Leading Simple

In 1990, as Simple Minds continued to rampage full-steam into a downward slide of overwrought albums and evaporating relevance, Virgin U.K. began repackaging the group's singles as CD5s through the Themes series…

The fifth disc of the fourth and final Themes box is the only one that features exclusive material to rope in hesitant fans and, of course, it was only obtainable through this set – Virgin would eventually issue all the CD5s in the box sets individually, but not that one. Clearly, Virgin attempted to take advantage of Simple Minds fans on a number of levels…

The second box dedicated to compiling Simple Minds' Themes series – i.e., dolled-up reissues of the group's original 12" singles – covers August of 1982 through April of 1985, which means that the A-sides originate from the New Gold Dream and Sparkle in the Rain albums…

Covering the singles released from September of 1985 to June of 1987, the third five-disc installment of the Themes boxes covers the Once Upon a Time era and stretches out to include the live-version single of "Promised You a Miracle" that was issued in support of 1987's Live in the City of Light…

Silver Box is mostly made up of previously unreleased demos, radio & TV sessions and various live recordings from 1979 to 1995… and is also including—as a final bonus disc—their genuine twelfth studio album (of original material), Our Secrets Are the Same, originally recorded between April and June 1999 and originally planned to be released on its own in early 2000 but delayed many times and even cancelled until its final inclusion in this very box set…

This super deluxe edition boasts an abundance of material. Disc one features a 2016 remaster (by Andrew Walter at Abbey Road) approved by Charlie Burchill and the second disc gathers 12-inch remixes and instrumentals of the singles, a few of which enjoy their CD debut. Various edits and B-sides can be found on the third CD in the set while disc four features previously unreleased BBC John Peel and Kid Jensen radio sessions, recorded in February and August 1982. All ten tracks on disc five are previously unreleased; made up of alternative mixes and demos.
One of Scotland's finest exports, Simple Minds deliver a strong synth-reared release on New Gold Dream. This album harks the darker side of the band's musicianship, and such material alludes to their forthcoming pop-stadium sound which hurled them into rock mainstream during the latter part of the '80s…

This new 4CD / 1DVD Super Deluxe Box Set version comprises a host of bonus material including; B-sides and extended mixes; BBC sessions; a previously unreleased Glasgow Barrowlands concert; promo videos; Top Of The Pops and Oxford Road Show footage; a booklet containing sleeve notes and interviews plus track by track annotation and a reproduction concert programme…