August 02, 2020

Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain (1983)

*U.K. first pressing. 
Contains 10 tracks total.
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: New Wave
Label Number: CDV2300

© 1983-1984 Virgin
AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman
In less than four years, Simple Minds produced and progressed like few other bands. They released six albums, including a pair of nervy post-punk classics in Real to Real Cacophony and Empires and Dance, as well as the lavish "new pop" triumph New Gold Dream. Their audience expanded, and dates opening for the likes of U2 and the Police placed them in stadiums. The band's sound naturally became less subtle. For Sparkle in the Rain, they sought U2 producer Steve Lillywhite, whose approach helped shape their performances into a forceful, direct set of commercial rock designed to shake nosebleed seats. Despite frontman Jim Kerr's vaguest gesturing and most voluble bellowing to that point, the move worked. The pounding "Waterfront," hurtling "Speed Your Love to Me," and gleaming "Up on the Catwalk," the album's singles, all reached the Top 30 in the U.K., and by the end of the year, the band was headlining North American hockey arenas and amphitheaters. Apart from the brawling "The Kick Inside of Me," which contains one of Kerr's least tethered turns, none of the album cuts matches the urgency heard in the singles. Relatively restrained moments, such as the absurdly titled "'C' Moon Cry Like a Baby" ("Could this be something we don't understand," indeed), resemble stiff stabs at re-creating tense drama akin to the tail end of New Gold Dream. As successful as it was, Sparkle in the Rain merely poised Simple Minds for their biggest year, 1985, when they followed up with "(Don't You) Forget About Me" and "Alive and Kicking," singles that hit the Top Ten in the U.K. and the U.S.

tags: simple minds, sparkle in the rain, 1983, flac,

5 comments:

  1. Lass, I think you'll find that this fine album was released in 1984 (not 1983). Discogs shows 1983 for some countries but when you click on them you find that they are in fact 1984.

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    1. It was realesed in 1984. However, my actual disc/CD states "℗ 1983 Virgin Records Ltd. © 1983 Virgin Records Ltd." on the very bottom. The year is based on what are media states it is. To avoid confusion, I put both the year on the disc and the year of release in the post. We don't use discogs. The tags present in all of our files are handled automatically by our ripping software. The only thing we have to do is select the pressing with the matching label/catalogue number and the software handles the rest. Hope this clarifies the year.

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    2. Shes right! The label number in the files and the publishing/copyright right date she mentioned on the CD matches exactly with a UK ebay listing I just found!

      Here it is with a screenshot of my VLC player on imgBB (I don't use imgur guys, sorry.)- https://ibb.co/bF7Nw50

      BTW. Lass! You're back! 😃 I thought you weren't responding to comments anymore 😞

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    3. I don't read the comments anymore. The only comments I read are the comments addressed to me, provided the bot sends me such comments.

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    4. BTW, thank you for your response and screenshot. That's the same pressing I own. I'm happy to see that our community is back to the way it was before the start of 2020

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