Simple Minds will release a live album in October 2023 where they will perform all the songs from NEW GOLD DREAM...
simple minds
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About 20 years ago I saw them do the whole of New Gold Dream in the middle of an otherwise regular set.
I've seen them many times, my favourite being the 5x5 tour in 2012 when they focused entirely on the first five albums. That was my favourite show as I always favour that early phase with its new wave electronic feel. Also, it thankfully meant a show with no Don't You Forget or Alive & Kicking. Excellent!
I last saw them a few years ago and they can still do a good show, but I disliked how they turned Love Song into an air-punching stadium rocker.
I've lost track of their newer stuff but it's good that they're still going and playing a fair amount of the new material when they tour.
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I have little to add to this thread, other than I had the Hypnotized single when it came out, and was absolutely obsessed with it. It remains one of those songs I really like to this day, ie the mystique never faded, at all which is unusual. The magnetic pull was enough for me to listen to the album it was on a few times, and for me to keep track of the band and listen to a later album that I think was called Big Music or something. I liked that too, but can't remember it well now and never fell deeper down the rabbit hole. I think they've remained permanently on my "must go back and revisit" list since.
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I had the Hypnotized single when it came out, and was absolutely obsessed with it.
If I had a SMs track obsession it was this one, Changeling. I listened to it a lot when I was around 14, 15. It makes me think of being sent home from school during an icy January because the heating system had broken down. I'd happily arrive back home late morning and put music on the stereo. The Lamb also evokes that memory as it was another frequent listen at that time.
May I also offer up a couple more of SMs' early 80s output:
Thirty Frames A Second and The American. Given some of the stuff you've flagged I'd venture to suggest you'll like these. I think some of their material from this period would stand up well if released as new today.
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If I had a SMs track obsession it was this one, Changeling. I listened to it a lot when I was around 14, 15. It makes me think of being sent home from school during an icy January because the heating system had broken down. I'd happily arrive back home late morning and put music on the stereo. The Lamb also evokes that memory as it was another frequent listen at that time.
May I also offer up a couple more of SMs' early 80s output:
Thirty Frames A Second and The American. Given some of the stuff you've flagged I'd venture to suggest you'll like these. I think some of their material from this period would stand up well if released as new today.
Enjoyed those very much - thanks for recommending them. The band has an obvious creative edge and edginess that wouldn't be apparent from Alive and Kicking! Will certainly be dabbling more.
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The band has an obvious creative edge and edginess that wouldn't be apparent from Alive and Kicking! Will certainly be dabbling more.
Those 3 tracks give you some of the flavour of the first five albums, you could certainly do worse than exploring those. The first album is very of its time and has a punkish energy but tinged with electronica which then came very much to the fore on the next few albums, which as I said are my favourite phase.
The sixth album Sparkle is interesting in that it's transitional between the electronic/new wave sound and the anthemic stadium rock they were about to move into on Once Upon A Time, the one with A&K on. It was around this time they also did Don't You Forget About Me.
After that, Street Fighting Years (where Belfast Child is from) was an unexpected move into some more pastoral territory, with its gentler tones in the title track, Soul Crying Out and This Is Your Land being something of a relief to me at least as I wasn't keen on the air-punching stuff of the previous album, though Kick It In edges back towards it.
Next they did Real Life which had shorter punchier material, but still with some grandiosity. I went to a few shows on that tour where they brought back some old ones that had been sidelined for a few years. See if you can track down a live version of King Is White from 1991. After that I kind of drifted away so can't say much about everything since then.
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See if you can track down a live version of King Is White from 1991.
Saved you the bother as I was keen to hear it again, it was a highlight for me on that tour. It's very different from the rather more sinister brooding original but they're both good - here you go.
