That Coke Belda has traveled with his family from Spain to Germany and now to America to experience life’s adventures is nothing more than a colorful way of saying he’s been here, there and everywhere, instruments always in hand and music forever in his heart. Now, after two well-received albums of original songs, the multi-instrumentalist has set his sights on interpreting the music of the Bee Gees, which might be seen by some as akin to trying to scale the heights of Mt. Everest when climbing a few flights of stairs might have been seen as the more practical way to proceed. It turns out that covering some of the great songs of the Bee Gees was the right third project for Coke. The proof of this is contained within this album, which offers new versions of both familiar (“I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You,” “You Win Again”) and perhaps-not-so-familiar (“Idea,” “Sir Geoffrey Saved the World”) choice numbers from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. Coke’s singular and spectacular melodic pop sound, brought to life on 2013’s Coke Belda I and 2015’s Nummer Zwei, holds sway in these peerless cover versions of these choice Bee Gees classics. Filtered through the artist’s contemporary vision, they sound freshly pressed for both a new generation of fans and fans for whom the originals are treasures for all time. All listeners will enjoy Coke’s Beatlesque take on 1965’s “Claustrophobia,” and tap along to the aforementioned “You Win Again,” which plays out with an even-tempered beat and eschews the thumping percussion of the original. As a bonus, Coke offers a beautiful version of “Our Love (Don’t Throw It All Away),” written by Bee Gee Barry and keyboardist Blue Weaver; the song, which has a rich history, was a hit for fourth Bee Gee Andy Gibb. Which probably makes Coke the fifth Bee Gee. With this album, Coke, and you, the listener, wins…again. - Alan Haber, purepopradio.com July 2017