Some of the Bee Gees better music prior to the disco era; good mild sounds.

Note: This is a re-issue until Rhino Records releases the Remastered Expanded version.

Barry Gibb once mentioned that "2 Years On" was the weakest album the trio had recorded. True. Granted that it garnered the huge American hit "Lonely Days", the rest of the album seems like leftovers from their attempts at solo careers. Wince while listening to "I'm Weeping". Shake your head in bewilderment at "Tell Me Why". "Lay It On Me" passes the test, but it seems Maurice shot his entire solo wad on that one. Do note however, that the song "2 Years On" is a rare early Robin and Maurice collaboration. "Man For All Seasons" clearly hints at the Gibbs' easily obtained falsettos to come. "The 1st Mistake I Made" is a surprising success, if a bit long. Strong emotional strings and guitar/piano riffs can't help but 'get you'. Otherwise the remainder of the songs are 'fluff'. This 'fluff' led to a magnificnet album less than a year later. The fantastic "Trafalgar"; the album that brought the Brothers Gibb into maturity.

Track list is the same of US versions:

1. 2 Years On
2. Portrait Of Louise
3. Man For All Seasons
4. Sincere Relation
5. Back Home
6. The First Mistake I Made
7. Lonely Days
8. Alone Again
9. Tell Me Why
10. Lay It On Me
11. Every Second, Every Minute
12. I'm Weeping

It's leaden and ponderous. Clearly they're trying to figure out how to work together again, but they're trying too hard. It's not working. There is almost nothing here of interest, that would merit a second listening. Even the album's one hit, "Lonely Days", also appears on their "Best of Vol 2" collection (1973), and there's a better version of it on the "Here At Last, The Bee Gees Live" album (1977).

It's interesting to compare their two albums "around" the breakup: 1969's "Odessa" and this one. "Odessa" is brooding and dark and sad, and this album also has plenty of sad songs.
Yet "Odessa" is utterly brilliant; innovative, interesting, crackling with ideas and experiments, full of attention-getting musical arrangements. This is a dull reunion album. Skip it.

Note that the brothers got it together very quickly after this. Their next album "Trafalgar" (1971), while uneven, has some terrific stuff on it. It's musically interesting and memorable, and it set the stage for the musical changes they went thru in 1972-4. This album is just something they had to get thru first.

Don't get me wrong. This album has wonderful songs in it. Where would Lonely Days be without this album? And then there's Man For All Seasons, another little hit. Portrait of Louise has beautiful voices in it, and so does the very catchy Alone Again. Every Second, Every Minute is another great solo by Barry. Lay It On Me is almost horrible, and Tell Me Why is quite boring. Overall, some great songs, some good songs, and just a couple dull songs makes this a good enough album to want.