This Is Where I Came In
The old adage that says you can't go home again rings  especially true for artists and musicians attempting to return to their  artistic roots. Ironically, it's also what makes the Bee Gees' journey  back to their '60s sensibilities feel like a gratifying, if unassuming,  triumph. Indeed, while the songs here are possessed of the innate  soulfulness and melodic flair familiar from their youth, they've wisely  allowed disparate musical elements from their dizzying  three-decade-plus career to season this collection, giving it a satisfying  pan-generational sense that's as rewarding as it is rare. The title track  sets the tone, with the brothers trading verses against a spare  acoustic guitar and drum-kit backdrop. It's a bracing reminder that the  Gibb brothers' locked-in harmony remains one of pop's enduring sonic  archetypes. While they've never completely shaken the cultural  stereotyping of their late '70s megaplatinum doses of disco fever,  there are few remnants of it here, save for the insistent drum loop.  Given their longevity and pervasive insider influence, it's sometimes a  historical riddle to figure out who's influencing whom, from the  distinctELO-isms of  Robin's "She Keeps on Coming" and Maurice's "Man in the Middle" to  Barry's singular balladry on "Loose Talk Costs Lives." And lest anyone  think it's strictly a '60s-'70s love fest, the Gibbs toss in a  good-natured nod to Tin-Pan Alley ("Technicolor Dreams") and even a  spirited, if somewhat ham-handed, post-modern romp ("Voice in the  Wilderness"). More than anything, it's a record that argues that home  is but a state of mind, and that the Bee Gees have learned more than a  few things on the way back.--Jerry McCulley