Simple Minds
Big Music
31 October 2014
Sony
2.5 stars out of 5
Believe it or not, there was a time when Simple Minds were
experimental, relevant, and vital. They created influential post-punk records
that expanded the musical palate of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Then, in
1985, they veered headlong into the Top 40 with Once Upon a Time, and while that album was itself reasonably
enjoyable, it marked the end of when our Scottish heroes could be taken
seriously. And everything they produced after that, in two words, really
sucked. Now, three decades after the last time they still had some credibility,
they give us Big Music, which, while
definitely overproduced and firmly entrenched in the pop rock genre, is
actually not all that horrible.
Don’t get me wrong—there are definitely some missteps here
of U2-esque proportions, such as the awful, brainless bombast of the title
track. But there are a few pretty decent… Okay guys, I can’t do it. I was
trying to remain positive and focus on only the good things about Big Music, but there aren’t enough to
last more than a couple of sentences. And saying it’s “actually not all that
horrible” is rather faint praise, I admit. On the whole, this album is dull and
pointless, although the band retains the strong melodic sense they had thirty
years ago. Best to stick with Real to
Real Cacophony, Empires and Dance,
and New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84).
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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