Customer Reviews

Live in the City of Light

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I had this album on vinyl when it came out in the 80's. The cassette copy I made of it then has been played so much it can't be played anymore. I love this album. I saw this concert tour in '86 and it's always been a favorite. (Heck, I have a small souvenir from that night in the form of a tiny bit of hearing damage in my right ear - our seats were a tad too close to the speakers on one side.) Their music gains a ton of power and emotion live, between the energy of the crowd and the impassioned playing of the band. The remastering for this release sounds excellent. Crank up the volume on "Waterfront" and "Alive and Kicking" and feel like you're back in the arena chanting along with the crowd. It's almost a religious experience. Highly recommended!

"Live In The City of Light" is perhaps one of the most exhilerating albums I've ever heard, since August of 1987 to be exact. The Simple Minds were at their prime when this album was recorded live in Paris France and Sydney Australia. The incredible sound of this dynamic band promises to surface even further in the newly remastered version. My favorite tracks are "Alive & Kicking" which just takes you on an emotional high, "Book of Brilliant Things" and "New Gold Dream". Take this album on your next drive, preferrably a nature trip, you'll be greatly inspired to enjoy life and forge ahead. On transpacific flights, I always listen to this album, wear my sunglasses and look out at the clouds and ocean below...it's a trip! I'll let you know how the remastered sounds when (they) send it!

"Live in the City of Light," which to date is the only live album from this Scottish band, is a great time capsule from this band at its peak.

The material is great, the performances full of passion and energy, and the sound awesome. A real treat is to hear how Simple Minds gives songs totally different - and terrific - arrangements in concert. In this case, "Book of Brilliant Things" and "New Gold Dream" are both given an ethereal, magical reading.

One weak spot is "Promised You a Miracle." It's given a new arrangement that completely loses what made it so great in the first place: the brainy bite of its terrific bass and synth interplay. Instead, it adds a violin (?!). I believe the violin player was a band member's girlfriend, so it demonstrates - once again - rock stars should never let a girlfriend join the band. Also, "Sun City" is a throwaway, and merely reveals Jim Kerr's growing interest in conquering the US market.

However, if you're going to buy only one Simple Minds album, this would be a fine choice, and gives a nice overview of material from three of their best albums.

I hated this tour, they reworked all their older songs, slowed them way down, just turned into a major snooze fest.

Classics likeNew Gold Dream turned into slow temp dirges

Luckily they saw the light, and their most recent tour/album has them back at their exhilerating best

There are a handful of arguably excellent live CDs, Rush's 'Exit Stage Left'; Genesis' 'Three Sides Live'; Supertramp's 'Paris'; The Who's 'Who's Last'. And surprisingly, this double-album from 1987 ranks with said heavyweights. Even if you are not a Simple Minds fan, this is a better CD to own than thier greatest hits CD. Rarely do live performaces rate better than the orginal studio version, yet tracks like 'Sanctify Yourself'; 'Ghostdancing' and 'Alive and Kicking' exude a visceral rawness to which the listener (particularly on CD) feels the interconnectedness of the band with the audience. Its virtually impossible to find nowadays, but normally one can unearth this little gem at used record stores. Its well worth the search.

I saw this band twice when they supported their Once Upon a Time record and they were absolutely on fire! A much different stage presence from the one I had seen only a year and a half before when they were touring to support Sparkle in the Rain and then a double bill with The Pretenders. A much more elaborate stage set and light show as well as a very polished wardrobe this time around and the songs to go with them.

Its really quite interesting to watch a great band evolve from when they start out then gain a rather large following then explode into the mainstream. I would suggest to any fan of this great band casual or diehard to pick up Seen the Lights and watch the great footage of their early shows up to the Streeet Fighting Years show in Taormina.

Simple Minds has always been an unbelievable live band. I think their stunning performances played a major role in the large fan base they already had when Don't You came out. The huge success they enjoyed with the success of that song as well as the great record called Once Upon a Time that was released just after that shines through on this album. The different treatments of their older songs are outstanding and moving, especially with East at Easter, New Gold Dream and Promised You a Miracle.

I've seen some mention of the more "rock-like" version of Promised You a Miracle that takes out the great interplay between bass and synth on the original song but I think the constant steady bassline works better live than if it was played just as on the original. The band had actually been playing the song like this for quite a while before this particuliar tour with the version on this record sped up just a little and some more effect from the synthesizers.

The only older song that I felt should have been played differently here would be "Somewhere, Somewhere in Summertime". I never thought the tempo here worked as well as if they were to slow it down as they did on the Sparkle in the Rain tour or as they played it while supporting New Gold Dream in which they played the song pretty much the same as it is on New Gold Dream. I never thought the fiddle worked very well here as well and I understand it was something added in studio as the record was being fixed and mixed.

Ghostdancing, Oh Jungleland, New Gold Dream, Waterfront, Big Sleep, East at Easter, Book of Brilliant Things and Once Upon a Time work very well here and the rest with the exception of the Love Song/Sun City/Dance to the Mucis medley are great as well. I'll never understand why they felt the need to take an outstanding song like Love Song and mix in some very average tunes with it that seemed very out of place here. I know South Africa was the cause celebre at the time but that along with the Sly Stone song just didn't fit in very well.

The individual efforts on this disc are outstanding from start to finish. Michael McNeil churns out some beutiful and powerful soundscapes and the outstanding guitar playing of Charlie Burchill is as always just what these songs need. Drums and bass are very solid even though it seems like the bass was mixed in a bit low. Jim Kerr's vocals are powerful and uplifting and Robin Clark's backing is strong although I never felt this band needed this type of gospel singer.

Overall this is a great and uplifting double live album that should find its way into any fan of music's collection. It never grows old no matter how many times you listen to it

IT'S JUST LIKE YOU ARE THERE.
IT'S JUST LIKE YOU ARE THERE IN THE LAST ROW AT THE TOP OF AN OUTDOOR STADIUM.

This is a 2 CD of a concert in Paris from 1987. Each disc is around 42 minutes long.

The recording of this concert was poorly done, and ruins any chance of this being a good album. Simple Minds music is complex and intricate. It requires clarity in the recording. On this CD, all you get is a bunch of noise in many spots.

There are some very good moments on this CD, like Love Song, New Gold Dream and Alive and Kicking. They would be fantastic with a little bit better sound quality.

Other songs don't do so well, like Promised You a Miracle and Someone, Somewhere in Summertime. The performances of these songs are just dull and don't match up to the versions on the studio albums. Simple Minds was doing basic the same show throughout Europe, and seems like the band just got bored with playing some of the songs. Or course these songs may have been helped if the sound quality were better.

Sancify Yourself starts out very nice, but turns into a jumbled mess after a few minutes. It is hard to tell if there is a performance problem, or just a sound mixing issue. It gave me a headache by the end of the track.

On some of the songs, the sound quality is passable. Mostly these are moments were the guitar is featured and few other instruments are playing in the background.

For people to say this is a fantastic CD and not mention the issues with the sound quality are doing the readers a disservice. Some may still enjoy this very much in spite of the sound quality. But it is important for someone to know what they are buying upfront.

I became a fan of Simple Minds when they were first widely introduced in the US with New Gold Dream. The other band that was just gaining popularity at the time was INXS. I thought they were very similar bands.

I had always thought that New Gold Dream was one of Simple Minds earlier albums. But it is actually their sixth. I just started listening to their earlier material and was surprised at how great it is. It is certainly much better than what came after New Gold Dream. Empires and Dance is a great techno dance type album.