Silver Box [Box set, Import]

Simple Minds | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set, Import
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: EMI Import
• ASIN: B0002WS3PK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,316 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Five CDs of previously unreleased material including 'Our Secrets Are The Same', the band's 'lost' album recorded in 1999. EMI. 2004.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars SM@25, February 28, 2006

By 

Talam (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silver Box (Audio CD)

If you are a Simple Minds fan looking to complete your collection with this boxset, I advise you to just forget it, snap out of it, smack yourself out of it. Don't pay this incredible amount of money for a bunch of inferior demos and live recordings. And if you're like me, this 5 disc set may make you re-evaluate your entire fixation with the band. Rather than make a strong case for the band it just makes it look like an old outdated odyssey. The long "lost" album Our Secrets Are The Same should have remained lost. It's one of the dullest things they've ever done.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Almost Okay, October 2, 2005

By 

Dave (Napa, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silver Box (Audio CD)

I was very excited about the release of Silver Box because it included the "lost" album "Our Secrets Are the Same." Perhaps I need more time to digest all five disks, but it didn't really rattle my cage. I more enjoyed the earlier cuts, studio demos of Jim and Charlie's first few albums. I agree that the song list is quite uneven. I would have hoped for more of their earlier work, especially the songs that are only available on the out-of-print "Early Years" album. The addition of "Our Secrets Are the Same" is also a disappointment. If you want new material from Simple Minds, buy "Cry" and wait for "Black and White." This is not essential.

14 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Overview of a Great Band, November 2, 2004

By 

Kirk Lott "a strange and unusual person" (adrift on the seas of life) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Silver Box (Audio CD)

"Silver Box" is the first box set from the supremely talented yet underrated Simple Minds. It serves as both a solid overview for the uniniated, as well as a treasure trove for converts of this Scottish band.

The highlight is certainly disc 5, which consists of the lost studio album, "Our Secrets Are The Same." Originally scheduled for release in 1999, it was compromised by legal wranglings with the record company, and then a devastating leak of the album onto the internet.

That was a shame, because "Secrets" consists of Simple Minds' best songs since 1984's "Sparkle in the Rain," and would have confirmed once and for all that Simple Minds are as good - if not better - than U2. The songwriting on "Secrets" is nothing short of amazing - you feel as if you're listening to music that - upon its first playing - consists of classics that have already stood the test of time.

Sprawled out across the other four discs, there are choice examples of all periods of Simple Minds, from the angular techno of its early days, to the U2-like anthem rock of the mid-80s, to its less focused efforts of the early 90s.

For existing Simple Minds fans, the alternate and live versions are very different from the originals, and very satisfying, making this collection well worth adding.

The only reason this collection has been docked a star is the flawed song selection. The set features almost every song from the overrated "Empires and Dance," and almost none from the epic "Sons and Fascination" / "Sister Feeling Call" set.

There's only a handful of songs from "Sparkle in the Rain" - widely considered the band's masterpiece. Yet many of the songs from "Real Life" - certainly one of the band's worst albums - make an appearance here.

And there's no representation whatsoever from the band's two post-1995 albums, the very good "Neapolis" from 1998, and 2002's excellent "Cry."

Finally, Simple Minds is well known for its excellent b-sides and instrumentals, especially from the "Themes" series. Again, these are absent. They would have made an excellent addition, and one can only hope EMI plans to re-release these in the future.

Nonetheless, "Silver Box" is a solid overview of one of the finest rock bands to ever come from the U.K. Highly recommended.