Taken pretty much for granted during their first taste of 1960s" fame, the Bee Gees have enjoyed many highs and endured equal lows on their musical journey through life. Perhaps undervalued by the music industry during their first incarnation, recent years have seen tributes to Manchester"s Brothers Gibb grow larger and louder, as new generations applaud the ingenuity--and longevity--of their music. In keeping with this trend, the newly published Tales Of The Brothers Gibb should fill a long empty gap in the chronicle of modern music.The authors faced a mammoth task in researching 50 years of musical history and condensing it into one volume. Sensibly, the three main authors enlisted the help of ¨berfans Joseph Brennan and Mark Crohan to ensure their investigation was exhaustive. Every Bee Gees trivia fan can be assured that the factual content here is remarkably thorough; for example, a-sides and b-sides are named for every single, and the engineer for each recording is also given credit.Written for fans of the Bee Gees music (more than fans of the brothers themselves) the book"s tone is informative and impartial, steering away from faux-personal "fan-speak" and choosing instead to straddle the markets of reference and biography. The authors do touch on the personal lives of the Bee Gees--telling of Robin"s ghoulish escape from the Hither Green Train Disaster, brother Andy"s death and Maurice"s off/on relationship with Lulu. However the emphasis here is on how those personal events changed the dynamics of the group"s career, leading to the break up of the band, and the thawing of attitudes which brought about their reunion.Following years of being discussed in tones between derision and comedy banter, Tales Of The Brothers Gibb treats the brothers with staid reverence. Luckily the self-effacing and unexpectedly jokey Barry, Maurice and Robin add a lighter touch from time to time. Those hoping for a cover mount gift of facial hair, chest wig, or a win-a-Barry-Karaoke-Night-competition had better look elsewhere; this is a respectful biography with high production values. Aside from a few well-chosen photos, and the odd appendix table of hits, the 678 pages consist mainly of text. That"s right, it"s only "Words. Cos Words are all they have...." (ahem). --Helen Lamont