so a new year, new music, look you see. here we are into February, so to speak, and it is only now that an album, or if you like record, has caught my attention enough to go and purchase it on or around (actually around) its day of release. even then, to be sure, it is not strictly the first record i've paid for thus far in 2018, but we will get to that.
what record did i pick up? just, for the record, one day after it was made available to the public for sale, but that i did not purchase at HMV? it was, is, Walk Between Worlds by Simple Minds. a record i am assured is their 20th studio album.
how i came to learn that Simple Minds had a new album out is a story which may or may not be of interest to some of you. for reasons i am unable to disclose in full i've heard, or been exposed to, a good deal more of BBC Radio 2 than would be normal. they made a presumably advance copy of this record their "album of the week", and played a track a day from it. as two of the songs from what they played sounded good - Magic, which i believe is the quasi "lead single" in this era where singles no longer exist, and the title track Walk Between Worlds - i figured it was worth a purchase.
this "figuring" of mine, if you like, has proven to be astute and a quality move. here on this standard edition of the album, for where i bought it did not have the "deluxe", you've got eight songs stretching over about forty minutes. they are all splendid, and the album flows really well.
well, with a short and sweet, to the point and for those of you in a rush review all over and done with in the last paragraph i guess i am free to ramble on a bit here. yes, i will try and touch on some of the actual album - although you've had an account of the quality of two of the songs - but let my writing wander around a bit.
i am pretty sure, quitely confident in fact, that this is the first full on studio album i have bought by Simple Minds in 29 years. that would have been Street Fighting Years; the record which is home to the superb Belfast Child. after that, i would think my only direct Simple Minds purchase would have been Glittering Prize; being as it is the first of many "greatest hits" things.
no, hang on. last year, i think, i bought that Acoustic album off of them. don't think that counts as an actual "studio album", though, as rather than new songs recorded on it the album was (very good) acoustic reinterpretations of some of their more celebrated songs. hence the record being called what it was.
any particular reason for such a sporadic gap between Simple Minds purchases? not really. just, i suppose, that none of their stuff over the years has sounded like something i would like. also, Jim Kerr chased me and quite a few other fans off in the early 90s when he went all preachy, with Simple Minds concerts being less All The Things She Said, more All The Things Jim Kerr Thinks Is Wrong With The World. in terms of being preachy, lecturing and all holier than thou, Jim Kerr was the "actual" to what people assumed Bono was with such.
make no mistake - i like Simple Minds, a lot. yes, i stand by a post from 9 (or so) years ago, where i felt that Once Upon A Time was one of the best albums of the 80s, and could perhaps have been the best if the band had agreed to allow (Don't You) Forget About Me be on it. the band took a while to accept that the fans love it and that this was worth more than the fact that the band didn't really like it. good that they did, and splendid to see them give a huge thanks to all the fans in the linear notes what come with Walk Between Worlds.
yes, sure, i will get around to discussing the music on the new album in a bit.
what's that above? strictly speaking that is my first music purchase of 2018, although i won't actually get it until the first week of April. or thereabouts. no, i absolutely could not resist, so to speak, the idea of owning the new Manic Street Preachers album, Resistance Is Futile, on cassette. if the band so wish to release in that much treasured and often forgotten format, nice one.
provenance of my copy of Walk Between Worlds by Simple Minds, to somewhat get this back on point? not HMV as would be usual, but Morrisons. i knew i had a £5 voucher due off of them, so along i went to get that. with that, then, the record only cost me £5. which is nice. everyone needs to save pennies, after all.
how come i had a voucher on the way? their ingenious "reward" system for customers. if you spend £1,000 (yes, one thousand) you get enough points to get a £5 voucher. but yes, i would imagine if you are still reading this you may harbour hopes of me speaking of the actual album, rather than moments from the career of Simple Minds, where i bought this record and other stuff.
so, yes, i think - after a couple of plays and the album proper on top of the radio preview - Walk Between Worlds is a pretty good album. why? well, mostly because it sounds good. the tone is an interesting one. bar the tail end of the final song, Sense Of Discovery, which (ahem) "echoes" Alive And Kicking, the record does not rely on sounding like their familiar stuff to reach an audience. nor does it, i will have you know, come across like some sort of "new" or "modern" style in an effort to appeal to the kids of today.
there's an elegant, polished quality to the sounds of the music. it is neither restrained nor particularly challenging or difficult - it just simply sounds good. this is not a crime at all. one big plus - and this is a big one - is that Jim Kerr's voice remains sounding as most or all would be used to. that is a most splendid thing, when you consider, to mention him once more, how Bono's voice would appear to have taken a dip over the years.
are there any tracks off of the album that i would highlight? to be honest all of them play just fine as they are, in the order that they come up. for a generation that requires instant gratification, however, i suppose i had better make some effort. basically the two mentioned, Magic and the titular Walk Between Worlds, give you a sold indicator of what to expect with the record.
other than them two, Barrowland Star is full worthy of extra mention. it's clearly some of the band (they appear to have a few new tres and totes younger members), or just Jim Kerr, getting all nostalgic for the early days of the band. this proves to be neither embarassing or something only, say, New Gold Dream type hardcore fans would get. also, when not just reminding you of Alive And Kicking, that other one i mentioned, Sense Of Discovery, is excellent.
that's 50% of the album i have advised as being worth a try, then. as it happens, the other 50%, mindful of us discussing just the standard edition of the record here, is also worth a listen. very much so, as point of fact. well, in my opinion, but same thing.
it's tricky or difficult to state exactly who the peers of Simple Minds would be, really. in terms of more or less same length career and similar audience, if not sound, you could argue Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, U2 and some others. of the three named, i would say that Simple Minds just edge out (ha ha) U2 in terms of, after all this time, making an album of new songs of music what can draw an audience back to them. as much as i appreciate, say, U2's Songs Of Experience, the truth is that they have "lost" audience with each release. Depeche Mode's last effort, Spirit from last year, was just plain boring, i am sorry to say.
as far as i am aware Simple Minds are still very much active with gigs and that. is it possible that they may attract other fans such as me with this album? hopefully so, if they get to hear some of this, and so much the better if they do. whereas the album is not quite so "wow! how did they do this most awesome thing so far into their career?" as was the case in 2016 with Girl At The End Of The World by James, this is close enough.
well, then, that's that. how jolly splendid that the first (kind of) day of release (almost) vibes of this year turned out to be very good indeed. no, i suspect that Walk Between Worlds will not turn out to be the record i hail as "the best of the year" by the end of 2018, but then again you do not know.
sensational update - the chart is out, and this record has gone in at a quite respectable 4.....
again, this far into their career and with the current state of music sales, cracking the top five is smart. just one place below that bloke who has managed to dominate the chart by letting people just listen to it online for free rather than go out and buy it.
so, if you give the record a try, nice one, hope you like it as much as i do. otherwise, dig what you dig, man.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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