Talk:Simple Minds

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Discography twice? Renamed one. --jae 23:19, Dec 28, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] More focus on "In the City of Light", a marking spot on Simple Minds carreer?

I would like to make more emphasis on their live album (In the City of Light), which I consider a major selling success (currently this is referred in less than a sentence).

Please comment... H. Moreira 12:40, 6 November 2005 (UTC) H. Moreira

Well, what would you like to add? Even as a long-time SM fan, I find it hard to say very much about it - the article seems reasonable to me. If it was a major sales success perhaps the number of copies sold could be mentioned. In terms of its content it is really more or less an early 'greatest hits' compilation. I enjoy it a lot myself, but it doesn't mean it's especially noteworthy. Graham 23:22, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Revamp

Call me crazy, bored or maybe it's because I couldn't get to sleep, but I decided to rewrite the entire Simple Minds article, in order to better consolidate information that was repeated in several places, as well as add information of interest about a number of different albums. I also thought it was important to contextualize some of their less successful works within what was going on in music at that time, especially during the early 1990s. To that end, I also added subheadings to break up the article and make it easier to follow.

I also categorized the albums by date and added a number of different releases that weren't included, mostly the Themes box sets.

Oh, and all those minor changes? That's what happens to you when you undertake a major writing project at 4:00AM in the morning. :-)

--TARDIS 04:32, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi.. I'd say that it's pretty decent effort, even for 4am! My only comment at the moment (there may be more as the changes sink in) is that the opening paras read as if the only thing that matters is whether they were successful in the US or not. Perhaps you are an American and writing from this perspective, but in fact the US success (or lack of it) is totally irrelevant to the majority of the band's fans. They were probably the biggest band in the UK in 1986 (though some will probably argue U2 or Dire Straits deserve that accolade), and their fanbase across Europe is huge. The article does state this, true, but it's tempered with an overemphasis on the US chart success, which makes it sound as if well, they could have been a really great band if only they hadn't done so poorly in the US; what a disappointment. My view is that the US chart success should probably be mentioned separately from the rest of the summary, and perhaps downplayed a little so that it is given its due importance - which is, not as much as some seem to think. Otherwise, a good effort. Graham 06:45, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the compliment. You're right, I'm in the US, and looking at the article again, there is definitely a US bias that I guess I didn't realize when I first rewrote the article. I would definitely agree that Simple Minds are still very popular in Europe and Australia, since they tour there frequently. At the same time, the US market is massive, and the fact that the band's presence here has declined considerably in recent years is a topic worth exploring. In addition, the critical reaction in the UK vs. the US is also worth mentioning, as it seems US critics are predisposed to categorize Simple Minds as an "eighties band," so even when they put out excellent work, it's never good enough, while the European critics I've read (primarily in the UK) tend to appreciate the band more. I'll be happy to hear your specific suggestions for the best way to NPOV some of the material you think is US-centric. Or you could make those changes. ;-)

--TARDIS 22:06, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] More focus on Simple Minds instrumental tracks

Hello, if you are going to rewrite the article, why do not put more focus on their instrumentals? 1980s' tracks such as "Somebody up there likes you" (for the landscape synth sounds), and "A brass band in African Chimes" (for both the synth work and the drum line) were not only great, but can be regarded in many respects as influential for the ambience music of The Orb, Aphex Twin, FSOL and so on. skysurfer 14:15, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Actually, that's an exellent point. "Brass Band" is one of my favorite tracks by them. (And I've always wondered why SM never released a compilation of all their intstrumental work, including B-sides.) I'll work on that.

--TARDIS 17:22, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

I wondered that, too. Maybe they think that listeners are not interested. The instrumental versions of some songs are even beautyful. Hey, Mr J. Kerr, that doesn't mean that we don't like your voice ;-) skysurfer 17:57, 20 April 2006 (UTC)