Graffiti Soul

For the Girls Aloud song, see Graffiti My Soul.
Graffiti Soul
Studio album by Simple Minds
Released 25 May 2009
Recorded August - October 2008
Genre Rock
Length 42:52
Label The Universal Music Record Label
Producer Jez Coad, Simple Minds
Simple Minds chronology

Themes – Volume 5: March 91 – September 92
(2008)		 Graffiti Soul
(2009)		 5X5 Live
(2012)
Simple Minds studio albums chronology
Black & White 050505
(2005)		 Graffiti Soul
(2009)		 Big Music
(2014)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic (58/100)[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Contactmusic.com (favourable)[3]
Mojo [4]
NME (5/10)[5]
PopMatters (5/10)[6]
Q [7]
The Quietus (favourable)[8]
Record Collector [9]
Daily Telegraph [10]
The Times [11]

Graffiti Soul is the fifteenth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released on 25 May 2009.

On 31 May 2009, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 10, becoming Simple Minds' first UK top ten album in 14 years, since the release of their 1995 album Good News from the Next World.

In early April 2009, the video for the single 'Rockets' was made available via the band's official website.

Overview

During the recording of Graffiti Soul, Jim Kerr stated: «We really are flowing with ideas at the moment and [...] I do feel that we are possibly writing two albums simultaneously at present.» Several tracks were omitted from Graffiti Soul so that the album had more focus. Possible candidates include "Six Degrees Of Separation", "Lotus Effect" and "Shaman".[12]

Recording

An e-mail announcement by Simple Minds stated that Graffiti Soul was initially written on location in Rome, Sicily, Antwerp and Glasgow. The band then returned for the first time in almost three decades to Rockfield Studios, near Monmouth in Wales, where the group originally recorded their earlier albums Real to Real Cacophony, Empires and Dance and New Gold Dream. The album was mixed in Los Angeles by Bob Clearmountain.

Release

Graffiti Soul is also available as a Vinyl LP and a 2-CD Deluxe edition, both including a second album called Searching for the Lost Boys with cover songs of Neil Young, Massive Attack, Magazine, The Stranglers, Thin Lizzy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Call and The Beach Boys.

Track listing

Graffiti Soul Standard edition

No. Title Length
1. "Moscow Underground"   5:01
2. "Rockets"   4:36
3. "Stars Will Lead the Way"   3:26
4. "Light Travels"   4:12
5. "Kiss and Fly"   5:01
6. "Graffiti Soul"   4:48
7. "Blood Type 0"   3:49
8. "This Is It"   4:55

Graffiti Soul Deluxe Edition - Bonus tracks

No. Title Length
9. "Shadows and Light"   2:56
10. "Rockin' in the Free World"   4:17

Graffiti Soul Deluxe Edition - Searching for the Lost Boys Bonus CD

No. TitleOriginal artist Length
1. "Rockin' in the Free World"  Neil Young 4:17
2. "A Song from Under the Floorboards"  Magazine 4:39
3. "Christine"  Siouxsie and the Banshees 3:13
4. "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)"  The Stranglers 3:53
5. "Let the Day Begin"  The Call 3:02
6. "Peace, Love and Understanding"  Nick Lowe 3:34
7. "Teardrop"  Massive Attack 5:33
8. "Whiskey in the Jar"  Thin Lizzy 4:00
9. "Sloop John B"  The Beach Boys 4:35

Left-overs

At least, three tracks, "Six Degrees Of Separation", "Lotus Effect" and "Shaman", were demoed for Graffiti Soul.[12]

Live performances

Many of the songs have been played live:[13][14]

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[15] 9
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[16] 11
Dutch Mega Album Top 100 Chart[17] 29
French SNEP Album Chart[18] 41
French Albums Chart (Download) 17
German Media Control Album Chart 14
Irish Albums Chart 50
Italian Album Chart[19] 11
Spanish Top 100 Albums chart[20] 58
Swiss Albums Top 100[21] 8
UK Albums Chart[22] 10
European Top 100 Albums 9
World Albums Top 40 Chart 32

References

  1. ↑ "Critic Reviews for Graffiti Soul". Metacritic. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Graffiti Soul". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  3. ↑ Peterson, Andy. "Simple Minds:Graffiti Soul". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  4. ↑ Buckley, David (April 2009). Mojo "Graffiti Soul". Mojo (London: EMAP Performance). ISSN 1351-0193. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Doran, John (19 May 2009). "Album review: Simple Minds - 'Graffiti Soul'". NME (London: IPC Media). ISSN 0028-6362. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Bergstrom, John (31 August 2009). "Simple Minds: Graffiti Soul". PopMatters. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Graffiti Soul". Q (London: EMAP Metro). June 2009. p. 131. ISSN 0955-4955. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Eglinton, Mark (31 May 2009). "Simple Minds: Graffiti Soul". The Quietus. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  9. ↑ Easlea, Daryl (May 2009). "Graffiti Soul:Articles & Reviews". Record Collector. Diamond Publishing. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Green, Thomas H (26 May 2009). "Simple Minds: Graffiti Soul, review". The Daily Telegraph (London). ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  11. ↑ The Times review(subscription required)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Dream Giver Redux / Big Music
  13. ↑ Cornwell, Simon. "Graffiti Soul". Dream Giver Redux. simpleminds.org. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Cornwell, Simon. "Tours: Simple Minds". Dream Giver Redux. simpleminds.org. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul" (in Dutch). ultratop.be. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  16. ↑ "Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul" (in French). ultratop.be. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  17. ↑ "Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  18. ↑ "Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  19. ↑ "Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  20. ↑ "Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul". spanishcharts.com. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  21. ↑ "Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul" (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  22. ↑ "Graffiti Soul". ChartStats.com. Retrieved 27 October 2011.

Sources