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…
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…
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…
This cube-sized doorstop is a 25-disc box set, an elaborate and expanded reissue of expanded reissues. In 1990, Virgin released four Simple Minds Themes sets. Each Themes volume contained five CD singles – reissues of the band's singles from 1979 through 1990, essentially, with occasional bonus content in the form of live material and just what every Simple Minds fanatic needs: album tracks. And now, these Themes, which were like box sets, have been boxed, with a fifth Themes box added to the mix that extends the set's scope through 1992…