Bee Gees Trafalgar CD

Trafalgar (1971) included The Bee Gees’ often-covered hit single “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” The song also earned the group a Grammys nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Recorded just two months after The Bee Gees finished laying down tracks for their previous album, 2 Years On, Trafalgar is a mature, ballad-heavy collection of a dozen formidable songs. The record takes its name from the Battle of Trafalgar, an 1805 battle at sea between the British Royal Navy and the Spanish and French navies. Though outnumbered, the British emerged overwhelmingly victorious, losing not a single ship.

The brothers show off a raw side of their versatile voices in the stunning “Don’t Wanna Live Inside Myself,” and the catchy “Lion in Winter.” “Trafalgar” and “Israel” both feature soaring vocals and triumphant melodies, while “Walking Back to Waterloo” closes the album in a spectacular flourish, with elegant piano verses yielding to lush choruses full of warm harmonies. Gary Von Tersch of Rolling Stone reviewed the album favorably, writing “I only hope [the Bee Gees] stick together now for many years to come — radio needs their periodic transfusions and resultant albums of this quality are faultless.”