Simple Minds - also returning to roots?

[duranfan09]

Perhaps following in their peer's footsteps, Simple Minds have recently announced a new album for 2012 and also a "2011 compilation" featuring their greatest hits plus a brand new 8-minute version of "In Every Heaven" (originally recorded for their "New Gold Dream" album in 1982 but later discarded) plus another track (tbc).

Their 2012 album (as yet untitled) is rumoured to be a "return to roots" record. The early signs are that this is true, as a demo of a song called "Broken Glass Park" (which will appear on the new album) was performed live by Jim Kerr earlier this year and it sounds very much like their old sound:



Definitely has a "Someone, Somewhere in Summertime" vibe to me!

As a HUGE fan of their 80s stuff (notably the New Gold Dream album and tracks like "Don't You Forget About Me") I've been waiting a long time for them to produce something similar, but like Duran Duran they abandoned this sound in the latter half of the 80s and haven't really come close since, instead favouring a more prog-rock sound throughout the 1990s and into the present.

Here's the original version of "In Every Heaven":

[duranfan09]

Ha ha... just the one Simple Minds fan on here then :-P

[errbt]

Dec 5, 2010 19:37:17 GMT -5 duranfan09 said:

Ha ha... just the one Simple Minds fan on here then :-P

Nope, at least two.

I nearly commented a couple times lest week, but have to pick and choose (and type quickly) when posting at work! ;D

Been a pretty big fan since Once Upon a Time in 1986. I have no problem with the big sound of that record - in fact I think it's a masterwork. That said, I quickly found lots to like in their back catalog as well. I have a real soft spot for their first album, with other favorites being Reel to Real Cacaphony, Sister Feelings Call, and Sparkle in the Rain. I've found something to like in pretty much every stage of their career, although less consistently so after Mick MacNeil left...I think that any true return to their roots would be best served if he returned (know it won't happen, though).

I actually thought Graffiti Soul was better than their several previous outings...definitely high hopes for the next one!

ps Do you have the Silver Box 5 disc set? It's a MUST have, with tons of old demos and live stuff (not to mention the long lost unreleased Our Secrets Are the Same album - the release of which gives me hope for D2's Reportage to reach our ears one day)!

pps Thought for half a sec that it was Warren Cucurullo on guitar in the youtube clip?

[stuporfly]

I met the band when they were recording Once Upon a Time in Woodstock, NY. Mel Gaynor gave me a pair of drumsticks that were enormous. The sticks I use are much smaller, but the 15-year old version of me was mighty impressed by the gift.

That was really the last album I paid any attention to, though I did love it and everything that came before. I've been pleased by recent releases by other old-school bands like OMD and Wire, so why not Simple Minds?

[errbt]

Dec 6, 2010 16:48:38 GMT -5 stuporfly said:

I met the band when they were recording Once Upon a Time in Woodstock, NY. Mel Gaynor gave me a pair of drumsticks that were enormous. The sticks I use are much smaller, but the 15-year old version of me was mighty impressed by the gift.

That was really the last album I paid any attention to, though I did love it and everything that came before. I've been pleased by recent releases by other old-school bands like OMD and Wire, so why not Simple Minds?

That's pretty cool. Mel Gaynor is a monster...an amazing drummer both in technical skill and sheer volume. I remember when I sat my band down and made them listen (I had delusions of getting them to try covering it) to his, IMO, signature recorded moment, the medley of Love Song/Sun City/Dance to the Music/New Gold Dream which ends Live in the City of Light. After the tour de force of the first three segued into the mellow reworking of NGD, ending the storm with such amazing calm ("Arena" rock, I think not - they were far more than that limiting phrase, even in the those late '80s), everyone sat silently until our singer (not particularly a Simple Minds fan) said simply "If we were that good, we wouldn't be practicing in a basement and playing in bars." ;D

[oktobercolours]

Interesting video. That's a really small stage. Don't know the story behind this set though, maybe is was a surprise/private gig or something...? Don't really care for this live version though.

I love Simple Minds... especially the pre - Once Upon a Time era. Particularly the synth work by these guys was just top notch stuff (I'm partial to moody dark-synth pop stuff). My favorite 80s instrumental song is "Brass band in African Chimes". Their first 4 or 5 albums are legendary in my book.

Thanks for posting!

[The Seventh Taylor]

Going back to their (synth pop) roots -- from which they had over time strayed pretty far -- is also what was said about Depeche Mode's previous album, Sounds of the Universe of which I got myself a copy exactly a year ago. Frankly, it hasn't swayed me, although perhaps I should have allowed it to grow on me more. Strange, because while my favourite era has always been Some Great Reward / Black Celebration / Music for the Masses / Violator I did appreciate Playing the Angel quite a lot.

I'm looking forward to such a new Simple Minds album. I liked Once upon a time, loved Sparkle in the Rain and especially New Gold Dream. And the twelve-inches even more so. I still frequently play Upon the Catwalk. Of course, the other thing that attracted me to Simple Minds was the Assorted iMaGes artwork. If they really go back to their roots they may want to consider hiring Malcom Garrett again.

(picture borrowed from Discogs)

[The Seventh Taylor]

The Pet Shop Boys' previous album (not Yes but the one before it, Fundamental) was regarded as a return to earlier times because they teamed up with Trevor Horn for production again. It didn't sound retro to me in any way but I loved the album much more than the ones before and after it.

I could imagine Martin Fry/ABC doing a new album with Trevor Horn (The Lexicon of Love II, anyone?). Various songs on his latest album, Traffic (2008) did hark back to earlier days but not one album in particular.

[duranfan09]

Thought I'd bring up this thread again because recently I've been listening to the latest Human League single, entitled 'Sky'.

Whilst most of their new album (Credo) doesn't really hark back to their glory days, this one single in particular is classic Human League:



I really do think that many 80's bands that are still with us today are starting to give their fans what they want to hear, instead of trying to chase high chart positions (which is rarely possible for vintage acts in this day and age). That is, quite simply, looking backwards in order to move forwards.

I did post an update on the Simple Minds new album a few months ago, basically it looks as though they have drafted in Steve Hillage (who produced Sons & Fascination / Sister Feelings Call). According to Jim Kerr, they are absolutely going for their late 70s/early 80s sound. And I couldn't be more thrilled personally!

Anyway, regarding the revival of their classic sound, one of Jim's latest blog postings sums it all up rather nicely...

"And yet he we were - end of August and through September 2011 - in a tiny workroom off of Ladbroke Grove in West London, mysteriously once again working with the producer of Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call, and possibly continuing – without any fuss – from where we left off all those years ago.

So what is it with all this nostalgia? Is this a concerted and purposeful effort to drift backwards through time? And are we so hung up in careering back to a spirit of the past because it is more comforting to consider than the uncertainty that envelopes our (and everybody else’s) future? The answer to those is undoubtedly no!

After all if we put the names of faces and places to the side and consider instead that core to this activity is the creation of “new songs” – then that alone surely tells us that what is been done is the laying of new tracks that will determine a future. One that we are determined to keep on growing!"

[duranfan09]

Thought I'd dig up this thread again, as that very early live demo of 'Broken Glass Park' in my original posting has been drastically re-worked and re-shaped into their new single, which is being included (along with another new track called 'Blood Diamonds') on their forthcoming 'Celebrate: Greatest Hits +' box set.

BBC Radio 2 premiered it just an hour ago in the UK and it's absolutely fantastic. Very much influenced by the sound of their first three albums, reminds me personally of 'Life In A Day' and 'Today I Died Again'.