New Simple Minds album, "Walk Between Worlds", set for release 02/02/2018

Good to know, I really wanted to own the physical set though as it pretty much rounds up all the Simple Minds albums I'm interested in.

Maybe one day I'll get around to listening to "Sparkle In The Rain"...

 

Just a side note for those who like Sons and Fascination, the production is a massive plus for me. The music sounds fantastic, I know the voice is heavy with effects but it worked out very well. Steve Hillage produced some Cowboys International stuff that is also very good. "Original Sin" is one of my favorite LPs and they put out a reworked version of it called Revisited. Original Sin is only available on vinyl but Revisited is on CD. A lot of people don't like it as they really changed things up for some reason but you can reconstruct Original Sin to its original sequence from it. I think Steve Hillage did the best production job for any of their albums and that's saying a lot given the company he's with.

WBW is produced extremely well, just mastered loud. I've played it two more times today and liking it more with each spin. Starting to really notice the nuances of the lesser known tracks like Dreams and Utopia. Love it all, oddly enough, Barrowland Star might be my weakest link on the record now...........go figure.

 

You didn't miss much

 

Same thought, very ironic.

 

If I can't hear Derek Forbes' playing clearly, it's a lost cause for me!

 

As soon as the part 26 Seconds into Barrowland Star came on I was like "That's (mid-90s instrumental b-side) "Celtic Strings"." In fact, it's a direct sample. It's not the first time they've done this - "Let The Children Speak" copied much of "Theme For Great Cities", and "Moscow Underground" reused guitar from their rare cover of "White Light White Heat" - but certainly after 23 years it's a surprise. Good song though (although, not a fave).

I always wondered if its club success was due to its use as b-side to Promised You A Miracle 12" or if it was used on that in response to its club success, so good to know.

There's a third one - Street Fighting Years and The Seeds Of Love both had their own making-of / music books in the same series to illustrate how meticulous the groups were putting them together.

 

Nice catch.

 

I heard about the books. I had the SFY one but I never ever saw the Tears For Fears one. Any idea where it can be found?

 

I have it, I think I got it on Amazon Marketplace a few years ago.

 

They've officially been my favorite band since early 1984, and I basically love everything they've ever done. Some just more than others. I didn't abandon them after New Gold Dream, like many others have. I personally like that all their albums don't sound exactly the same.

 

And "Women and Ghosts," which was a b-side for "Hypnotised" in the US only, is just a variation of "Real Life" throughout. This bugs some people, and I can understand why, but I think it can be interesting when a band takes an older track and reworks it in this way.

Actually, in the case of "Women and Ghosts," I wouldn't be surprised if this was just a demo or session recording from the Real Life sessions. The band was on the verge of collapse during the Good News era and they may have literally just plucked something out of the vaults and re-purposed it.

 

"When Two Worlds Collide" from Real Life also used the same motif, and "#4" is the demo that was rewritten into "Hypnotized". In regards to "Women And Ghosts" I think the reason it didn't get a UK release is cause there were only two singles from Good News. There were also promos of "Night Music", "Great Leap Forward" and "And The Band Played On" so I imagine a third was considered and ultimately cancelled.

"Ghostdancing" developed out of a live rearrangement of "I Travel", with lyrics still remaining almost the same in the opening lines.



It goes much earlier though. "No Cure" and "Destiny" were once the more progressive "Cocteau Twins" and "Sweet Things" respectively, "Scar" was once "Running From No One".

Jim rewrote part of "New Warm Skin" into "Nail Thru My Heart" on the first Lostboy album though fans immediately pointed it out. The unreleased second Lostboy album was set to feature "Kill Or Cure", "Sense Of Discovery", "Summer", "Broken Glass Park, "Blood Diamonds, "Honest Town" and "Spirited Away" as well as a number of unreleased tracks. This can somewhat be explained by the fact that the first version of this LP was cancelled due to Big Music, and the second version was cancelled due to the surprise decision to do the Acoustic tour. A few months ago Jim hinted that he was still going to do another one though so remains to be seen.

Of course they also rerecorded "Jeweller To The Stars" and "Swimming Towards The Sun" from Our Secrets Are The Same in order to give them wider releases. They also rerecorded the cover of "Let The Day Begin" from "Searching For The Lost Boys" for "Big Music", though they simply felt the new arrangement was stronger.

"The Floating World" is a near-instrumental remix of Neon Lights' "Homosapien" - the vocal version can be heard on a rare single that as far as I can tell, didn't get a UK release.

There are likely a fair few further examples. It's quite an interesting topic. It certainly explains their career's consistency despite changing lineups so often.

 

The latest issue of Classic Pop arrived on my doorstep today! Back to the normal schedule of getting it about 2 weeks after UK publication (last month's issue took over 4 weeks, which was frustrating). The multi-page cover story with Jim is a great read!

 

The first item I ever purchased by SM is the US 7" single for "Promised You A Miracle" with "The American" on the flip. So yes, SAF/SFC is a special album to me as well.

I believe that NGD is their best album and their masterpiece, but Sparkle is my favorite, if that makes sense. I've played it more than any of their other albums. Of course I loved NGD right away, but when I heard Sparkle the first time, that's when I decided "Simple Minds are officially my favorite band of all time."

I do love the respect they have paid to The Call over the years. My first time seeing SM in concert was the 1986 tour, with The Call as the opening act. I hung out after the show at the back of the venue and got to meet both bands.

In the Classic Pop article, Jim states that he's already written some songs for the next Simple Minds album! Which is good to hear, because at first it seemed like WBW was going to be their last.

 

That version of I travel is very interesting. I have heard it before.

The date of that may mean that was possibly one of dereks last live gigs.

 

I'm enjoying WBW. I like that it is only 8 songs (didn't do OUAT any harm). Better than Big Music for me which I found kind of tiring and overblown.

Is X5 new masters of the classics (i.e. not the masters on the remastered CDs?). Is it worth getting?

 

I didn't abandon them. They abandoned me.

But: The likes of "Alive & Kicking" and "Na, nanananaaaaha, nana, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, naaaaa!" certainly brought them one or two new fans

 

I have no info reg. mastering on my box
But the sound quality is great
The only one I dont like is NGD
There I prefer my original Cd
Virgin CD2230

 

My understanding is that these were the same remasters as the 2002 but with bonus material.

 

Yeah, Barrowlands January 1985.
Derek has argued he helped write at least half of the material on Once Upon A Time.

 

I even like Neon Lights . It introduced me to Homosapien by Pete Shelley. Great tune, but I may prefer the SM version actually.

 

I do as well, they did a good job with most of the tracks but at the end of the day, it's still a covers album. Homosapien is a great record. I even like Heaven and the Sea, if you find you like that one don't tell any Buzzcocks purists........they'll head butt you then stomp you into the floor with their very German heavy boots.

I think their version of Dancing Barefoot is the best cover if not better than the original. They hooked up with some great electro-music dudes during this period. Love the synth voice in Dancing Barefoot.

 

"On Your Own" is a great song!! My favorite Pete solo song is "Telephone Operator."

Simple Minds have done many great covers, but they don't necessarily bring something new to the songs all the time. Their best cover is "Street Hassle."

 

I still play this one a lot. Has to be listened all the way through to the fabulous end Dolphins.

 

I love their version of Love will Tear us Apart. To me it sounds like a surreal version of New Order playing the Joy Division classic. I'm sure its blasphemous to like it but I think it's great. Whatever, I'm a New Order and Joy Division fan too.