2 Years On

Untitled

2 Years On was the eighth album released by English rock band Bee Gees and their sixth international release. This LP was released in December 1970. The album reached No. 32 on the US charts, and sold 375,000 copies worldwide. The album saw the return of Robin Gibb to the group after the earlier disagreement and subsequent split following Odessa. 2 Years On was also the first album to feature drummer Geoff Bridgford, who remained a full-time member of the group until 1972. The best-known track is "Lonely Days". Released as the first single by the reunited brothers, it charted high in the US #3 in Billboard, No. 1 in rival chart Cashbox, but peaked at #33 in the United Kingdom.

Background

On March 1969, Robin announced that he was leaving the band. In June, he released his debut single "Saved by the Bell", which reached No. 2 on the UK charts. In August, drummer Colin Petersen was fired and was replaced by Terry Cox to complete the album Cucumber Castle. Before the album was released, Barry and Maurice announced that the Bee Gees had split in December 1969. The pair released singles, "Railroad" by Maurice and "I'll Kiss Your Memory" by Barry, but their albums The Loner and The Kid's No Good remain unreleased until this day.

During the temporary break-up of the group, Maurice appeared in London musical theatre Sing a Rude Song. Maurice recalls: "We got fed up with all the lawyers fighting over our assets, so we walked out of this big summit meeting and started the group again".

Recording

Robin and Maurice reunited in June 1970 with new drummer Geoff Bridgford, who was drummer of the Bee Gees until 1972. They recorded four songs, including "Sincere Relation" and "Lay It on Me". "We Can Lift a Mountain" was also re-recorded, a song from 1968. After that, Maurice joins the supergroup The Bloomfields with Billy Lawrie, and worked with Tin Tin. In August, Maurice and Robin announced that the Bee Gees were back, with or without Barry's participation and fourteen songs was recorded including "Back Home" and "I'm Weeping". Then on 21 August, the three Bee Gees came together to continue recording. Despite the album marking the musical reunion of the Bee Gees, only three songs credited all three Gibb brothers as composers; the single "Lonely Days" and its flip side '"Man For All Seasons" and "Back Home". Maurice is on all songs, but Barry and Robin are only on the ones they wrote or co-wrote. On the August sessions, they also recorded: "You Got to Lose It In the End", "Little Red Train", "Sweet Summer Rain", "Melody Fair" (originally released on Odessa) and "Maybe Tomorrow".

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	C−

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Lead vocal(s)	Length
1.	"2 Years On" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Robin	3:57
2.	"Portrait of Louise" (Barry Gibb)	Barry	2:35
3.	"Man For All Seasons" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Barry and Robin	2:59
4.	"Sincere Relation" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Robin and Maurice	2:46
5.	"Back Home" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Barry, Robin and Maurice	1:52
6.	"The First Mistake I Made" (Barry Gibb)	Barry	4:03

Side two

No.	Title	Lead vocal(s)	Length
1.	"Lonely Days" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Barry and Robin	3:45
2.	"Alone Again" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Robin	3:00
3.	"Tell Me Why" (Barry Gibb)	Barry	3:13
4.	"Lay It on Me" (Maurice Gibb)	Maurice	2:07
5.	"Every Second, Every Minute" (Barry Gibb)	Barry	3:01
6.	"I'm Weeping" (Robin Gibb)	Robin	2:45

Alternate track listing

• Some publicity material listed an alternate running order.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"2 Years On"	3:57
2.	"Lonely Days"	3:45
3.	"Lay It on Me"	2:07
4.	"Portrait of Louise"	2:35
5.	"Man For All Seasons"	2:59
6.	"The First Mistake I Made"	4:03

Side two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I'm Weeping"	2:45
2.	"Every Second, Every Minute"	3:01
3.	"Sincere Relation"	2:46
4.	"Back Home"	1:52
5.	"Alone Again"	3:00
6.	"Tell Me Why"	3:13

Chart positions

Chart	Peak position
US Billboard 200	32
Canadian RPM Albums Chart	22
Australia Kent Music Report Albums Chart	22

Personnel

• Barry Gibb – lead, harmony and backing vocal, acoustic guitar
• Robin Gibb – lead, harmony and backing vocal
• Maurice Gibb – harmony and backing vocal, bass, acoustic and electric guitar, piano, lead vocal on "Lay It on Me"
• Geoff Bridgford – drums

Additional personnel and production

• Bill Shepherd – orchestral arrangement
• Gerry Shury – orchestral arrangement
• John Stewart – engineer