Bee Gees "One"

One is the Bee Gees' eighteenth studio album (sixteenth worldwide), released in April 1989 (August 1989 in the United States).

After the European success of their previous album, E.S.P., the Gibb brothers began to work on the One album in early 1988. In March, their brother Andy suddenly died and the Bee Gees took a break until November when they returned to the studio to complete the album, but this time they shifted to Mayfair Studios in London, making One their first album since Mr. Natural to be recorded partly or fully in the British capital, though "Ordinary Lives" was started before Andy Gibb's death. The style of One was more melancholic than E.S.P., and heavily influenced by the loss of their brother. The album was dedicated to Andy and the song "Wish You Were Here" was written as a tribute to him.

The album was co-produced with Brian Tench, who had worked with them on the previous album. Related session outtake "Shape of Things to Come" was written for the Bee Gees' contribution to the 1988 Olympics album called One Moment in Time released the same year.

The album had varying degrees of success across the world. In Europe, the album reached the top 10 in Germany and Switzerland and reached the top 40 in the UK and France. North American audiences had still not embraced the Bee Gees as they were still regarded as a disco group and the album failed to reach the top 40 in the US and Canada, despite the success of the title track reaching No. 7 in the US and No. 11 in Canada. Other singles from the album included "Bodyguard" and "Tokyo Nights". In the UK, none of the singles from the album reached the top 40; this was ironic as every other Bee Gees album from the latter phase of their career produced at least one UK hit while making little impact in the US.

Barry Gibb commented on the song "One" at the time by saying "This song brought us back to US radio. A leading media paper recently stated regarding this song, 'The Bee Gees are capable of at least one more hit.' I don't believe that, I believe we could have at least two."

Track listing

In the US, "Wing and a Prayer" was substituted with the group's European #1 hit, "You Win Again".

All tracks are written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb. Lead vocals as indicated.

1. "Ordinary Lives" Barry and Robin 4:01
2. "One" Barry 4:55
3. "Bodyguard" Robin and Barry 5:20
4. "It's My Neighborhood" Barry 4:19
5. "Tears" Barry 5:16
6. "Tokyo Nights" Robin 3:56
7. "Flesh and Blood" Robin 4:43
8. "Wish You Were Here" Barry 4:44
9. "House of Shame" Maurice and Barry 4:51
10. "Will You Ever Let Me" Barry 5:57
11. "Wing and a Prayer" Barry 4:05

Total length: 52:15