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

I suspect that's true. I think I was really put off because, unlike Big Music, this album feels like an album rather than a compilation.

 

I received my deluxe vinyl yesterday and I like it. Has anyone else received their copy? I tried redeeming the download and I received an error message ("Mp3 downloads coming soon"). Has anyone else had this problem?

 

Way better than Big Music. Not as musically squashed and much more layered synths. I loved Utopia, In Dreams and Walk Between Worlds upon first listen. I'm not sure why I doubted the new band members, after all it worked for Lostboy. In fact, the overall sound of this album is much closer to the synthpop of Lostboy, with "Summer" and "Sense Of Discovery" being planned for their cancelled second album - and it now makes even more sense to call Big Music an overcooked misstep.

Certainly the reputation of this album has been tarred by the lineup change. Mel Gaynor is present on this album, albeit not as a full member - with Cherisse Osei handling most of the drums (it's somewhat like Mike Ogletree's presence on some tracks of New Gold Dream). I get the impression they took his drum tracks from some earlier recordings of songs and did not invite him in. Andy Gillespie is however not there at all, and the last interview Jim mentioned him in suggested the two had quite different ideas over the direction of the tracks. To say the least, I'm not enamoured by Jim's evasive attitude to the subject in interviews, but he also seems well aware that the average listener/interviewer has no idea.

I agree with the reviews who say that basically, if you like Simple Minds, they've become reliable as opposed to groundbreaking, and maybe the fact 5 tracks from this (deluxe edition) were written for earlier albums should be a sign of lack of ideas, but they are quite right to have only released them when they felt they were perfect. It's weird to have left Sense Of Discovery this late as it feels like a cover due to the original being radio sessioned in 2010. Certainly, most of the tracks on the last couple of albums are interchangeable and there are a fair few tracks that really aren't that great. I am sure a nice 'Celebration' type compilation could be knocked together from them.

I'd describe Walk Between Worlds as somewhere between Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call and Neapolis, with Magic's riff bearing significant resemblance to Tears Of A Guy. In fact, this album is to Big Music what Neapolis was to Good News, a synthier low key alternative to something designed to play in stadiums.

 

Nice summary.
I also noticed the similarity between Tears of a Guy and Magic. Magic is apparently based on a demo from the Good News... era, so perhaps Tears of a Guy was an earlier development of that demo.
There was a lot of material in the pipeline for this album, so they probably just picked the ones that were deemed best regardless of origin.
Line-up change...fans get precious over those things, but in the end, does it really matter when the end result is this good? After Mick MacNeil left, it's been the Jim and Charlie show no matter who was in the line-up.

 

Just do a trial

The only reason the lineup change made a blip on my radar was due to the fact that after over a decade of change ups, it seemed that the pieces may have fallen in place. The lineup that took the x5 on the road so well seemed poised for something great and while Big Music may not have been it(more due to the fact that it was a collection of tracks worked on over a 5-6 year period) I was looking forward to a proper album from them. I'm not complaining though. I was in bands for a while and witnessed the creative process so it makes sense. I think Signal was something worked on from the Cry period, why not revisit some of those? My understanding is that for the most part, Charlie has an emulator he takes everywhere with him (I think Jim calls it his "beatbox") and is constantly building on ideas. Enter the other programmers and you have a lot to pull from. The strings running throughout seem like they could be Catherine's contributions, a very layered style that helps color the tracks. I could be wrong but it's something new to SM and if you listen to her stuff it seems like something her presence may add. It's a great record, it's very much a product of the new lineup as you can pick up the extra guitars Gordy may have provided, the nuanced percussion, the layers and other pieces I haven't heard on SM records prior to this and feels like a continuation of the ideas from the acoustic album.

 

It's hard to know what happened with the band chemistry from the outside. Guess one thing is J & C do not want things to solidify; ever since 1990 they are the band and they work collaboratively with other people to get fresh creative input. That works against the "band" concept. Culturally it looks good with young women in the band too...though their contribution was minimal on the new album (I don't think Catherine had anything to do with the strings).

There's been unconfirmed rumblings that Mick MacNeil might be involved in touring later this year though, we'll see..

 

Other than an occasional song, I have not cared for any Simple Minds album since Street Fighting Years. This new album just continues that streak. There music is just not distinct, unique or interesting anymore. Take out Jim Kerr's voice and these songs sound like any other current dance pop band. Totally forgettable and boring.

 

Did you order the casebound CD version? Because I got the same message from Amazon (and I have Prime, too). I feel like maybe the casebound version is import-only, so it's taking them an extra week to get the product in. Perhaps only the standard CD was available on street date?

 

This podcast interview with Mel is worth a listen; came out in May of last year:
Ep 104 - HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY TO US! with Mel Gaynor of Simple Minds

 

Love SFY too; but people jumped on that too and criticized and said they wanted to be U2!
The recent stuff has more in common with their early dancey music than SFY and for sure it's commercial. Imo opinion no other band sounds like Simple Minds though; Charlie's guitar textures are unique.

 

Only reason I thought Catherine might have is because she's credited with keyboards and if you listen to her stuff then consider the new sound it's a reasonable conclusion but still just an educated guess. I admit that I'm just grasping at what I perceive as connection like that. I hear an emphasis on a layered strings sound that I haven't heard before, for all I know.....Charlie picked up the ol' fiddle and got all Phil Spector-ish with it. It figures that my favorite "band" really isn't a band and hasn't been for a while. Jim said Simple Minds is whoever is contributing at that point in time and it's difficult for me to get my head wrapped around but it's not up to me now is it? We all know it's up to Godslonelyman and has been for a while.

I've never been a fan of female back up singers joining a group who was in the trenches back in the day and feels it gives them some sort of accessibility. Big Country pulled it off with Kate but there's a few examples of bands doing this right before they come apart (Depeche Mode, Duran, TFF) and IMO it didn't go over well. Once Upon A Time worked for me because I was just discovering the sounds of John Mellencamp, Pretenders and Springsteen albums of the time and sort of understood where they were going with it even though at least half their fan base couldn't believe this was the same band that recorded "This Fear of Gods" just a few years prior. It would have worked without Robin Clark on it and her presence in concert was something I wasn't all that excited about. Again........not my group, just my opinion. As it is, I find it odd seeing these men pushing 60 getting these young women into the band, it's just an odd optic but I'm a big boy and can get over it.......like I have a choice?

As for Mick? Bring it on. I miss his "soundscapes", the band could survive Derek's sacking but Mick's departure was a blow they've never really recovered from although they're doing as well as can be expected given the changes in the landscape. It changed things dramatically, their music was basically him coming up with soundscape demos and Charlie adding flourishes.....enter Derek's very unique bass and you have a Simple Minds song. As much as I like Real Life, there's no denying that Mick's absence manifested itself immeasurably on that album that was obviously missing something. Would be nice to see him there, it's a shame it took so long. Most of us are SM fans because they really had something special back in the day.

 

Interesting to say the least. I never knew Mel was Addicted to Love. His comings and goings have always been a bit eyebrow raising, the departure during the SFY recording being extremely awkward. "Mel, you're out.....but we'll need you for the tour."

 

Picked up the CD version at the weekend. I think it's a good album, not breathtaking, but i wasn't expecting that based on the track I had heard before release. I am sure this will get a lot of repeat plays to see if it grows on me to more than 'good'

One thing that I found a bit cheeky was only putting 8 tracks on the regular CD release and putting two more and a live cover version on a deluxe edition for £3 more. I get the deluxe thing, and would have paid more if the regular version had run to, say, 10 tracks and there were another 5 tracks on a deluxe edition. Feels a little money grabbing how it has come out. I'm not one to say that an album can't be only 8 songs, but please don't add two more on and charge extra.

 

Simple Minds released a version of Dirty Old Town as a single in 2004 Various - The Bhoys From Paradise: buy CD, Single at Discogs

 

I always thought it was Charlie's guitar that made them stand apart, Jim's voice is unique but in the end, he's a singer and his voice will be his voice regardless of the song. I can pick out Charlie's guitar anywhere and nothing else sounds like it. He wields it like the entire song is built around it where in the early years it added a texture and slipped in behind the keys and bass. SITR was where it came to the front and once Mick left, his guitar powered much of what they produced. He's gone electronic now, Neapolis was a great showcase for his talents in programming and keyboard arrangements and they've added the talents of some very good young programmers

For what it's worth, Jim's take on that was that no album he's ever heard has more than a few "great songs" and that CDs with 13 tracks on them were boorish and grandstanding, forcing bands to fill them with pap. That said, I tend to agree with you. Why charge more for just a few extra tracks? I'd venture that was a BMG decision and that SM turned in the original 8 track album with a few B sides. Album will probably grow on you to the positive.

 

+3 tracks is indeed a very stretched definition of "deluxe". It's expanded, at best.

 

Not entirely sure what you are on about. DM was "in the trenches" and used "female singers" to gain some "accessibility"?

BTW: I don't think SM survived Derek's sacking. Artistically it was downhill ever since.

 

I dunno, maybe it appeals to a wider audience? Maybe that "New Wave" synth band adds some background singers and now all of a sudden they aren't just 4 blokes? Think of any band made up of guys, add some women background singers and the dynamic changes drastically and usually makes them more accessible. Think of The Cure or Interpol and what that might do to their stage presence.

I think you can make a case for the downhill artistic slide after Derek's departure but they happened to release their most successful album (a pretty good one IMO) after he left then followed up with another very successful record albeit one that didn't do well in the US but that's a different discussion. Mick did the demos, he was the genesis for their music up through SFY. Derek is unique, irreplaceable but he didn't create the demos, my understanding is that he came in right at the end and that there were a few basslines that he introduced that the others worked off of but it was just a small number of tracks. He made it that much more unique as we all know how good he is but I maintain that Michael could have even figured out how the bass should be played and find a competent player to take care of it. There's a good debate about how John Giblin was a much better player, a different style and one that wasn't recognizably Simple Minds but like I said, it's a debatable topic. Many say that they can't even hear a bass on SITR. I thought it was a colossal mistake to sack him, he gave them an edge but he added to what Mick created, Mick leaving was much more of a blow.

 

I liked Simple Minds when they had a soulful singer (Robin Clark maybe?) on their hit song/album; I like the female vocals on the new one which bring a nice contrast to Jim's voice. I really lost track of them until the early 2000's and since then I've liked all of what I've heard, which has been their last few albums.

To me, Simple Minds is Jim Kerr and the rest of the band is interchangeable.

 

No way, Charlie is the musical motor. Jim doesn't write music per se.

 

Amazon is still telling me I'll get my casebound edition on Friday. I saw the vinyl, the standard CD, and the casebound edition all available for sale at Amoeba in Hollywood yesterday, but of course their prices are insane so I'll just patiently wait for my Amazon delivery. I'm all for supporting local stores over corporations, but $10.79 versus $18.99 is quite a jump. Amoeba feeds off of tourist shoppers and their tendency towards list prices feeds into this. I generally only buy used stuff at Amoeba, unless I have a coupon.

 

Yeah, agree that is too much of a price difference to ignore.

Not sure about the vinyl, but in my local Fopp (part of HMV) the regular CD was £10 and the deluxe £13, while on Amazon they are £9.99 and £12.99, so let's call them identical. I'll always support the shop if prices are the same or even a pound or two more.

 

This has kind of turned into a moan-fest. No one likes the new album? I do...

 

I do like it, have listenened to it a few times now and there are some very good songs on it.

I particularly like the last track, 'Sense of Discovery', the chorus sounds to me like it's the long lost cousin of 'Alive and Kicking', but with some lovely shimmery guitar and keyboard work. My favourite on the album.

 

People on this forum like to bitch and moan that some original members aren’t on the new album, or invited to tour, etc...

I like this a lot too!