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RSO/Polygram, 1978
1. Shadow Dancing
2. Why
3. Fool For A Night
4. Everlasting Love, An
5. Don't Throw It All Away, (Our Love)
6. One More Look At The Night
7. Melody
8. I Go For You
9. Good Feeling
10. Waiting For You
U.S. Chart Position of Album
• Shadow Dancing, RSO, 1978 (US #7)
Chart Positions of Singles
• "Shadow Dancing", RSO, 1978 (US #1, 7 weeks)
• "An Everlasting Love", RSO, 1978 (US #5) (UK #10)
• "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away", RSO, 1978 (US #9)
Shadow Dancing
Producer(s): Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson
RSO RS13034
SPOTLIGHT
Originally reviewed for week ending 5/27/78
Gibb's debut album produced two consecutive No. 1 singles and he is shooting for his third straight with the title cut here. This album is a much more polished work with a sophisticated edge to it. The diversity of the material, ranging from lyrical ballads to Bee Gee sounding upbeat numbers to Gibbs' own identifiable songs, allows Gibb the flexibility and material to flex his versatility and show just how good a singer he really is. Also more crafted are the songs itself with six self-penned, one collaboration with brother Barry, the title cut by all four Gibbs and two others written by Barry. Horns and strings dress up the arrangements, solid rhythm backing and another sterling production by the hot team of Galuten and Richardson. Best cuts: "Shadow Dancing," "Why," "One More Look At The Night," "Melody," "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away." Dealers: Add to the collection of hot RSO product.
Credits
Andy Gibb (Vocals (Background)), Andy Gibb (Main Performer), Andy Gibb, Don Felder (Guitar), Tim Renwick (Guitar (Acoustic)), Tim Renwick (Guitar (Electric)), Barry Gibb (Arranger), Barry Gibb (Vocals (Background)), Barry Gibb (Producer), Barry Gibb (Executive Producer), Barry Gibb (String Arrangements), Peter Graves (Horn), Peter Graves, Albhy Galuten (Synthesizer), Albhy Galuten (Arranger), Albhy Galuten (Conductor), Albhy Galuten (Producer), Albhy Galuten (String Arrangements), Jock Bartley (Guitar), George Bitzer (Keyboards), Neal Bonsanti (Horn), Neal Bonsanti, Kenneth Faulk (Horn), Kenneth Faulk, Dennis Hetzendorfer (Assistant Engineer), Joe Lala (Percussion), Joey Murcia (Guitar (Electric)), Karl Richardson (Producer), Karl Richardson (Engineer), John Sambataro (Vocals (Background)), John Sambataro (Slide Guitar), Sid Sharp, Sid Sharp (String Section Leader), Whit Sidener (Horn), Whit Sidener, John Blanche (Assistant Engineer), Glenn Ross (Art Direction), Stanley Webb (Horn), Stanley Webb, Bill Purse (Horn), Bill Purse, Harold Cowart (Guitar (Bass)), Tubby Ziegler (Drums), Tim Bryant (Design), Gary Heery (Photography), Bob Basso, Bob Basso (String Section Leader), David Gertz (Assistant Engineer)
Rolling Stone Magazine Review
Aug 24, 1978
Like the Bee Gees' hits from Saturday Night Fever, Shadow Dancing's three outstanding songs–coproduced and cowritten by Andy Gibb's older brother Barry–transcend banality through the sheer beauty of their chiffon-and-whipped-cream settings. "Shadow Dancing" plays out its theme by leapfrogging melodic phrases in a gorgeous array of textures over a light funk rhythm. "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away" elaborates its hook into a cloud castle of strings and feathery voices laced with falsetto. "Why" builds angelic choirs on a subtle, Cuban-flavored disco beat.
The rest of the album consists of simpler pop-rock tunes, most of them written by the singer, that echo the sugary style of the predisco Bee Gees. In the family tradition, Andy Gibb combines solid tunefulness with elementary lyrics and a voice that throbs with a somewhat mechanized ethereality. Though his own songs mark a pleasant improvement over the mannered country-pop of last year's Flowing Rivers, they're no match for the aforementioned three magical cuts. For the success of the Bee Gees' pop-disco sound–which has actually become a minigenre–depends entirely upon a surface appeal in which production values, even more than melody, are the key. When it works, there's nothing like it. You have to go back to Glenn Miller ballads and Forties Frank Sinatra for pop music that conjures up a glamour this celestial. (RS 272)
STEPHEN HOLDEN
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