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Size Isn't Everything is the Bee Gees' eighteenth studio album. It was released in the United Kingdom on September 13, 1993 and delayed in the United States for November 2.
History[]
This album marked Bee Gees' return to Polydor Records after their 5-year, 3-album contract with Warner Bros. Records.
According to Robin in a publication dated March 1992, the Bee Gees recorded seven new songs in January. Maurice recalled later in 1992 that the occasion was when he came back from his last bout with alcoholism and found Barry and Robin waiting for him before starting work on songs. What they probably in January did was record the basic tracks by themselves as they usually did, and maybe they even completed lyrics. Meanwhile, Barry was constantly visiting his bedridden wife and prematurely newborn daughter in hospital and probably keeping busy in the studio to keep his mind off their health problems. Besides the Bee Gees songs he even recorded another one with Kelli Wolfe. As if this was not enough, he also underwent previously scheduled back surgery, apparently after all the recording.
Then as Barry, wife and child were recovering, on March 5 the brothers’ father, Hugh Gibb, passed away. It was Andy Gibb’s birthday. As a result of all the family events, even after the promising start in January 1993 SIZE Isn’t Everything, did come out later that year.
On August 9, Paying The Price Of Love, the album's first single, was released in the UK with mixed reviews. Being the lead cut from the album, the track was the only song with a prominent Barry falsetto vocal and a dance beat. When the album was released five weeks later, Paying The Price Of Love was falling down in the charts. In all, it reached #23 in the UK and later during the Christmas season reached only #74 in the UK. SIZE isn't Everything debuted at #33 in late September, and the following week slipped down to #71. Then disappeared from the charts, only coming back in December during the promotion of the album's second single, the epic ballad For Whom The Bell Tolls, making a new chart peak of #28 during the Christmas week, and then surpassing it during the first week of 1994 with a #23 mark. In all, the album spent 16 weeks inside the UK Top 100. In the US, meanwhile, reaction was terrible, with the album debuting at #153 and never recovering from that and spending only 3 weeks inside the whole Billboard 200. The single For Whom The Bell Tolls, released in the UK on November 15, 1993 was a big hit all over Europe, spending two weeks at #4 in the UK, and a total of 14 weeks inside the Top 75. In the US, once again the product failed reaching only #9 in the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. A third single, the ballad How To Fall In Love, Part 1 was released on April 4, 1994 in the UK, peaking a respectable #30.
Reception of the album was mixed around the world. Is notable the fact that it was one of the most successful Bee Gees album in Argentina, peaking at #1. Worldwide sales of the album are estimated to be over 700,000 copies.
Track listing[]
All compositions by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.
- "Paying the Price of Love" – 4:12
- The lead single from the album. It had numerous alternate "mixes" available in different releases.
- "Kiss Of Life" – 4:14
- Originally planed as the second single from the album and released as the fourth single in some markets. It's an energetic rock/dance hybrid with an impressively complex vocal line involving distinctive Robin and Barry solo vocals as well as group vocals.
- "How To Fall In Love, Pt. 1" – 5:59
- Strangely, there was not a second part of the song available.
- "Omega Man" – 3:59
- Lead vocals by Maurice Gibb.
- "Haunted House" – 5:44
- "Heart Like Mine" – 4:41
- Robin said this was inspired by Enya’s moody songs, and he gets some of the slow dreamy feel of her music.
- "Anything For You" – 4:36
- "Blue Island" – 3:15
- "Dedicated to the children of the former Yugoslavia", according to the liner notes.
- "Above And Beyond" – 4:27
- Lead vocals by Maurice Gibb.
- "For Whom The Bell Tolls" – 5:06
- The epic-ballad, biggest hit from the album.
- "Fallen Angel" – 4:30
- "Decadence" - 4:31
- A new remix of the classic #1 hit "You Should Be Dancing", which was included only in the European version of the album.
Singles[]
| Date | Single | Notes | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
August 1993 |
"Paying The Price Of Love" | Released worldwide | #19 Netherlands, #23 UK, #24 Austria, #31 France, #33 Italy, #36 Germany, #53 Canada, #74 US |
| November 1993 | "For Whom The Bell Tolls" | Released worldwide | #1 Brazil, #4 UK, #6 IE, #20 Netherlands, #52 Germany, #109 US |
| April 1994 | "How To Fall In Love, Pt. 1" | Released only in the UK | #30 UK |
| 1994 | "Kiss Of Life" | Released only in some European markets as a promo single | - |
| 1994 | "Blue Island" | Released only in some European markets as a promo single | - |
Chart performance[]
| Chart | Peak position | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 1 | - |
| Austria | 6 | - |
| Germany | 12 | - |
| Switzerland | 14 | - |
| Netherlands | 22 | - |
| United Kingdom | 23 | Gold (01/12/93) |
| Italy | 28 | - |
| France | 28 | - |
| United States | 153 | - |