Review Revue: Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)

You know, it's bad enough when there's a band that I'm vaguely familiar with, that I know I should really check out, but have never quite gotten around to (we see a lot of those in this column). But when there's a band that I totally think "yeah, I know that band! I like them," only to realize that I'm familiar with the couple songs of theirs that everybody else who's been alive since the '80s knows and associates with Judd Nelson, and I couldn't name a single one of their albums - and didn't even know they were still a band and just released a new album last fall! - well, that's just plain ridiculous. (I mean, he even told us, thirty years ago, "don't you forget about me." But did we listen? I didn't, apparently.)

And so it is with Simple Minds. Did you know they had an album in 1982 called New Gold Dream, and it was their fifth studio album? And further, that it's considered by many to be their finest work and one of the 1001 albums you must hear before you die? You are probably smarter than me and did know, and congratulations to you. But I did not know any of this until I pulled this record out and was pleasantly by surprised by the (generally) positive tenor of the reviews, and went and did a little Internet homework. Yes, I am a bad child of the '80s. But let's all take this as a moment to rededicate ourselves to appreciating the fine music of this lovely bunch of Scots by listening to this album and their new one with open (and simple) minds and hearts. And let's also be glad we no longer live in the era when "Disco sucks" is considered a valid musical critique.

"Dance oriented..."

"Import"

"They're from Scotland."

"Really good!!"

"Music for the mind. Good stuff!"

"'Promised You a Miracle' - solid DOR [there's that acronym again] with good beat + vocals" [<--Do yourself a favor and watch that video. It's the most '80s thing I've seen since maybe the '80s.]

"I really think this should be in a heavy rotation. Great stuff."

"Thank-you!!!"

"Disco sucks."

"(I don't even know how you could sign a statement like that)"

"Open your mind, man!" [OK, this is weird. A group from Italy sampled the title track of this album in 1993 for a song called... "Open Your Mind"! Did this KCMU DJ go on to form the band U.S.U.R.A.? I'm not willing to rule it out.]

"I don't like this..."

"Kneether dew eye"

"Even 4 1/2 years later this is still a great album!"

"Good, solid album"

"This was a great LP in 82 + it's gonna be one for a long time. Check the lyrics."