Simple Minds - 2023 - New Gold Dream. Live From Paisley Abbey [mini-review]

(44:51; BMG)



















UK band Simple Minds are out with the album "New Gold Dream. Live From Paisley Abbey", and this is a production that might be of interest also for some fans of progressive rock. This live album is, of course, very much a pop album. It is a classic 80's pop album that was chart topping at the time, and this recent live version of the album doesn't transform it into anything new. But as the decades have flown by I do listen to these songs in a different manner, and what sets this band apart from many of their contemporaries is that there is a depth to the material here. The arrangements can be both quirky and relatively complex, some jazz details sneak in here and there, and perhaps more important from a progressive rock point of view is that you can also hear how some of the ideas explored with more of a pop music sensibility on these songs also found their way into the neo-progressive rock landscape that was developing at the same time that this album was first released. How this live album compares to the original studio version I do not know, as it has been ages since I revisited the original studio version of this album. But this more recent live album is a strong and solid production, and an album worth seeking out if well made pop music with a sophisticated edge and depth is of general interest. And I have to say that this collection of pop songs from 1982 have aged really well too.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, November 2023

Links:
https://www.simpleminds.com/
https://www.bmg.com/

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