Customer Reviews

The Best of Simple Minds

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"best of simple minds" is an effective double cd collection that covers all of band's most important tracks up to around year 1999. i enjoyed it and it made me get their other albums. i think it is a perfect album for someone who knows only few simple minds songs and wants to know their music better.
from the cold new wave sound up to warm and emotional pop-rock Simple Minds remained a fresh band that has their own recognizable sound. of course they had some weaker spots ("biko" sounds much better in Peter Gabriel's version,and what the heck is the last track?) but who is perfect? even the lack of presence of some tracks doesn't change the fact that it is the best and most ineresting Simple Minds collection avaible.

I got this complilation for my son. When my son and husband were reading the package they both asked "Where is 'New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84)'"

How can a Simple Minds Compilation NOT have that song ?

Otherwise, it is a decent collection and a very good price for a 2 disc set.

This is indeed the best compilation of my all time favorite band Simple Minds. This is a double CD packed with all their hits that you are familiar with in the 80s and 90s.
You could not ask for more! From "Don't you forget about me" to "Mandela Day" each song is a piece of art.
Simple Minds rule!
A Must!

This anthology of Simple Minds' best work is great. Although not sequenced chronologically, Disc 1 covers the years 1979-1987, and Disc 2 the years 1989-1996. This allows you to see how the band's sound has evolved over the years. People who just know these righteous rockers through SPARKLE IN THE RAIN and ONCE UPON A TIME but want to dig deeper should get this two-disc set instead of the earlier, single-disc GLITTERING PRIZE, especially since this band's members believe that the young Australian tourist jailed in Indonesia on drug-smuggling charges was wrongfully convicted. That aside, Simple Minds, along with U2, REM, The Call, INXS, The Cars, The Clash, Midnight Oil, and several other 80s new-wavers and hard-rock bands, has earned the right to be called "classic rock" along with all of the great 60s and 70s bands.

Where do you start with these guys? My first Simple Minds album was New Gold Dream which is another must have.I picked this CD up trying to fill the gaps and really liked it. They have so many different sounds and styles and they are all here (except for New Gold Dream. Their is a different version of Promised You a Miracle which is great with a little more bounce. Just about any person who grew up in the 80's would like this CD as their is something for everyone here. There newer material on disc two was somewhat more mellow but works great at dinner or on a roadtrip. I have a ton of respect for these guys as their songs shaped my childhood and made me feel good. 5 star all the way!!

If you like the full versions of these songs, avoid this compilation. Several of them suffer from the "edit disease."

I'm surprised that this compilation of the Best of Simple Minds omits two of their best recordings: "New Gold Dream" and "Book of Brilliant Things." I suggest buying the "New Gold Dream" and "Sparkle in the Rain" CD's to get those tracks.

The majority of the older "prime cuts": for Simple Minds were on this CD. As a 20-yr. fan there are a few I would have added as I much prefer the older material over the newer.

If you are looking for a good collection of Simple Minds, I highly recommend this CD. For those of us who have all the CD's, this is a good way to cruise w/the band w/o changing CD's or shuffling!!

Simple Minds went through three distinct periods as a band, and on this two disc compilation, all get a fair shake. There was the early, experimental/arty phase, best represented here by "Themes for Great Cities." While they stayed virtually unknown in America in this period, they began running up a string of international hits.

Lead singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill soon began finding Simple Minds' own sound, and the albums began featuring tighter songwriting and playing. Starting with "New Gold Dream," Kerr's Christianity began to influence the lyrics to a greater degree, and the band became more boisterous. "Promised You A Miracle" made inroads on MTV and the song "Someone Somewhere in The Summertime" is terrific. Steve Lillywhite produced "Sparkle In The Rain" and treated Kerr's spiritual questing the the same sort of sonics he gave to U2, making "Up On The Catwalk" another breakout song.

Then came the Americanization. After Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol reportedly turned down "Don't You Forget About Me" (and Kerr himself initially passed on it), this single from "The Breakfast Club" broke away from the soundtrack and became a classic slice of 80's new-wave bombast, thanks to producer Keith Forsey. While the band wasn't all that receptive to this sound, "Once Upon a Time" used American producer Jimmy Iovine to bolster the sound to U2 arena levels and Kerr's vocals went for epic reach. "Alive and Kicking" and "Sanctify Yourself" became deserved hits, but this is probably the least representative of Simple Minds' overall sound.

Naturally, the band went into a creative slump after. The highly political "Street Fighting Years" pulled back on the sweeping sound, but also replaced it with histronic songs. "Belfast Child" was probably the highlight, but why the cover of Peter Gabriel's "Biko" was done almost note for note is a mystery. And while "Real Life" yielded the minor hit "See The Lights," the band had pretty much fallen into formula. Of the later works, "She's a River" and "War Babies" hold their own the best. At two discs and 32 songs, this is probably all the Simple Minds you need.

This album captures the distinctively mellifluent, textured, Kraftwerk-inspired new wave sound that Simple Minds made their own in the 80s. "Glittering Prize", "Waterfront", "Promised You A Miracle", "All The Things She Said" (a damn site better than that awful TATU record of the same name), "Don't You Forget About Me", all those early classics are here.

If this record does have any shortcomings, it's that it features too much of the political dirge from the late 80s/early '90s era, when they briefly lost their way. The second disk, however, does feature "She's A River" and "Hypnotised" from their renaissance in 1995, when they dramatically returned to form.

Given that they released the dreadful covers album Neon Lights a couple of months prior to this compilation, it looked as though they'd finally gone to the point of no return, so the timing of the release of The Best Of Simple Minds could't have been better - reminding folks about what a great act they weree in their heyday.