"simply Red"

Home is the eighth studio album by British pop and soul band Simply Red, released in 2003. It is the first Simply Red album released on band frontman Mick Hucknall's own record label, Simplyred.com. The album was a success all around the world, and includes the hit singles, "Sunrise", "Fake", "You Make Me Feel Brand New" and "Home". The album includes three cover versions: the Bob Dylan song, "Positively 4th Street", The Stylistics' soul hit, "You Make Me Feel Brand New", and the Dennis Brown song, "Money in My Pocket". "Sunrise" borrows a loop from the 1981 Hall & Oates song "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)", as well as some of the lyrics.

Blue is the sixth studio album by Simply Red, released on East West Records on 19 May 1998. The album includes five cover versions: "Mellow My Mind" from the 1975 Neil Young album Tonight's the Night; two versions of the frequently covered "The Air That I Breathe", written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood; the Gregory Isaacs hit "Night Nurse"; and "Ghetto Girl" by Dennis Brown, from whom the band would cover another song in 2003. New versions of previously recorded Simply Red songs also appear here: "Come Get Me Angel" is a rewritten version of the 1996 single "Angel", and "Broken Man" was first released as a B-side in 1987. Mick Hucknall and the production team of Andy Wright and Gota Yashiki are the only musicians featured in the Blue CD booklet's photography; this is a first for a Simply Red album, as all prior albums featured photos of the various band members credited. "The Air That I Breathe Reprise" samples "Jack and Diane" by John Mellencamp.

Under the leadership of vocalist Mick Hucknall – the only member to play in all the many incarnations of the band – Simply Red turned from New Wave soul upstarts into British pop institutions, specializing in immaculately tailored, impeccably polished adult contemporary pop with a soulful accent. While Simply Red were hardly unknown entities in the United States – they reached the top of the Billboard charts twice in the '80s, once with the slow-burning original "Holding Back the Years" and again with a cover of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know My by Now" – the group dominated adult-oriented music in Britain and Europe from the late '80s into the early 2000s, racking up such blockbuster albums as 1991's Stars, 1995's Life, and 1998's Blue.

Simply Red - Picture Book
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 395 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Elektra # 960 452-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1985 (original version)
Genre: Pop, Rock | Style: Pop Rock

The band finds a steady R&B groove reminiscent of '60s Stax house band the MG's, and, as with the MG's, it's all in the service of a big-voiced soul singer, in this case a British redhead. Features the U.S. number-one "Holding Back the Years" and the U.K. Top 20 "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)."

Best of Simply Red: Holding Back the Years 1985-1997 contains all of Simply Red's biggest British and American hits, including "Holding Back the Years," "If You Don't Know Me By Now," and "Something Got Me Started." In addition to the well-known singles, there are two new tracks added to the collection, including "Angel," a duet with the Fugees. Simply Red always worked better on singles than albums, making this single-disc compilation an excellent introduction.