Customer Reviews

Once Upon a Time

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After revisiting this album for the first time in eleven years, I can't imagine why I'd forgotten about it to begin with. Perhaps the fact that I had owned it on LP originally, and my record player has long since bit the dust? Anyway, now that my collection has been updated completely to CDs I have been regretting my absence; Once Upon a Time by Simple Minds is simply amazing.

Because I'm just a music fan who can't sing or play anything worth a lick, I lack the musical language to describe Simple Minds' style beyond comparing them to other bands of their time. Superficially, this collection sounds like early U2 with a little more emphasis on the synthesizers and backup singers. The lyrics even have a similar quasi-spiritual overtone, poetically borrowing phrases that could have been Praise and Worship quotes but are probably used to describe human relationships. For instance"You lift me up like the sweetest cup I share with you" is from Alive and Kicking, and from Sanctify Yourself:
"So you can't stop the world for a Boy or a Girl, Sweet victims of poor circumstances
But you can pour back the Love, Sweeping down from above, giving hope and making more chances
Well I hope and I pray that maybe someday You'll come back down here and show me the way...Open up your heart, Sanctify yourself."
The title track also refers to Love as a white dove and repeats that God Only Knows.
Honestly, I don't know if the band professes any specific faith, but as a Christian myself I find their style truthful and uplifting indeed.

If Simple Minds have been often and unfairly compared to U2, then that is a deserved compliment in my opinion. But as much as I like those other guys, Once Upon a Time has its own brand of charm and energy that makes it a great stand-alone. It almost got my complete five-star vote if not for the fact that at only 8 tracks, I felt it was a bit too scant. That may not bother everybody as much as me, however.

So, whether you're just looking to complete an `80s collection (which would be missing a great deal without at least one Simple Minds cd), or whether you like its style-brethren, Once Upon a Time has my full blessing.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

There is not a weak musical spot to this production, arguably one of Simple Minds' most solid and cohesive. This album is a tribute to a decade (the eighties) and great musicianship that never dies. Two decades after the album's release it still enjoys a current sound the survived through the musical mill of grunge, techno, post-punk and many other genres. My particular favorites are "Sanctify Yourself", "Oh Jungleland" and one of the most upbeat songs ever: "Alive and Kicking", a song that will lift an elefant out of its sleep.

not much songs but at least quality in here!! Don't pay attention to the review who said it's too commercial. That one was funny to read anyway. All the songs are rich, inspired and aswell as a very great song. It's a great CD to play in the car. Simple Minds were and still the gods of the 80s. If you are open to songs who didn't reach a top 10 still thoses songs are some classics specially ''All the things she said'' and ''Alive and Kicking''. Great CD, I will never stop enjoying that original band!!

I really can't believe it...no one has reviewed this album, which implies that it has truly been forgotten. What a shame because this is a great (and hugely successful) mid-80's album for Simple Minds that followed on the heels of their massive hit single, "Don't You Forget About Me," from "The Breakfast Club" (or one of those John Hughes movies). Although this doesn't contain that song, it has some other huge hits: "Alive & Kicking" and "Sanctify Yourself," in particular. The whole album is solid, though, with a balanced sound that, although a bit dated in an 80's way (lots of synthesizer washes, every click on the drum is audible), still sounds appealing today. Jim Kerr is at his best singing Bono-like anthems. It's too bad Simple Minds never really capitalized on this album's success, waiting a couple of years for a live follow-up. For awhile it looked like they were going to take off into the stratosphere. Take a chance on this somewhat forgotten album and group. You'll hear some of the best rock of the 80's.

Simple Minds and U2 were long-time friendly rivals, with the main difference being U2 had greater promotion, and Simple Minds greater talent. Don't get me wrong - U2 is an incredible band, but Scotland's Simple Minds is even better.

Where to start? The title track is a mind-blowing, epic anthem featuring some of the most powerful music of the 80s: thundering drums, majestic keyboards, and soaring vocals. Its lyrics are nothing short of amazing, providing a satisfying answer to a central question of humanity: if God is so great, why do bad things happen to good people?

"All the Things She Said" features a haunting and uplifting guitar-driven melody. "Oh Jungleland" bursts at the seams with passion and energy, showcasing the incredible drumming of the ueber-talented Mel Gaynor. "I Wish You Were Here" features another haunting melody, with spiritual lyrics from singer Jim Kerr.

There are a couple weak tracks, the blandly generic "Ghost Dancing" and "Santify Yourself," which seem generated solely as singles for the U.S. market.

But the rest of this album is an astonishing wall of sound, brimming with musicial talent, and spritually inspiring lyrics. Highly recommended.

Don't pay attention to the review below. He, or she, is confusing Simple Minds with U2, in regard to the Wide Awake in America cd. When judging that, don't pay attention to the review. Everytime I listen to this cd, I get a good feeling from all the tracks. I think it rates well with New Gold Dream and Sparkle in the Rain. It sounds more like New Gold Dream than people think!!

I am very torn about this record. I was a huge Simple Minds fan starting with the time I heard Love Song and an early live version of Promised You a Miracle on the radio late one night in 82. New Gold Dream was and is my favorite record of all time and I think Sparkle in the Rain is just as good but I preferred the softer sounds of New Gold Dream.

After witnessing the band being catapulted into superstardom with the release of Don't You Forget About Me I was extremely anxious to here this record. I really liked Alive and Kicking when I heard it over the radio but it was quite different from what I was expecting given the ethereal sounds from Sparkle in the Rain. I have never really liked backing vocals for bands like this because I think it sounds more pure for the members ot the band to work out the vocals themselves.

Kirsty McCholl's subtle but beautiful work on Speed Your Love to Me seems to be just right. Robin Clark has a beautiful voice and a very bright personality but I just never felt the band needed this type of singer on their records. I bought the record on cassette and vinyl the day it was released. Stuck the tape in my Walkman and was very suprised. My favorite band that really sounded like nobody else was sounding like quite a few other bands of the day.

After a few listens I looked at the credits and saw Bob Clearmountain's name. I read a few articles about him and they all pointed to the fact that he is a master at obtaining a big, clean sound that goes over well in arena sized venues. Don't get me wrong, I think he is a great producer and I think he has helped craft some outstanding albums (Avalon anyone?) but I thought he altered the natural progression of their musical maturation. Derek Forbes had left the band before recording started and was replaced by John Giblin who happened to own the studio they were working in.

The sound here is very clean, layered and much more tailored to the US listening audience. Was this by design? Who knows? They have been known to try very hard to not make a sequel record so maybe they wanted a much different record. This practice would go on to damage their selling power with the much more subdued Street Fighting Years that followed the live record.

Mel Gaynor hits the drums very hard and it happens to be the very first thing you here when Once Upon a Time starts. The melodies are great, the musicianship is great as always and the singing is very confident. All the Things She Said comes in nex quite nicely, again nice melodies and great guitar work.

Ghostdancing follows the title track, a very straight forward rock song that uses a lot of the foundation of the live versions of "I Travel" from Empires and Dance. It is one of the harder tracks along with Oh Jungleland and has a very interesting interlude with a little storytelling to some nice guitar strumming. The song ends very strongly with strong music on all fronts.

Alive and Kicking, the album's strongest and perhaps most popular track is next. I love the keyboards and guitars on this song. Again great melodies but too much backing vocals.

The second side has Oh Jungleand, the album's fastest and most inspiring track dealing with some of the issues in large cities. I Wish You Were Here and Sanctify yourself are my least favorite songs here although I never skip over them. Come a Long Way ends the record on a very high note. Great interplay between the instruments and it ends on what is one of my favorite instrumental pieces with soaring keyboards and guitars.

All in all this is a great record. It didn't sound the way I thought the follow up to Sparkle in the Rain would sound but it still works. Perhaps it is a testament to the talent in this band.

ONCE UPON A TIME is a wonderful album by Simple Minds, an 80s Scottish band who, along with The Police, U2, REM, INXS, The Call, The Clash, The Cars, Midnight Oil, a few other 80s new-wavers, a number of 80s hard rock bands, and all of the great rockers of the 60s and 70s, may now be considered "classic rock." This album spun off three hit singles, and most of the others could have been hits as well. The fact that this band advocates sanctions against Indonesia in retaliation for that country's trumped-up 2005 drug-smuggling conviction of a young Australian tourist only makes this album more worth owning. This album and SPARKLE IN THE RAIN should be the first Simple Minds CDs you purchase.

Ironically, this is probably their best selling album overall of all of them, but it is arguably their worst and most comercial sounding, the other being (in both cases) "Real Life," NO, not "Good News From the Next World," not by a long shot.

I have been a very long time SS fan since the early 80's, and everything they did before this album was top rate, but they took a big dive down with this one. The songs on this album are fundametally very good, and had much potential, but they just seemed to be produced very poorly in the sense that they just sound too refined and comercialized (i.e. Big Country - "Peace In Our Time"). Unfortunately, this type of thing ruined many talented, and promising groups of the early 80's. One sure sign of producing too comercially is pushing the guitarist more to the background, in this case Charlie Burchill (big mistake!!), and bringing up those nasty female, gosple style background singers! This was the first album that Simple Minds used gosple style background singers, and unfortunately, they have not stopped since, with "Street Fighting Years" being the exception (and also one of their better albums, hmmm, wonder why!)

The best song on this CD is "Ghost Dancing" which Simple Minds considers the best song they ever did, but even this song is much better in the live version where Charlie's playing really comes through! Just check out "Live in the City of Light" CD" If you are looking to get a good taste of Simple Minds, don't go with this CD, go with "Sparkle in the Rain", or "Street Fiting Years." Their two best, in my opinion!