Empires & Dance [Limited Edition, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Simple Minds | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 7, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B00006IUPT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #671,940 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Travel

2. Today I Died Again

3. Celebrate

4. This Fear Of Gods

5. Capitol City

6. Constantinople Line

7. Twist/Run/Repulsion

8. Thirty Frames A Second

9. Kant-Kino

10. Room

Editorial Reviews

2002 digitally remastered reissue of the new wave icon's 1980 album (o.o.p. domestically). EMI.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Astonishing Record, July 23, 2005

By 

The Grossinator - See all my reviews

This review is from: Empires & Dance (Audio CD)

Empires and Dance is an unbelievable record. It probably ranks as Simple Minds' second best album (just a hair behind Real to Real Cacophony). It also ranks as probably the most unusual record of the post-punk era. In some ways this should have been the Bond theme music of its time. No other album captures the atmosphere of Cold War Europe circa 1980 like this disc. It's literally like a time capsule of the era. Political fragmentation, communications breakdown, tension, intrigue, strife, cultural curiosities and the barriers of language are all reflected by the extraordinary songs on this album. The average rock fan may not get it. It has more in common with the works of Kurt Weill or German Lieder music than anything in rock or pop. Comparisons with Roxy are more lazy than anything else. Here's a roundup of the songs:

'I Travel' kicks of the album at a frantic pace. A helicopter synth line propels the listener over the land as Jim Kerr yelps in his newfound Scott Walker voice: 'Travel Round, Travel Round, Decadence and Pleasure Towns. I see tragedy, luxury, statues, parks, galleries'. Very exciting stuff.

'Today I Died Again' is a stately dirge. A sombre and powerful musing on the failure and decay of civilisation, it seems all the more strange and out of place in today's world where everything comes with a post ironic wink. Funnily enough though, it's as relevant as ever in its portrait of the dehumanisation of a people in a post fascist apocalyptic wasteland. Musically, the rhythmic guitar wash is pure Neu, Mick McNeil lays out some coldly beautiful keyboards and the drums are excellent in a dub sort of way. The marriage of words with music is truly haunting in this track.

'Celebrate' continues with the same theme but does contain that kink of irony in as much as the title sounds more like a threat than an invitation. Here, Derek Forbes' bass lays the foundation over a rhythm track that sounds like a train. If 'I Travel' is Kraftwerk's 'TransEurope Express' on speed then this is just the opposite. A slowed down voyeuristic snapshot of the people from 'Today I Died Again'. The song gradually disintegrates into a cacophony of handclaps, shouts, synth burbles and the sound of a real train on a ghostly journey. Stunning.

'This Fear of Gods' is as fabulous and mindblowing as its title suggests. Another brilliantly hypnotic bassline is overlaid with synth sequences and wailing saxophone a la Can (courtesy of guitarist Charlie Burchill). Kerr's dense lyric builds and builds until the chorus which showcases a wonderful Mahler like melody on the keys. Some might say that the verses run on too long in this song but I think it makes the sense of release in the choruses all the more effective.

'Capital City' comes in sounding like a horse clip clopping over a dumb bassline with a 5 year old playing a synth melody that sounds oh so familiar. I'm not making this up! That's exactly what it sounds like! The Minds don't go about painting pictures of alienation in the usual teen-angst sort of way. Instead they draw on the disparate threads that make humdrum living what it is and lay it out on a huge canvas without any emoting. To say it's unusual would be something of an understatement. To say it's wonderful would not.

'Constantinople Line' sees the band kicking further into leftfield again. This time Kerr is stuck on a train that never seems to reach its destination, making bland enquiries of the waiter: 'Hey Waiter, what state is this?'. Meanwhile the band are playing what can only be described as electronic modal jazz. It doesn't sound like one's traditional expectation of jazz but when you strip away the cosmetics that's exactly what it is. This is when you really start to realize that Simple Minds are leaving their punk roots behind. They've got their eyes set on bigger things.

'Twist/Run/Repulsion' is probably the track that pushes some people to hit 'eject' on the CD player! It is the most uncompromising piece on the record but hardly unmusical. Over a bassline that repeats like a pneumatic drill comes the voice of what sounds like a foreign airport announcer. It's actually a female friend of the band reading some french literature (I think it might be 'l'Etranger' but I'm not 100%). Then a blast of horns and a 4 note guitar arpeggio (which is stolen straight off a track called 'Mind' on Talking Heads' excellent 'Fear of Music' album). All the while, Kerr babbles like a madman! Great fun!

Then comes 'Thirty Frames A Second'. Over a robotic bassline accented by one of the most brutally heavy synth sounds ever committed to tape, Kerr rattles off the story of a man forced to relive his entire wretched life in reverse in a futile effort to make some sense of it all. All the while McNeil's synth lines snake in and out around the vocal. It's rare for a song to be so aesthetically cold yet reflect the human condition in such an oddly moving way.

'Kant Kino' is one of the band's most overlooked instrumentals. Short and sweet, it's built on layers of loops from the guitar and synth. It's also got a gorgeous little bassline. Probably the most overtly melodic moment on the album.

'Room'. This song is the perfect album closer. It's the only one that sounds remotely traditional in any way, shape or form. Here at the very end, the Minds betray that they're not unnaffected by all that they see and that in fact they do care. With a simple rhythm and some congas going, Kerr sings 'I only live here. I only live here. A fragile man'. The delivery is stern but it's the thought that counts. This song does for this album what 'Scar' does for 'Real to Real'. The fact that they've made you wait the whole album for a glimpse of weakness makes the moment just beautiful.

A few notes: The drumming on this record is absolutely excellent. Brian McGee was an economical drummer with precision timing and great taste. He never overplayed and nearly always did something a little bit special to make a song his own. Without a doubt, the best drummer the band ever had. They never should have let him leave. Also, the keyboards on the record are exquisite. There are a handful of melodic flourishes by Mick McNeil that sound like snippets handed down from Mozart.

As you've probably gathered by now, Empires and Dance is as much about ideas and experiences (and lyrics!) as it is about music. It's one of very few records that really is thematically consistent without the dreaded 'concept album' tag. The lyrics are, for the most part, abstract. Yet the pictures they conjure are powerful, concise and filled with meaning.

I can understand why an album like this might seem like unlistenable noise to some people but the truth is it's anything but that. There's no doubt that the jarring nature of a lot of the music on this disc is not everyone's cup of tea, but this is the kind of album that will reward the adventurous listener for many years to come. Give it a chance and you'll just keep coming back for more.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A strong effort from Simple Minds, January 10, 2003

By 

weka (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Empires & Dance (Audio CD)

Too bad this is collecting dust in the previous reviewer's CD rack!

Much of SM's earlier grooves are being heavily sampled by new artists and there are some hidden gems in early SM work, like the driving "Changeling" on R to R.

While Sparkle in the Rain put SM on the European charts, Empires and Dance is a very good album of an advante garde group in 1980, developing its aesthetic around Soviet-era European, politics and club scene. Again this is 1980 and fairly early in SM's career. I agree that Life in a Day and R to R are efforts that may not be as listenable, but SM has begun to develop a new foundation of sound (both dance rhythms and lyrics) and exploration here that sets them up for full album listening success in Sons and Fascination / Sister Feelings Call to Sparkle in the Rain and so on.

I would consider Empires and Dance a Good staring point for a SM
collection because of the bass, sythesizer and drum work, as the Celebration CD gives a good sampler of the efforts pre- and during Empires.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ENTICING WORK, April 28, 2003

By 

12 Eloquent Dots (Sitting next to that girl right over there.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Empires & Dance (Audio CD)

Due not pay attention to the 1 star review. This cd is Simple Minds at its post-punk best. Twist/Run/Repulsion might be the only song that may annoy, but the others are great! Who cannot deny the song "Thirty Frames a Second" or the greatness of "I Travel" or "Celebrate." This cd holds that time period in its hands and shows how creative musicians were becoming without the intervention of PR and Studio "bosses." One should wonder -- why do not cds/lps exist like this today!!