Customer Reviews

Sons & Fascination / Sister Feelings

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Virgin records is finally putting some effort into their CD re-issues. Three of my favorite bands (Japan, Magazine, and Simple Minds) who all had BEAUTIFUL vinyl albums back in the 80's, were given short shrift when it came time to release initial CD versions. Anyone who has these discs knows how cheap and ugly they are. Especially the typesetting. Everything was changed to what looked like Helvetica Letraset and only the front covers were reproduced (poorly) in most cases. Although I'm not a huge fan of the mini-LP CD packaging, I must admit that Virgin has finally done justice to some of the greatest music it's ever released. I bought all the Simple Minds remasters and have no complaints other than the minor question of why the same side of the inner sleeve of REAL TO REAL CACAPHONY was printed on BOTH sides of the CD sleeve. If that was for budgetary reasons then shame on them. Lyrics for NEW GOLD DREAM are also missing, probably because they couldn't fit them on the small CD sleeve I'm guessing. Aside from that, these CD's look and sound fantastic and gave me almost as much excitement as when I bought the albums as a young lad. As far as the music on this album goes, it's some of the best the band has ever produced. Jim Kerr eschews the sing-along style for a more futuristic vocal delivery and lyrical content while Derek Forbes' bass drives the music. Not as melodic as their later work and more rhythmically arranged. If you like U2 then you should hear this to see how much they [took] from this album and Simple Minds in general.

For everyone who thinks Simple Minds is "Don't You Forget About Me," you are in for a major revelation.

Simple Minds, in short, is one of the best bands ever to come out of the U.K., and this is one of their finest albums.

Where to start? If you like new wave, techno, gothic, bands like U2, or anything even vaguely related, this album holds something for you. Here are some of the many styles covered across this vast set (originally one album plus a long bonus EP)

-the angular, guitar-fueled angst of "Sweat in Bullet"
-the ethereal, synth-driven dreams of "This Earth That You Walk" and "Seeing Out the Angel"
-the martial, forboding industrial landscape of "Sons and Fascination,"
-the incredible, other worldly "Theme for Great Cities," a fantastic, bass-driven techno instrumental;
-the synth new wave of "20th Century Promised Land"
-the powerful drum and guitar powered anthem rock of "Wonderful in Young Life"

The only downside is there could have been greater sonic clarity, which certainly a masterpiece such as this deserves.

But if you're willing to listen to an album more than once to appreciate it, and are a fan of any of the more cerebral types of late 70s/early 80s music, you'll love this album.

There is no other record that sounds like this one. Consider the age of the band members when they produced this juggernaut and compare it to what members of that age group are producing at present and there is no comparison in talent, sophistication and creativity.

This album challenges your mind with a huge collection of inventive sounds, rythyms, riffs and lyrics as well as possibly the most impressive keyboard playing of its time. Listen to some of the other records of the time and they seem so primitive. Of course there are some great records but this one really takes you out of your own comfort zone and throws the frenzied atmosphere of the European dance scene into your psyche and keeps you buzzing to the end.

Whenever I play this record for people who haven't heard it I watch their interest gaining momentum as the huge variety of music ropes them in and holds their ears for the duration. They almost all say that they've never heard anything quite like this one and later on they will remark about how many songs keep playing in their mind over and over.

Some of the highlights here for me are the unforgettable bass lines in songs like 20th Century Promised Land, This Earth that You Walk Upon, Theme for Great Cities, Sons and Fascination as well as the cascading and layered keyboards throughout. Outstanding synths on Seeing Out the Angel, The American, Love Song and This Earth that You Walk Upon.

The guitar on this record is pretty subdued in its production although it is not hard to note the brilliance in the subtlety of the playing. Charlie Burchill is a guitar player who accents and adds to songs rather than having a song built around him like so many guitar players do.

Very hypnotic drumming here by Brian McGee. His departure not long after this record was a great loss to this band. He had a great understanding of the dance rythyms of the time and his playing is spot on.

The vocals are very complimentary to the songs. I have always thought that Simple Minds was an instrumental band first who just happen to have a great singer/lyricist as well. Listen to any track and imagine them as just instrumentals or part of an indie film soundtrack and they work very well.

This record is definitely a great example of music as an art form and is one that you should never tire of.

I was 11 years old when I first heard this, thanks to my unbelievably cool sister, and I'd never heard anything like it. Since then it has remained as one of my uncontested top 2 albums, and here is why:
The music is unrelentingly dark, the lyrics often cryptic in the extreme. It seems to emanate from the noxious underbelly of Thatcherite capitalism and the age of mutually assured destruction. And yet, withall, it is full of memorable sonic moments: "This Earth That You Walk Upon" circles hopelessly around Derek Forbes' superb basswork, before suddenly transcending that dull round with a superb, lambent guitar solo - a moment of nirvanic clarity.
Then again, there's "Boys From Brazil", where you cannot but be captured by the propulsive drumwork and the shimmering haze of guitars and keyboards.
And check out "Seeing Out The Angel" one of the finest album closers I've heard (of course, here I'm thinking of the vinyl version: the CD has Sister Feelings Call grafted to it. Use the Program function on your CD player. "Seeing Out The Angel" is a remarkable piece of hypnosis, cathartic after the edgy angst of the preceeding tracks).
Although "New Gold Dream" had memorable moments aplenty, they never surpassed this.

I love the music here, but I gotta say the packaging over the years has been messy, botched by indecision upon its initial release. Back in the mid-80s I had the original SONS lp (I can't recall if it was imported or what). It had 10 of these selections and some songs also appeared on SISTER FEELINGS CALL.

Before I got this re-release, I had never heard "70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall" which merely adds vocals to "Sound in 70 Cities." I still prefer the vocal-less version, perhaps out of familiarity. It's an upbeat instrumental of old-school U.K. rock augmented by what sounds like a chainsaw. "Seeing Out the Angel" is another new one for me, and it's very good - a sterile, hypnotic piece.

Unfortunately, the weakest track here is the first one. "In Trance As Mission" is a rather awkward song and may have turned off some new listeners before they heard the entire album, the rest of which is excellent. Highlights include: the swaggering rocker "Sweat In Bullet," the meditative "This Earth That You Walk Upon" and the hypnotic yet driving instrumental "Theme for Great Cities."

"The American" may be the best track here. It's very synth heavy and it also rocks. A scorching lick from guitarist Charlie Burchill closes out the song with real intensity. It should also be noted that Derek Forbes (who, after all these years, recently rejoined the band) laid down some absolutely addictive bass grooves all over these songs.

These guys created some of the most unique, palpable rock atmospheres during their underground electronic period which includes the albums REAL TO REEL CACOPHONY and EMPIRES AND DANCE as well as this one. This new disk collecting SONS and SISTERS might be the best of the bunch.

Having bought all of Simple Minds first albums in late high school/early college years, and feeling dismayed by their later "anthem-stadium" efforts, I was thrilled to see these records(Reel to Real, Empires & Dance, Sons/Sisters) released as CDs. I can't really decide on a favorite song, though In Trance as Mission, and Careful in Career especially resonate. Along with the earlier two albums, Simple Minds at this time had a great feel for the postmodern angst of the isolated reflexive self, and with that the desire for human connection brought on by globalization. These songs capture well the unreal feelings of living at the end of the cold war, hopeful despite the overarching threat of annihilation. The compositions are innovative and haunting, Jim Kerr's vocals and phrasing innovative and, though at times unpredictable, absolutely breathtaking. This is still a group that understands voice as part of the instrumental whole.

Another reviewer mentioned all the "sounds" here, and it's true. Here we have a feast of sound and rhythm not really of any specific time, place, or planet even. All songs have an oddness to them in combinations of vocal delivery, lyrics, synth effects, or rhythms. It's hard to pin down, but they just sound slightly warped and alien, even spooky in some instances. "Theme For Great Cities" should be on everyone's list of incredible instrumentals, with its blurred, fast-motion pace and sax riff. Both versions of "70 Cities" are essential and alternately highlight the players ("Sound In 70 Cities") and vocalist ("70 Cities As Love Brings The Fall"). It is this song that succinctly demonstrates their penchant for odd arrangements. A repetitive synth line blurts out moans ("buzzsaw" as someone else put it) while lead guitar twinkles and chuckles away to itself and bass burbles up from god-knows-where. To the vocal version, add some multi-tracked vocals from a ranting loony, and you'll be wondering what planet they're from. Can't be Earth can it? How do they think like this? Who knows, but I love it dearly. This one is tons more fun and easier on the ears than Empires and Dance, continuing the trend toward greater accessibility. Have fun following them, but don't jump over the cliff with them as they do Once Upon a Time.

I have to admit I didn't ever expect to see this one get the remaster treatment. Just ordered my copy, along with 'New Gold Dream...' and 'Sparkle In The Rain' so I'll be enjoying 'em soon.

This is the real Simple Minds experience...not the American version that brought you 'Don't You Forget About Me' and whatnot. Songs like 'The American' (ironically) and 'Love Song' are the real deal here. Jim Kerr and the boys never sounded better than in this period.

...the Simple Minds were not the dreary U2 wannabes they became. Before they broke our hearts they were one of the most exciting and innovative Post-Punk acts in the world. Before they chased around the almighty pound/dollar/ deutschmark nearly as fervently as they hungered for Bono's dingleberries, the Simple Minds were a Teutonic, proto-Industrial leviathan powered primarily by Derek Forbes' monstrous post-Funk bass. It's no surprise that they became a comedy when Forbes left after Sparkle in the Rain in 1984. He was the heart and soul of the band. His nimble, inventive basslines formed the backbone of all the band's best songs. I'm giving this album only four stars, but still giving it my highest possible recommendation, not for Sons and Fascination but for the appended Sister Feelings Call tracks. Sons is a perfectly OK album, with the mammoth Love Song being the standout track. But Sister Feelings Call is a landmark. Producer Steve Hillage (ex -Gong) outdoes all of his contemporaries and messes with the tone and timbre of every single instrument. The snareband is turned off so the beats have a round and tribal feel, but in context sound like the working of some infernal machine. The bass is gargantuan and metallic, fat and heavy. The guitars sound like power tools, the synths like foghorns and conveyor belts and Kerr's summons the tortured ghost of Jim Morrison for a cab-ride through his worst industrial nightmares. Sound in 70 Cities ends the whole shebang in a glorious fashion, as bass and drums punch it out with the sound of a pneumatic drill and a glorious guitar arpeggio sounds like churchbells ringing all over the universe.

Sister Feelings Call is easily of a piece with the most seminal works of its type- David Bowie's Low, PiL's Metal Box, Gary Numan's Replicas, Ultravox' first. IPod must haves: Love Song, Theme for Great Cities, The American, Careful in Career and Sound in 70 Cities.

This album (actually an album and ep, originally) is terrific, and--with Empires & Dance--one of the two best that the Minds ever released. Together both records (and half of the poory produced Reel to Reel C) present hard, cutting-edge euro dance-rock. These guys were sure ahead of their time back then, and were amazing when I saw them tour for both of these records over 20 (!) years ago. (Yikes--I'm getting old.) This is Simple Minds before they became a stadium rock outfit (and before Jim Kerr started pleading with the audience to "show me your hands"). BTW I'd also recommend New Gold Dream (Christian rock with a difference) and Sparkle in the Rain, but it was sharply downhill after that.