Simple Minds - Neon Lights (2001)

As far as cover albums go Simple Minds' "Neon Lights" is pretty decent. Their choice of material is great, though some would want more obscure song selection. So, what a cover album boils down to is how the songs are covered. Despite what the other reviewers have said, I think Simple Minds' do a fine job of covering. Van Morrison's "Gloria" leads off the cd, and the Minds update it with a techno beat but still keep the song sounding much as it did in the past. I prefer an artist to put their touch on a cover not mutilate beyond recognition. Playing to their strengths, a cover of Bowie's "The Man Who Sold The World" comes off very nicely. An interesting choice is Pete Shelley's "Homosapien" with its sly references to homosexuality–not a song I thought the Minds would cover, but they slow it down and make it hypnotic. Patti Smith's "Danicing Barefoot" is another Simple Minds strength and it sounds just as good as U2's cover. Now I prefer OMD's cover of Kraftwerk's "Neon Lights" over Simple Minds' but they do a decent cover of it. One of the more unusual moments on the disc is the cover of The Doors "Hello I Love You". The Minds take it to a techno, post modern level and I think Jim Morrison would be amused. Yet another gem is the cover of Echo & The Bunnymen's "Bring On The Dancing Horses". Here, the Minds do an excellent rendition, and it may be one of the best songs on the disc. A depressive, morbid cover of Neil Young's "The Needle & The Damage Done" is haunting, and Simple Minds turn in another solid performance here. My least favorite cover is Roxy Music's "For Your Pleasure". This definitely is not the best Simple Minds can do, and I think it's the weakest song on the cd. The last three songs finish the cd in high form. A cover of The Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties" is well done, followed by an excellent cover of Human League's "Being Boiled". Here, I think Simple Minds have found their calling! I like Human League's version, but Simple Minds make a nice go of it that could easily be compared to the original. Finally, a cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" end the disc on a strangely upbeat note because Joy Division's version isn't. I also like Paul Young's cover of this song on his 1983 disc "No Parlez", but Simple Minds put in a spirited dance version of the track. All in all, a solid cover album compared to most. I don't know why people didn't feel that this disc was very good, we all like Simple Minds, or have been a fan of their work, and I can refer back to their first four albums as being less well made than this disc.

Review by Jason Stein, Amazon.com

Simple Minds attempted to rectify their glory days as an act classic with signature hooks and dreamy lyrical stories on 1995's Good News From the Next World and 1997's Neapolis, but grunge and modern rock had overtaken the new pop generation and Simple Minds fans had moved beyond the beauty of it all. Still, frontman Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill continued on, and into the new millennium remained an ambitious pair determined to prolong their career on their own terms. Neon Lights, Simple Minds' debut for Eagle Records and their first covers album, suggests that perhaps Kerr and Burchill are having a good laugh. This concept album boasts their own favorites – cuts by David Bowie ("The Man Who Sold the World"), Neil Young ("The Needle & the Damage Done"), Kraftwerk ("Neon Lights"), the Doors ("Hello, I Love You"), and others – and a confidence that Simple Minds attempt to pass off with some interesting tweaking. Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot" starts off with its usual acoustic brushing, but twangy licks are added and the dark haunt of the track itself switches tempo to be more fashionable without the ability to simply arrive like the original version. Echo and the Bunnymen's "Bring on the Dancing Horses" bounces with typical new wave beats, while Burchill's copycat riffs do little to carry one of the Bunnymen's finest tracks. When Neon Lights could have closed, Simple Minds' rendition of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is one of the album's shocking moments. Joy Division, like many of the other acts included on Neon Lights, should remain untreaded territory. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" swirls around early U2 licks (listeners always knew Simple Minds wanted to be like them) and a repetitive chorus, it's no longer sacred. It's permeable and redundant, something so unfortunate for one of the most influential tracks to come from post-punk. Regardless if they're paying tribute to some of their favorites, Simple Minds waltz on sacred ground on Neon Lights. The composition doesn't work and it's a laughable effort, sadly.

Review by MacKenzie Wilson, Allmusic.com

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 22. December 2012, 3:00

Simple Minds / Neon Lights

Used drive : Optiarc BD RW BD-5300S Adapter: 3 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
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Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
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Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" -T "COMMENT=ripped by bvstudio®" %source%


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9 | 33:58.39 | 4:08.70 | 152889 | 171558
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Range status and errors

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Filename F:\Simple Minds\2001 - Neon Lights\Simple Minds - Neon Lights.wav

Peak level 98.8 %
Extraction speed 6.7 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 5C5D0F40
Copy CRC 5C5D0F40
Copy OK

No errors occurred


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foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-10-28 01:26:01

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Simple Minds / Neon Lights
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR7 -0.20 dB -8.62 dB 3:45 01-Gloria
DR7 -0.30 dB -8.13 dB 4:08 02-The Man Who Sold The World
DR5 -0.20 dB -6.75 dB 4:21 03-Homosapien
DR8 -0.20 dB -10.03 dB 3:48 04-Dancing Barefoot
DR8 -0.10 dB -10.75 dB 4:17 05-Neon Lights
DR9 -0.10 dB -9.80 dB 3:33 06-Hello I Love You
DR8 -0.20 dB -10.61 dB 5:52 07-Bring On The Dancing Horses
DR6 -0.20 dB -9.67 dB 4:15 08-The Needle And The Damage Done
DR11 -0.20 dB -13.10 dB 4:09 09-For Your Pleasure
DR7 -0.20 dB -8.12 dB 3:34 10-All Tomorrow's Parties
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 10
Official DR value: DR8

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 881 kbps
Codec: FLAC
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