The Bee Gees
Life in a Tin Can

Early 1970s: the Beatles call it quits; hard rock is born with the first, seminal albums of the triad Deep Purple-Black Sabbath-Led Zeppelin, in the pop realm the star of Elton John shines brightly and, on their part, the Bee Gees enter a phase of confusion if not outright crisis: "Odessa" has left its mark, it can't be said to have completely drained the Gibb brothers, but almost: in 1970, without Robin, they release an unpretentious but very lively and pleasant album with great moments, "Cucumber Castle," followed by "2 Years On," which is frayed, disjointed, and confused. 1971 is the year of "Trafalgar," not without value but flat and imbued with sickly sweetness, 1972 brings "To Whom It May Concern," frivolous and completely devoid of interest and finally, in 1973, this phase of ebb closes with dignity with "Life In A Tin Can": an album proportionate to what the Bee Gees could deliver at that time, and precisely for this reason more successful than its predecessors.

"Life In A Tin Can" is a minor album in a positive sense: simple melodies, never banal, a sober and clean style: the opulence of the '60s is definitively archived, here Our Guys confine themselves to piano and acoustic guitars, with some well-placed orchestration here and there. There are only eight songs, which is another merit because it avoids the empty and useless fillers that ruined the three previous albums; even without great peaks, this album is a pleasant and undemanding listen: "Come Home Johnny Birdie" and "While I Play" give a touch of liveliness and incisive and effective country breeziness, "I Saw A New Morning" partly revives the orchestral tradition of the previous decade, set in an almost pop rock context, giving rise to an airy and engaging melody, and for the rest, the slow tracks prevail: first and foremost the gentle and bucolic folk of "South Dakota Morning" and the three piano ballads "My Life Has Been A Song," "Living In Chicago," and "Methods To My Madness," simple and candidly sweet glimpses, not devoid of a certain flair and melodically on par with albums like "Horizontal"; which excellently compensate for the similar "I Don't Wanna Be The One," the only weak spot of the album due to its overly monotonous and tearful approach.

For the first time in the history of the Bee Gees, "Life In A Tin Can" did not produce any noteworthy singles and went completely unnoticed, yet in my opinion, it deserves a re-evaluation: it is a well-structured and defined album; clearly the offspring of a period of stagnation and lack of ideas, and even more surprising for its excellent overall balance; starting from "Mr. Natural" the following year, the Gibb brothers will find new stimuli and inspirations; from there will start the climb to global success, and we will never hear them play again as in "Life In A Tin Can", a simple, fleeting, humble, and adorable minor episode.