart from the Gibb Brothers, one of my favorites is the slow  Finding Out the Hard Way sung by Cynthia Rhodes (wife of Richard Marx). She has a beautiful voice as does Frank Stallone (yes, Sylvester's brother) who sings a really great song called Moody Girl. For your information the film is written, produced and directed by Sylvester Stallone.

The Bee Gees are awesome. This soundtrack album has the talented Gibb touch in the first 6 cuts on this album, all written and recorded by the Bee Gees. Unfortunately, the rest of the album doesn't come near the genius quality of the talented brothers.  Side A has the whole time span of the Bee Gees with lovely pieces like Woman in You and Someone belonging to someone, and an edited 1.30 min version of Staying Alive, so you are left with just 3 original Gibbs songs, I Love you too much, a nice mid tempo song with strong chorus, Breakout a faster tempo song, fairly average, but nice too hear sax on a Bee Gees record and Life goes On best of the three, mid tempo, melodic verses and chorus. This album is worth to add to your collection, if you want to complete your collection of work by the Bee Gees.

This is actually not a bad soundtrack if judged on its own merits and without being compared to ‘Saturday Night Fever’, whose success was never going to be topped. It's one of those albums where the songs kind of grow on you after a couple of plays and they do (better to have seen the film first though, as it then gives a bit more familiarity to the music).

The album cover sleeve gives you all the details to the songs and liner notes as well. A good pick to keep in your collection. Whether you like the movie or not, I think that you will like this LP, if for no other reason than the grooving Bee Gees songs. If you love disco, you’ll love to dance and this is the best spin.

Label: RSO

Label in India: Music India (MIL)

Release: 1977

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira


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