SIMPLE MINDS Part 1. posted with Anvilscepe

Genre:
Electronic, Rock
Style:
New Wave, Electro, Synth-pop



















EARLY YEARS - Demo Collection 1977 - 1978. (1998)

Credits :
Charlie Burchill : Guitar/Derek Forbes : Basses (Track 08-13) / Tony Donald : Basses (Track 01-07)/Brian McGee : Drums, Percussion /Michael MacNeil : Keyboards (Track 08-13)/Duncan Barnwell : Guitar (Track 08-13) /Alan MacNeil : Guitar (Track 01-07)/Jim Kerr : Vocals /John Milarkey : Guitar (Lead Vocals on Pablo Picasso)

Notes :
Tracks 1 - 7 Produced By Simple Minds & Brian Young. Recorded at Cava Studios, Glasgow, 09.11.77.
Tracks 8 - 13 Produced By Lex McEwan & Simple Minds.Recorded at Cava Studios, Glasgow, 11-12.05.78.

Tracklist :

01 18-18
02 Tonight
03 Little Bitch
04 Pablo Picasso
05 Subway Sex
06 Lies
07 Wasteland
08 Act Of Love
09 European Son
10 Cocteau Twins
11 Chelsea Girl
12 Did You Ever?
13 Pleasantly Disturbed

link to download :
http://rapidshare.com/files/8997354/the_early_years.rar.html

























LIFE IN A DAY (1979)

Credits :
Charles Burchill: guitars, violin & vocals
Derek Forbes: bass & vocals
Brian McGee: drums, percussion & vocals
Michael McNeil: keyboards & vocals
Jim Kerr: voice

Tracklist :

01 Someone (3:40)
02 Life In A Day (4:00)
03 Sad Affair (2:45)
04 All For You (2:50)
05 Pleasantly Disturbed (8:00)
06 No Cure (3:38)
07 Chelsea Girl (4:33)
08 Wasteland (3:44)
09 Destiny (3:36)
10 Murder Story (6:18)

link to download :
http://rapidshare.com/files/8988737/life_in_a_day.rar.html
































REAL TO REAL CACOPHONY (1979)

Credits :
Jim Kerr: voices
Brian McGee: drums & percussion
Derek Forbes: bass
Charles Burchill: guitars, violin & sax
Michael McNeil: keyboards

Tracklist :

01 Real To Real (2.47)
02 Naked Eye (2.21)
03 Citizen (Dance Of Youth) (2.53)
04 Carnival (Shelter In A Suitcase) (2.49)
05 Factory (4.13)
06 Cacophony (1.40)
07 Veldt (3.20)
08 Premonition (5.29)
09 Changeling (4.11)
10 Film Theme (2.27)
11 Calling Your Name (5.05)
12 Scar (3.31)

Link to download :
http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=41271a860acf24b504613918e235a274

"Simple Minds' work from 1979 to 1982 can not be over-rated in a review of post-punk UK music. By far the most creative band of this era they launched their golden period with Real to Reel Cacophony. I first heard this before I was into Simple Minds about 15 years ago and couldn't make head nor tail of it. However, on revisiting it as a bona-fide fan it's obvious that it is a work of huge depth and originality. More than this, though, is how listenable it is for such an experimental record.
It is hardly surpising that most of it was written in the studio - it is hard to imagine such a work coming out of anything other than experiment. The sound is the best elements of post-punk, with Joy Division / Low drum beats, cutting guitar a la early Gang of Four and liberally sprinkled with keyboards. The record ranks with Black and White and The Raven for examples of a band having the confidence to create edgy and powerful music - it is small yet big (a style they would truly exploit on their masterpiece New Gold Dream).
Charlie's guitars are developing the style that would remain until the debacle of Sparkle in the Rain - at first it's hard to hear anything happening then with more listens you pick up more and more subtleties. Truly remarkable work for someone so inexperienced in the recording process.
If you want singles and tunes look elsewhere but if you are willing to invest the time then this is a piece of art that rewards.
And the repetitive message about Changeling being the weakest song on the set is nonsense. It's a cracker.
Only four stars when compared to their later work. Would otherwise be five - it's a norm-referenced kinda review!"






















EMPIRES AND DANCE (1980)

Credits:
Artwork By - Artifex Studio, The Bass [Fret] - Derek Forbes/ Drums, Percussion - Brian McGee/ Engineer - Hugh Jones/ Guitar, Saxophone - Charles Burchill/ Keyboards - Michael MacNeil

Tracklist :

01 I Travel (3:56)
02 Today I Died Again (4:39)
03 Celebrate (5:03)
04 This Fear Of Gods (7:00)
05 Captal City (6:14)
06 Constantinople Line (4:14)
07 Twist/Run/Repulsion (4:38)
08 Thirty Frames A Second (5:14)
09 Kant-Kino (1:50)
10 Room (2:30)

Link to download :
http://rapidshare.com/files/8120499/Empires_And_Dance.zip.html 192 kbs

"This is the album responsible for getting me into dance music. Damn Jim Kerr and his posse! Tracks like Today I Died Again, Celebrate and the mesmeric This Fear of Gods are just as relevant today as they were revolutionary back in 1980. Questions have to be asked as to how Simple Minds got from this to 'Once Upon A Time' within the space of 5 short years...but if you want variety, look no further than this band.
The photo on the sleeve is meant to depict the fall of European civilisation, power, corruption (and lies?). Listen to the lyrics and Kerr has an unhealthy obsession with decay, death, European travel (strange combination, admittedly). It's a masterful album, well ahead of it's time. Not an easy listen in places, give it time - it's one of those 'growers'. It's very claustrophobic, a very dense, menacing sound. Not as lush as their Sons and Fascination double album just around the corner. Nevertheless, a healthy addition to any collection.
And as if to prove the point, The Manic Street Preachers, those urbanite revolutionaries, even cite this album as a key influence (check out the type face lettering on their Holy Bible album) - which is about as cool as it gets.
Buy it!"

"Having originally bought this great album when it was released back in 1980 on the Arista label, hearing it now, it hasn't dated at all. This is perhaps because it was never mainstream in the first place. To me this is one of Simple Minds most inventive records in terms of experimenting with new sounds and dance rhythms. The most accessible tracks are the euro-disco 'I Travel' and almost military dance beat'Celebrate' both of which were singles. The epic sweep of 'Capital City' conjures up visions of daily human life rhythmically existing in global coastal cities, while the haunting bassline matched with drum beat on the excellent 'This Fear of Gods' highlights the darker side of humanity. This record is one that grows upon you - it make take a while but once it does it'll be one of those that you may want to list in your top ten of albums to keep with you if stranded on a desert island."
























SONS AND FASCINATION /SISTER FEELINGS CALL (1981)

Credits :
Bass - Derek Forbes/ Drums - Brian McGee/ Engineer - Alan Jakoby , Hugh Jones/ Guitar - Charlie Burchill/ Keyboards - Michael MacNeil/ Producer - Steve Hillage/ Vocals - Jim Kerr

Tracklist :

01 In Trance As Mission (6:53)
02 Sweat In Bullet (4:30)
03 70 Cities As Love Brings The Fall (4:49)
04 Boys From Brazil (5:30)
05 Love Song (5:03)
06 This Earth That You Walk Upon (5:27)
07 Sons And Fascination (5:22)
08 Seeing Out The Angel (6:11)
09 Theme For Great Cities (5:51)
10 The American (3:51)
11 20th Century Promised Land (4:55)
12 Wonderful In Young Life (5:20)
13 League Of Nations (4:56)
14 Careful In Career (5:08)
15 Sound In 70 Cities (5:04)

Link to download:
http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=dc2d2fde175173fd31b3ad8de0063521

" Simple Minds were surprisingly vital for a few years at the start of the1980s, after releasing their Kid-A, 1979's Real to Real Cacophony theoriginal line-up made the classic Empires & Dance (1980) with producerJohn Leckie. Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call were bothreleased on the same day in 1981 and would be the final release from theoriginal Minds line-up (Brian McGee would leave prior to 1982's climax NewGold Dream). This reissue collects both releases- as did the prior cdversion from 1985- though this one comes with two-b-sides (League ofNations, Sound of 70 Cities- the only bonus tracks on the Minds reissues!)& a remastered sound that I'm probably too deaf to appreciate...The band had been embracing electronics with songs like Changeling and ITravel, their influences including touchstones like Kraftwerk &Moroder/Summer and peers such as Japan, Magazine, & Ultravox! (theFoxx-version). Steve Hillage (Gong, The Orb, System 7, The Charlatans'Upto Our Hips) is in many ways the ideal producer- going for a spacier feelthan either Leckie or Peter Walsh did on the Minds LPs before or after.These albums qualify as proto-electronica- Theme for Great Cities like NewGold Dream has been sampled for forgettable dance-hits, & as I've notedseveral times before, Theme...predicts Radiohead's Where I End & You Beginfrom 2003. The eight-track Sons & Fascination is wonderful stuff, building to a hugesound from a groove that is In Trance as Mission & reaching pop-meltdownwith Sweat in Bullet, one of Kerr's more oblique lyrics and kraut-funk atits best. 70 Cities (both here) has an insane chainsaw-sounding guitarthat crunches over an alien-chant and lays the ground for thetrance-overloads that are Boys from Brazil and Love Song. The finalthree-tracks from Sons...are more electronic- This Earth that You WalkUpon and Sons and Fascination (whose lyrics would turn up in Book ofBrilliant Things on City of Light)are synthetic with the odd addition ofBurchill's guitar-playing. The closing track is the palatial Seeing Outthe Angel, which seems to be leading towards songs like New Gold Dream andKing is White and In the Crowd...Sister Feelings Call is a briefer set, opening with Theme for Great Cities(one of the great instrumentals of the era, one Charlatans fans shouldadore & a track that warranted its place on the Death Disco-compilation),& then into single The American- which is a great pop-song and has curiouslyrics considering the band's eventual shift towards America. Burchill'sguitar is great here & as great as the late John McGeoch's on Magazine's ASong from Under the Floorboards. The other tracks are more-grooveorientated than perfectly-crafted pop songs and the addition of League ofNations extends this quality. New Gold Dream gets all the acclaim, but Sons & Fascination/SisterFeelings Call deserves as much- anyone into krautrock/electronic-headmusic ought to check this LP out, even if they hold reasonable grudgesagainst the band that would churn out stadium fodder like Belfast Child &Sanctify Yourself. Like Roxy Music, Simple Minds' earlier material wasgroundbreaking & seems overlooked as a result of their shift towards themainstream. I'd rank this alongside such joys as 4th Drawer Down(Associates), Technodelic (Yellow Magic Orchestra), Systems of Romance(Ultravox!), Tin Drum (Japan) & Remain in Light (Talking Heads). Greatvalue and some albums that more than deserve reappraisal..."

"This album, together with the previous "Empires and Dance" and the subsequent "New Gold Dream" see Simple Minds at their creative peak. Originally, "Sons and Fascination" was released with "Sister Feelings Call" as a double record package. That there is no padding of material on either record is testament to how much of a roll that the band were on. Thematically, the album is exploring images of America, but musically it is locked in a very European setting. Elements of Can, Neu, DAF and Brian Eno can be heard, but the band are treading their own distinctive path now. There is so much going on here. The opening "In Trance as Mission" sets the scene for the album. Derek Forbes bass straight away setting the rhythm over which Mick McNeils synths weave in and out. "Sweat in Bullet" is all rubbery bass. The beautifully haunting "This Earth that You Walk Upon" has some excellent atmospheric guitar by Charlie Burchill. He, together with the late John McGeoch from Magazine, were surely the most original guitarists to have come out of that time and both have never been given the credit they deserve. Just listen to the wah-wah guitar solo on "The American" for instance.
This album is all widescreen vistas, energetic, bold and of it's time. Credit must be given to producer Steve Hillage. Though known at the time for his work with Gong and his own prog based solo albums, here he is pointing to his future techno work as System 7. The album didn't reach the critical or commercial height's which the following, "New Gold Dream" achieved, but at the time Simple Minds were seen as torch bearers for bold, new techno based rock. Today, the couplet of "Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call" still impresses and can be rightfully placed along with "New Gold Dream" in the canon of the great early 80's albums such as "The Correct Use of Soap", "Sulk", "Tin Drum" and "Penthouse and Pavement"."


































NEW GOLD DREAM (81-82-83-84) (1982)

Credits:
Artwork By [Sleeve] - Assorted iMaGes , Malcolm Garrett /Bass - Derek Forbes/ Drums - Mel Gaynor (tracks: 01, 04, 06 to 09) , Mike Ogletree (tracks:02, 05, 06)/ Effects - Charles Burchill , Michael MacNeil/ Guitar - Charles Burchill/ Keyboards - Michael MacNeil/ Percussion - Mike Ogletree/ Photography - Jamie Morgan /Producer, Engineer, Arranged By - Peter Walsh/Voice - Jim Kerr/ Written By [Words, Music] - Simple Minds

Tracklist :

01 Someone Somewhere In Summertime (4:35)
02 Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel (3:49)
Voice [Girl's] - Sharon Campbell
03 Promised You A Miracle (4:26)
Drums - Kenny Hyslop
04 Big Sleep (4:59)
05 Somebody Up There Likes You (4:58)
06 New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (5:40)
07 Glittering Prize (4:33)
08 Hunter And The Hunted (5:54)
Keyboards [Solo] - Herbie Hancock
09 King Is White And In The Crowd (6:57)

Link to download :
http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=44ee7075cd8c9f20c507679aad1a4bd0 192 kbs

"Like many from my generation the first any American teenager had heard from this band was from a now classic 80s movie known as "The Breakfast Club." The song was, of course, "Don't you(forget about me)." Those seeking more from Simple Minds were subsequently enthralled with their huge hit album "Once Upon a Time." But for many fans that was the beginning of the end. Then, one sparkling day, a fit of nostalgia overwhelmed me and I decided to look further into this band's past catalog. I owned "Once Upon a Time" on cassette only(don't laugh, it was the dawn of the compast disc) and I thought, "This is a very good album. I wonder if any of their other albums are any good?" I decided to check out a competing site that has critical reviews, as well as ratings. "New Gold Dream" was given a stellar review and a matching rating of 4.5 stars. Well, the rating is altogether incorrect. It should be higher! This is a fantastic example of all that was good about early 80s New Wave. I have listened to this album repeatedly since I got it in the mail, and seriously can find no flaws. The songs are intricate and well-arranged with pristine production value. No single instrument overwhelms any other, each seeking absolute harmony within the structure of every song. There is another plus that I love here, which is a matter of taste, to be sure. It is that Jim Kerr's vocals on this album are not nearly as bombastic and Bono-like(U2) on this album as on "Once Upon a Time." Instead, he sings with a more intimate tone directly into the listener's ear rather than his occassional catering to the stadium crowd. I obviously prefer his vocalizations here. All in all, this album is a magnificent transition from "Once Upon a Time" and into a whole new and inviting realm of superb songcraft and memorable musicianship. Take a chance and purchase this excellent CD. If you love early 80s New Wave then this CD must be in your collection. The replay value is very high, with many moments you will want to revisit time and again."

"This is one of my "desert island discs." I love every song on it, and it still sounds as fresh today as the first time I heard it in the early 80s while working in Yosemite. I can't describe the joy I feel when I listen to this music - it is always one of my tests when listening to new speakers, and it is one of the ways I can mellow myself out when I need to get some downtime. Some of my favorites include "Somebody Up There Likes You" and the title track. Not a bad song in the bunch."

"When I first heard Simple Minds back in the early 80s I was underwhelmed. But gradually they grew on me and I got quite sucked into "Sons and Fascination," which remains a great record even today. Then in 1982 New Gold Dream came out and I was blown away. I listened to it constantly. When the band subsequently went large-scale, they lost much of their lustre, even though their sound on NGD was already big and expansive. One reviewer hit the nail on the head: in the albums up to and including NGD, Kerr's vocals are part of the song, integrated among the other instruments. Afterwards they became the focal point. NGD is a masterpiece, the mangum opus of Simplicities. You simply must have this record. Now."


More info :
http://www.simpleminds.com/

http://www.simpleminds.org.uk/discography.html
Many thanks for Anvilscepe!
Im going to continue with part 2...