Simple Minds New Gold Dream

On 27th November 2013 Simple Minds played a very special concert and filmed it at the brand new award-winning venue the SSE Hydro Glasgow, the first concert to be filmed there. This deluxe digipak package features a DVD with a 93 minute edit of the concert, two CDs containing the audio, and a booklet containing a selection of beautiful photos of the occasion. To an enthusiastic home audience, the band delivers rousing versions of hit after hit after hit.

Originally released in 1982 by Arista in the U.K. and reissued on CD by the Dutch Disky imprint in 2001, Celebration serviceably culls some of the better moments from Simple Minds' first three albums: 1979's Life in a Day and Reel to Real Cacophony and 1980's Empires and Dance. Given the sadly neglected status of the band's early catalog – meaning anything that was released prior to 1982's breakthrough New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) – through the early 2000s, it is doubly unfortunate that a compilation like this remained out of print for an extended period of time.

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…

That the opening bars to Cry finds Jim Kerr opining "It's difficult to love you when you do the things you do time and time again" almost implies that the hideously unfashionable Simple Minds are once again anticipating getting stabbed in the buttocks by poison pens and have decided to save their critics the bother by writing the reviews for them. Well, if that's the case, they've done themselves a little bit of an injustice. The good news–and from this world, not the next–is that Jim Kerr has not reneged on his commitment to making an indecently modest pop record, one where any delusional notions of stadium rock empires are held in check and where melody is a stronger currency than reverb and hot air. Although the cleaner-than-a-kitchen-showroom production is out of step with the contemporary, scuffed-up sounds of "now"–Simple Minds remain hamstrung by their own outmoded brand of professionalism–Cry has more than enough decent tunes to entice persons beyond the well-creased folds of their fan base.

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…

”Real to Real Cacophony” is the second studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1979.

Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain (1984) [2CD] {2015 Deluxe Expanded Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 782 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 256 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 15 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Virgin Records / Universal | 3797350
Rock / Pop Rock / Synth-Pop / New Wave

Originally released in February 1984, Sparkle In The Rain (title taken from a line in Book Of Brilliant Things) was Simple Minds' sixth studio album and, following 1982's crossover album New Gold Dream, the one to cement their commercial success. This 2015 2CD Deluxe Edition of the title contains the original remastered album along with a bonus disc of rare B-sides, some making their CD debut for the first time. These include: a live version of New Gold Dream's 'Hunter And The Hunted,' which shows the band's evolving sound; acclaimed 12-inch remixes of 'Waterfront' (producer Steve Lillywhite looped the drums to create an extended intro, as well as stripped instrumentation to create a huge, expansive track), 'Speed Your Love To Me,' 'Up On The Catwalk' and 'A Brass Band In Africa,' and 'Bass Line' the original instrumental that became 'White Hot Day.' Add to this an expanded booklet and you have a must have piece for any Simple Minds fans music collection.