Simple Minds - Good News from the Next World

Great Band

I've only listened to it twice but I already appreciate what great music comes from this CD. Talented group with great songs and good vocals. December 5, 2008

The last great album of Simple Minds

I've been a life-time fan of Simple Minds, their 1982 "New Gold Dream" album was and is one of my all-time favorites albums. After reaching the pinnacle of hit-stardom with "Once Upon a Time" album, the band started to falter but hit a new creative burst with this 1995 album.

"Good News from the New World" (9 tracks; 48 min.) starts of with the tremendous "She's a River" (first UK single), and it is immediately clear that this album is going to be miles better than the previous album (1991's "Real Life"). "Hypnotized" (2nd UK single) is the absolute stand-out of the album, and one of the best tracks of the band, ever. The song still hypnotizes me to this day. Other highlights of the album include "7 Deadly Sins" and "And the Band Played On". The album falters a bit towards the end, with a couple of unremarkable tracks, reason I cannot rate this more than 4 stars.

Looking back, it is very clear to me that this is truly the last great album of Simple Minds. Yes, they have continued to release albums (and a new one is rumored for 2009), but I've listened to all of them, and they simply do not measure up. I had the great fortune to see them on their tour in Brussels, Belgium in 1983 supporting the "New Gold Dream" album, their best album ever, and what an experience it was. Meanwhile, "Good News from the New World" is a great album, their last great album really.

November 6, 2008

Fantastic

Truly a wonderful and pleasant surprise. I wanted to flesh-out my Simple Minds collection, so I picked up all the albums that I didn't have, and this one turned out to be one of my favorites. I'm not a punker, so I won't be playing their first albums much, but I will be playing this one over and over. August 30, 2008

Solid from start to finish

After the release of the much underrated "Real Life" and the subsequent tour, longtime drummer Mel Gaynor had departed the band for "a spell" and singer/songwriter Jim Kerr and multi-instrumental musician Charlie Burchill faced the fact that their band had dwindled from 5 to 2 members over the last 8 years and they were a voice and a guitar now so what did they do? They penned one hell of a rock record with great musicianship, singing, songwriting and production.

There is not one song I skip through on this disc and that does say something since I am picky and impatient when it comes to music. For any Simple Minds fan who may have fell away from the band as they struggled to recover from the major drop off in exposure in the states following "Street Fighting Years" to listen to this one they are in for quite a surprise. The majesty and vision of the words and music are still there but with quite a different influence in the music.

Grunge was in full swing at the time as well as some of the more guitar driven music coming out of England and it really found its way into this record. Much more steady and polished percussion with major fills as well as plenty of layered guitar on this one. There is that great Burchill guitar heard throughout this one, the same that was heard in Street Fighting Years but this time with a much harder edge.

Like I said there are no weak tracks here but my favs on this one are Great Leap Forward, Seven Deadly Sins, And the Band Played On, Its My Life, Criminal World and Hypnotised. I can listen to tracks 3-9 without ever tiring There are some great lyrics here as well...one of my favorites "a coward dies a thousand times but the brave they die just once" exemplifies a clarity that runs right along with the much more straightforward playing.

This is a fun and powerful record for any fan of the more thoughtful side of rock and is another testiment to the resiliency of the core of my favorite band. November 1, 2005

A worthy effort

Okay, so maybe it's not Sparkle In The Rain. But at least it's not Street Fighting Years or Real Life, either. Overall, it's a CD worth having. January 2, 2005

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