Simple Minds start to clean house of the last 20 years of music

Glorioski! It’s been difficult around lately here what with inclement weather impacting my job, and lunch hours sacrificed on the altar of 40 hours a week. Then there was that annoying identity theft issue, haircut appointments, etc. and not only was I getting to work early and taking 15 minute lunches, but I was trying to shore up the hours I did work to reach the magic 40 and something had to give. Actually two things went by the wayside. Pre-work gym time and this blog. Until we have another snow/ice event, we should be good for some regular posting.

When late last year it transpired that long time faves Simple Minds were releasing a 5xLP boxed set of their 2001-2014 albums I thought ‘that’s nice,” but even though “Cry,” “Neon Lights” and “Black + White 050505” have never troubled the LP format, I’m not going to spend three figures to gaze upon 180g colored vinyl editions of albums I already had on CD. Life and money’s too short for that game, even for a band I love as much as Simple Minds. I noted the proper refocusing of the spotlight on these albums which saw the band trim its sails to the point where their latest album had them hitting #4 in the UK album charts. Canny fans knew that this didn’t happen out of thin air, and these albums admirably reveal the work the band did. It was called “Rejuvenation” and reconfigured the “Big Music” artwork into something actually more interesting than the cover of that album. Given that I only care about Simple Minds music that is not on CD if I’m going to buy records of theirs, I noted this and moved on.

All of that changed recently with the announcement of “Rejuvenation: 2001-2014” in a BSOG with CDs and a DVD.

Demon Records | UK | 7xCD + DVD | 2019

Simple Minds: Rejuvenation: 2001-2014 – UK – 7xCD + DVD [2019]

CD 1 – NEON LIGHTS

1. Gloria
2. The Man Who Sold The World
3. Homosapien
4. Dancing Barefoot
5. Neon Lights
6. Hello I Love You
7. Bring On the Dancing Horses
8. The Needle And The Damage Done
9. For Your Pleasure
10. All Tomorrow’s Parties
11. Being Boiled
12. Love Will Tear Us Apart
13. The Man Who Sold The World [White Spaces Main Mix]
14. Homosapien [Vince Clarke Mix]

CD 2 – CRY

1. Cry
2. Spaceface
3. New Sunshine Morning
4. One Step Closer
5. Face In The Sun
6. Disconnected
7. Lazy Lately
8. Sugar
9. Sleeping Girl
10. Cry Again
11. Slave Nation
12. The Floating World
13. Lead The Blind
14. For What It’s Worth
15. The Garden
16. New Sunrise
17. Where Is The Max?

CD 3 – BLACK & WHITE 050505

1. Stay Visible
2. Home
3. Stranger
4. Different World (Taormina.me)
5. Underneath The Ice
6. The Jeweller Part 2
7. A Life Shot In Black And White
8. Kiss The Ground
9. Dolphins
10. Too Much Television
11. Bird On A Wire
12. Mighty Joe Moon

CD 4 – GRAFFITI SOUL

1. Moscow Underground
2. Rockets
3. Stars Will Lead The Way
4. Light Travels
5. Kiss And Fly
6. Graffiti Soul
7. Blood Type O
8. This Is It
9. Shadows And Light

CD 5 – SEARCHING FOR THE LOST BOYS

1. Rockin’ In The Free World
2. A Song From Under The Floorboards
3. Christine
4. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
5. Let The Day Begin
6. Peace, Love And Understanding
7. Teardrop
8. Whiskey In The Jar
9. Sloop John B
10. Children Of The Revolution

CD 6 – BIG MUSIC

1. Blindfolded
2. Midnight Walking
3. Honest Town
4. Big Music
5. Human
6. Blood Diamonds
7. Let The Day Begin
8. Concrete And Cherry Blossom
9. Imagination
10. Kill Or Cure
11. Broken Glass Park
12. Spirited Away
13. Blindfolded [Reprise]

CD 7 – BIG MUSIC BONUS CD

1. Swimming Towards The Sun
2. Bittersweet
3. Liaison
4. Riders On The Storm
5. Dancing Barefoot
6. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) [single version] (with The Stranglers)
7. Blindfolded [Johnson Somerset Remix]
8. Midnight Walking [Johnson Somerset Remix]
9. Honest Town [Johnson Somerset Remix]
10. Big Music [Johnson Somerset Remix]

DVD – PROMO VIDEOS

1. Dancing Barefoot
2. Cry
3. Home
4. Rockets
5. Stars Will Lead The Way
6. This Is It [clip]
7. Blindfolded
8. Honest Town
9. Let The Day Begin
10. Midnight Walking
11. Neon Lights EPK
12. Black And White 050505 EPK
13. Black And White 050505 Interview
14. Graffiti Soul EPK
15. Big Music: Behind The Scenes
16. Big Music: Band interviews
17. Big Music Clip Medley: Human / Let The Day Begin / Midnight Walking

The presentation of the 12″ x 12″ book/jacket is sweet as this will no doubt fit on and record racks, and the liner notes by Mr. Kerr are undoubtedly fine and illuminating. I see 23 bonus tracks salted amongst these discs. Tracks in monksblood red are things that I have already bought elsewhere. The cuts in bright red represent the new material here for my ears. If anyone has not heard these albums, then this is an eight course feast. As a Simple Minds [pragmatic] collector, I have as many of their CD singles, which were scarce in this era, as I was able to buy. I have the singles from “Cry.” What I could not get was the CD “Live + Rare” from whence the White Spaces mix of “The Man Who Sold The World” hails from. To get this little puppy, one had to live in Italy and buy a Vodaphone mobile contract! So I never worried about sourcing a copy.

The three B-sides from the “Cry” CD singles were never much to write home about. These were leftover tracks from the “Our Secrets Are The Same” sessions, and unremarkable tracks. “New Sunrise” was the B-side; a version of “New Sunshine Morning” from the “Spaceface” Euro CD5. And “Where Is The Max” is a fluke. This is a song which has no previous provenance within the Simple Minds discography. It is effectively a “new” song [raises eyebrow]. What takes the wind out of my sails was the fact that curing the “Cry” period, Simple Minds licensed many tracks to dance labels around the world and there is probably 1-2 CDs of remixes tied to this period that are scattered to the four winds. I have virtually none of this material since it is very expensive to source. It might even stink, but I’ve not heard it in any case. It could have been possible for the “Cry” album to be a 3xCD affair all by itself, but 95% of that material is m.i.a. here.

Some [but not all] of the tracks on the two  “Home” CD singles pop up on “Black + White 050505.” “Bird On A Wire” is not the Leonard Cohen classic [thank goodness] but the reality isn’t much better. It’s another Kevin Hunter tracks from the “Our Secrets Are The Same” sessions. The one bright spot here was the Euro only DL single “Too Much Television” popping up. That also got a physical release on the Euro “Stranger” CD single, but those are mighty thin on the ground.

The “Graffiti Soul” album was issued in a 2xCD format even in 2009, and the second album was the largely missable “Searching For The Lost Boys” cover album. The CD of the main album came with “Shadows” and light which was only a “bonus track” compared to the DL version of the album, I guess. It’s a great song, but I’m not rating it as bonus material as the band does for that reason. The second all new track here was a cover of T-Rex’s “Children Of the Revolution” added to “Searching For The Lost Boys.”

“Big Music” also came in a 2xCD DLX ED back in 2014, and the six songs on that bonus disc are here, but they have added two items of note to disc two. Late that year, the band linked up with The Stranglers for a picture disc single with both bands duetting on “Grip.” I resisted paying premium for a picture disc, so this is of some interest. Also of interest is the debut of the Johnson Somerset remix EP material on CD format. Previously, these were iTunes only tracks sold only outside of America for some, fascist reason. I love Johnson Somerset’s widescreen, slow-mo remixes and the notion of him working his magic on Simple Minds again [he mixed the “War Babies” single in the late 90s to strong effect] delighted though it was impossible for me to purchase these tracks.

The DVD is a lesser object, considering that there are only a handful of video clips made after 2001 when that market bottomed out in a hurry with no outlets to actually play the things. What happened since then is insidious: the notion of making video clips of 60 seconds length showcasing a song for TV appearances by the singer/bands in person instead of the real thing. So much of what’s on the DVD falls down this slippery slope of compromise. Hence the need for EPK material [also from the “Big Music” DVD’ used to fill this disc out. And let’s face facts: even for the nine videos here; Simple Minds were never legendary for their music videos. The “Cry” clip surfaced on the “Seen The Lights” DVD and it’s ghastly.

So what do we get here as bait? Ten tracks that I currently lack. The BSOG is going for a very agreeable £55 [$71] and if I were made of money, I’d be on it, no problem. But money’s too tight to mention right now. The diabolical 2017 changes to the US tax code from the ****heel in the White House have gutted allowable deductions for charity going forward so in spite of liberal pre-tax payroll deductions to avoid a tax bill we can’t afford, I have no assertions that this year may not see us negotiating a payment plan with the IRS. All the better so that magical billionaire job creators might have their coffers untouched!  Itemization is now a game strictly for those in the upper reaches of society. So no, I don’t see this release in my future. I will probably opt to buy just those ten cuts as DLs from iTunes at one point. At least I will be able to buy them in the US iTunes store this time! Your mileage may vary. For anyone interested in pre-ordering this now, the Simple Minds store has a good price. The shipping may hurt. It comes out on March 29th, and we’ll see what, if any, discounts happen among the various retailers. It’s a crazy great deal if you’ve only bought “Walk Between Worlds” and had the fire rekindled.

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