Track Listing

1. Waterfront
2. Don't You (Forget About Me)
3. Alive And Kicking
4. Sanctify Yourself
5. Love Song
6. Someone Somewhere In Summertime
7. See The Lights
8. Belfast Child
9. American
10. All The Things She Said
11. Promised You A Miracle
12. Ghostdancing
13. Speed Your Love To Me
14. Glittering Prize
15. Let There Be Love
16. Mandela Day

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12505 in Music
• Released on: 1992-10-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
This compilation album is fascinating in that it tracks the dramatic artistic decline (and parallel commercial rise) of one the most successful groups of the post-punk era. "Love Song", "Promised You A Miracle" and "Someone, Somewhere In Summertime" see Jim Kerr and co. teetering like a cat poised on a fence, their sound a skittering, graceful interplay of glittering keyboards and adrenaline guitars, with Kerr's lyrics epic yet ambivalent on top. Then around the mid-1980s, Simple Minds fell from the fence into lumbering stadium rock rifferama. "Alive And Kicking" and "Sanctify Yourself" were big scarf-waving anthems but lacked the tantalising panache of their earlier work. As Jim Kerr sank further into megastardom, the music suffered further as he indulged in piously cumbersome ballads like "Belfast Child" and "Mandela Day". But while critics sighed, the Minds' audience swelled regardless--their "New Gold Dream" had come true. --David Stubbs

CD Description
Picking up where the band's previous hits compilation, 1982's THEMES FOR GREAT CITIES left off, 1995's GLITTERING PRIZEcompacts five albums into 12 tracks. Because they were bigger critical and commercial successes, 1982's NEW GOLD DREAM,1984's SPARKLE IN THE RAIN and 1985's ONCE UPON A TIME are better represented than 1989's STREET FIGHTING YEARS and 1991's REAL LIFE. Those two albums are well enough represented by the few tracks contained here that their purchase may nowbe unnecessary for all but the most devoted Simple Minds fan.
The mid-'80s tracks, particularly "Up on the Catwalk","Promised You a Miracle", "Someone Somewhere in Summertime"and of course "Don't You (Forget About Me)", sound as good as ever. Their presence gives the latter tracks some added luster by their proximity.

Customer Reviews

Altogether an accurate collection of Scotlands greatest.
I honestly had to laugh after reading some of the reviews of this album,the word cynical is quite frankly inaccurate. A greatest Hits LP is quite simply a greatest hits LP and all the hits in this collection are the bands most successful and well known songs, any real fans of the band would be happy with this album, infact it could and probably has generated new fans hence its charts success(rememder it kept Madonna of the no1 spot). Lets face it any band who has 2o years of music to pick from isnt going to pick the lesser known unsuccessful tracks for their first compilation this is not cynical just common sense.

Fantastic, mind blowing, typical Simple Minds
The first time that I ever heard Simple Minds was at Meadow bank Stadium, Edinburgh. It was 1989 and my mind and my ears couldn't believe what was going on. I have too admit that my favourite track has to be Someone somewhere, to me it just hands you pure Simple Minds on a plate. I love the beat of Waterfront, much to the annoyance of both parents and neighbours. Of there more recent tracks I have to favour See the lights and Let there be love. Let there be love just seems to be a subtle modern love song without all of that mush! I am a total fan and i have to say they don't really make what I would call bad music, I just think that some tracks shine stronger than the rest.Claireabelle

A Good Summary.
I would like to provide a counterpoint to an earlier review stating that this was a cynical rework. Of course its, cynical - you don't need to go any further than the "greatest hits" subtitle to know that - and that's what the CD contains - The Hits, not unfortunately, the rather more inaccessible stuff they did prior to that. As a fan of their more successfull early to mid 1980's work and the "once upon a time" album as well as "Glittering prize" (probably my favourite) I believe this compilation does a fair job or representing the band in terms of their main commercial success. It's a good summary of the band - and great to listen to - I even motivated me to dig out some of the original 12" singles I have.

This business of slagging off work for being cynical or "not as good as their early stuff" is surely just denial. The album is good, and if like me, the majority of your SImple Minds collection is still languishing on tape or records that you no longer use, then this is a good re-introduction of the band - but of course, it only scratches the surface.