Live in the City of Light

Live In The City Of Light
Live album by Simple Minds
Released 11 May 1987
Recorded 12 & 13 August 1986
at Le Zénith, Paris, France (mostly)
Genre Rock
Length 82:22
Label Virgin - SMDL 1
Producer Bruce Lampcov
Simple Minds chronology

Once Upon a Time
(1985)		 Live In The City Of Light
(1987)		 Street Fighting Years
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
CMJ (favourable)[2]
Martin C. Strong (6/10)[3]
Q [4]
Smash Hits (6/10)[5]

Live In The City Of Light is the first (double LP / CD) live album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds. It was released in May 1987 to document their successful worldwide Once Upon A Time tour, and charted at No. 1 in the UK. The album spawned one chart single release, a live version of 'Promised You A Miracle'.

The album was recorded mostly at Le Zénith, Paris in August 1986, with one track recorded in October 1986 in Sydney, Australia. (Although the album wasn't recorded there, the inside of the gatefold sleeve features a photograph of a concert from the 1986 tour which took place in a square in Locarno, Switzerland). It features the band's 1986 touring lineup, which included second vocalist Robin Clark and percussionist Sue Hadjopoulos. On the recording of "Someone Somewhere in Summertime", Lisa Germano (at the time, a John Mellencamp band member) contributed studio-overdubbed violin on "Someone Somewhere in Summertime"[6] and former Simple Minds member Derek Forbes contributed (uncredited) bass guitar overdubs.

Release details

Live In The City Of Light was released as a double vinyl album with the band's logo in gold lettering over black sleeve. The package featured a 12" x 12" attached giant-sized booklet with state-of-the-art photography of the band's performance and outdoor session pictures. This art couldn't be reproduced faithfully on later CD releases (an original 1st pressing on double-fat jewel case and the USA version packaged in a long box on two separate discs).

Track listing

All tracks recorded live on 12/13 August 1986 at Le Zénith, Paris, France except "Someone, Somewhere In Summertime" recorded live on October (24 or 30) 1986 at the Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia.

Side one

No. Title Length
1. "Ghost Dancing"   7:22
2. "Big Sleep"   4:27
3. "Waterfront"   5:21
4. "Promised You A Miracle"   4:38

Side two

No. Title Length
5. "Someone Somewhere In Summertime"   5:59
6. "Oh Jungleland"   6:35
7. "Alive And Kicking"   6:27

Side three

No. Title Length
8. "Don't You (Forget About Me)"   6:37
9. "Once Upon A Time"   6:06
10. "Book Of Brilliant Things"   4:53
11. "East At Easter"   4:20

Side four

No. Title Length
12. "Sanctify Yourself"   7:06
13. "Love Song" - "Sun City" - "Dance To The Music""   7:02
14. "New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)"   5:31

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ "Simple Minds - Live In The City Of Light - Reviews". CMJ New Music Report. CMJ. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  3. ↑ The Essential Rock Discography - Volume 1: 970. 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ Rimmer, Dave. "Simple Minds - Live In The City Of Light - Reviews". Q. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "Simple Minds - Live In The City Of Light - Reviews". Smash Hits. EMAP. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  6. ↑ The Official Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom - Simple Minds
Preceded by
It's Better To Travel by Swing Out Sister		 UK number one album
6 June 1987 – 12 June 1987 		Succeeded by
Whitney by Whitney Houston