Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain (1983) (vinyl Lp) - €20,00

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"Sparkle in the Rain" is the sixth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released on 6 February 1984 by record label Virgin in the UK.

Sparkle in the Rain is a generally rock-oriented album, a departure from the new wave aesthetic of its critically acclaimed predecessor New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84). 

Kerr, before its release, described the forthcoming Sparkle in the Rain as an "art record—art without tears with masses of muscle". 

The band's new drummer Mel Gaynor, who had contributed for some tracks on the previous record, agreed on the album's aggressiveness: "On this album I'm getting a few of my ideas across, not only in the drumming field but in other fields as well. 

It's a lot different from New Gold Dream, both sound-wise and material-wise. 

The last one was very smooth, very polished. This album's got a bit more dirt in it." 

Regarding the role of producer Steve Lillywhite, Brian Hogg wrote that Sparkle in the Rain "captured the bravura of their in-concert sound" and Lillywhite "introduced a dynamic, often contrasting, perspective quite unlike the panoramic standpoint of its predecessor, but there was no denying the resultant brash excitement." 

Adam Sweeting described how, during the recording process of "Up on the Catwalk", "Forbes and Gaynor had combined to create a steamrolling rhythm track which came hammering out of the opening chorus like a runaway train."

The record was produced by Steve Lillywhite (U2, et al.), and it's a perfect match-up: Simple Minds aspire to music of a trancelike otherworldliness, and Lillywhite has the knack to lead them up that proverbial stairway to heaven.

The sound is Roxy Music-gone-2001, and it works remarkably well (one exception: their unlikely choice of an outside song in Lou Reed's "Street Hassle," which doesn't bear covering by anyone). 

Initially, vocalist Jim Kerr might seem like just another Bryan Ferry clone, but as he stokes his inner fires with some private perception of the emerald beyond – reaching an absolutely feverish pitch on "The Kick inside of Me" – he emerges as an obsessive visionary in his own right. 

The band, meanwhile, weaves a complex web of sound from the unlikeliest parts: churchy, staccato keyboards; lacelike, arpeggiated guitar lines and soaring wisps of feedback; and metallic-sounding drums.

Sparkle in the Rain is filled with potent images that can be read as religious emblems: baptismal immersion or death ("Waterfront"), redemption on the Cross ("East at Easter"), the Word ("Book of Brilliant Things"). 

Simple Minds find religious illumination in the vertigo of their fertile imaginations, and it comes out as psychedelic testifying – all fast movement and kaleidoscopic repetition – that builds to a crescendo of ecstasy and release. 

When Kerr sings, "Someday, some of them say that our hearts will beat like the wheels of a fast train" (from "Book of Brilliant Things"), you know you're in for a wild ride.

Side one
1. Up On The Catwalk - 4:45
2. Book Of Brilliant Things - 4:21
3. Speed Your Love To Me - 4:24
4. Waterfront - 7:26
5. East At Easter - 3:32

Side two
1. Street Hassle - 5:14
2. White Hot Day - 4:32
3. “C” Moon Cry Like A Baby - 4:19
4. The Kick Inside Of Me - 4:48
5. Shake Off The Ghosts - 3:57

Simple Minds

• Jim Kerr – vocals
• Charlie Burchill – acoustic and electric guitars
• Derek Forbes – bass, vocals
• Mel Gaynor – drums, vocals
• Mick MacNeil – keyboards, vocals

Additional personnel

• Kirsty MacColl – voice on "Speed Your Love to Me" and "Street Hassle"

Production

• Producer – Steve Lillywhite
• Engineer – Howard Gray
• Assistant engineers – Paul Cook and Gavin McKillop
• Studio equipment – Matt Dunn and Paul Kerr
• Sleeve production – Assorted Images
• Coordination – Gemma Corfield

Notes
Release: 1983

Format:  LP, Vinyl
Genre:  New Wave
Label:  Virgin Records
Catalog#  205913

Vinyl:  Goed (Excellent)
Cover: Goed (Excellent 

Prijs: €20,00

Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) (1982) (LP) - €10,00

New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) is the fifth studio album by Scottish band Simple Minds. The album was released in September 1982 by record label Virgin. It is considered one of the defining albums of the new pop movement of the early 1980s. 

It spawned the commercial successful singles “Promised You a Miracle” released in April 1982, “Glittering Prize” released in August 1982 and “Someone Somewhere in Summertime” released in November 1982. 

One of Scotland's finest exports, Simple Minds deliver a strong synth-reared release on New Gold Dream. This album harks the darker side of the band's musicianship, and such material alludes to their forthcoming pop-stadium sound which hurled them into rock mainstream during the latter part of the '80s. 

They were still honing their artistic rowdiness, and Kerr's pursuing vocals were still hiding. But Simple Minds' skill of tapping into internal emotion is profound on songs such as "Someone, Somewhere in Summertime" and the album's title track. 

But the dance-oriented tracks like "Promised You a Miracle" and "Glittering Prize" are lushly layered in deep electronic beats -- it was only a matter of time for Simple Minds to expound upon such musical creativity which made them a household favorite through the 1980s.

The release of New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) was considered a turning point for the band, who had previously failed to gather any significant commercial success with the release of their previous studio albums, with lead singer Jim Kerr claiming that "every band or artist with a history has an album that’s their holy grail, I suppose New Gold Dream was ours". 

Kerr said of the recording of the album that it was "a special time because we were really beginning to break through with that record, both commercially and critically. The people that liked that record connected with it in a special way".

The album has been praised as some of the bands finest work, and was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Side one

1.  Someone, Somewhere in Summertime - 4:36

2.  Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel - 3:49

3.  Promised You A Miracle - 4:28

4.  Big Sleep - 5:00

5.  Somebody Up There Likes You - 5:02

Side two

1.  New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) - 5:39

2.  Glittering Prize - 4:33

3.  Hunter and the Hunted - 5:55

4.  King Is White and in the Crowd - 7:00

Simple Minds

• Jim Kerr – lead vocals
• Charlie Burchill – guitars and effects
• Michael MacNeil – keyboards and effects
• Derek Forbes – bass guitar
• Mel Gaynor – drums (tracks: 1, 4, 6–9)
• Mike Ogletree – drums (tracks: 2, 5, 6), percussion
• Kenny Hyslop – drums (track: 3)

Additional musicians

• Sharon Campbell – girl's voice (tracks: 2, 7)
• Herbie Hancock – keyboard solo (track: 8)

Technical

• Peter Walsh – producer, engineer, arrangements
• Keith 'Richard' Nixon – tape operator
• George Chambers – tape operator
• Francis Xavier Gallagher – tape operator
• Malcolm Garrett, Assorted iMaGes – album sleeve
• Jamie Morgan – photography

Notes

Release:  1982

Format:  LP, Vinyl

Genre:  New Wave, Synth-pop

Label:  Virgin Records

Catalog#  204965

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover:  Goed (VG)

Prijs: €10,00