Virgin | UK | 6xCD | 2012 | SMBOX2

Well, my copy of the eagerly awaited Simple Minds X5 box finally arrived on Saturday. I had pre-ordered it from Amazon and then they contacted me several weeks following its February 20th release date to tell me that they could not fulfill my order I was highly annoyed, so I cancelled the order and ordered instead [at a cheaper price] from an Amazon dealer that listed it in stock. But that still didn’t mean that I didn’t have to wait upwards of three weeks to finally have the coveted package in hand! In an age then almost anything I order from Amazon is in my Record Cell within days, this particular piece has been problematic. But now that it’s here, was it worth the wait?

First of all, let me state that the set is, shall we say, less than Monastically perfect. The straight albums are the same as the wonderful 2002 remasters. In other words, SOTA digital transfers that were not brickwalled – hooray! The album sleeves are accurate, to the point of the texture from the 1st Zoom/Arista pressing of “Real To Real Cacophony” photographically reproduces the embossed texture of the sleeve for the first time ever! Since I only ever had the German Virgin reissue of that album on LP, this was revelatory for me. It makes me want to track down a Zoom pressing of the real deal! I cherish my Zoom “Empires + Dance” with original insert so I should act on this impulse.

It’s on the bonus tracks, wonderful as they are, that the scope of this project falters somewhat. Back in 2002, I made my 10 disc BSOG set of Simple Minds rarities and all of the material contained within the scope of X5 was included in my “Simple Minds: Act One 1978-1986″ volume as shown at left. Of course, the initial Chiswick 7” of “Johnny & The Self Abusers” would not be on a Virgin volume like X5, but since I scoff at lawyers, it kicks off my set. Here’s a list of what I included that was passed on in X5.

1. Johnny & The Self Abusers: Saints + Sinners
2. Johnny & The Self Abusers: Dead Vandals
3. I Travel [7″ edit]
4. Celebrate [7″ edit]
5. Changeling/I Travel [12″ segue mix]
6. Love Song [7″ edit]
7. Sweat In Bullet [7″ remix]
8. Premonition [live @ Hammersmith 9/25/81]
9. 30 Frames A Second [live]
10. I Travel [live]
11. Seeing Out The Angel [inst. remix]
12. Promised You A Miracle [US remix]
13. Glittering Prize [theme]
14. The Miracle [US dub mix]
15. King Is White & In The Crowd [BBC]

Alas, I’ve run out of time, so I will wrap have to wrap this overview up tomorrow…