Simple Minds – Acoustic (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Simple Minds – Acoustic (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 58:14 minutes | 962 MB | Genre: Pop Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Virgin Music UK

Simple Minds revisits some of its biggest hits of the 1980s acoustically on this collection, featuring guest KT Tunstall on the lead single Promised You A Miracle. The reimagined songs span the band’s eclectic and illustrious career and sound more organic in these stripped down versions. The synths are no more but the Celtic soul remains.

An unplugged retelling of many of the band’s best-known songs, Simple Minds’ Acoustic is an enjoyable if not particularly organic set. Employing the criteria used during the heyday of MTV Unplugged, the veteran Scots do indeed reimagine their catalog using acoustic instruments, though the amount of manipulation via effects and creative mixing makes for something a bit different. The resulting album is a sort of hybrid of stripped-down arrangements with just enough rock sweetening to reach the back seats. In the case of monster hits like “Alive and Kicking” and “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” this approach feels a bit underwhelming and bland. While these renditions aren’t necessarily bad, it does seem like Simple Minds missed out on an opportunity to dramatically shake up their repertoire in any number of possible directions, but instead settled for simply swapping out the electric guitars and synths with acoustic guitar and piano. The whole point of doing acoustic versions is usually to lay bare the material, deconstructing it down to its roots, but for the most part, Acoustic feels a bit too polished and adjusted. ~ Timothy Monger

Tracklist:

1-1. Simple Minds – The American (04:29)
1-2. Simple Minds – Promised You A Miracle (04:35)
1-3. Simple Minds – Glittering Prize (04:07)
1-4. Simple Minds – See The Lights (04:57)
1-5. Simple Minds – New Gold Dream (04:57)
1-6. Simple Minds – Someone Somewhere In Summertime (04:39)
1-7. Simple Minds – Waterfront (05:15)
1-8. Simple Minds – Sanctify Yourself (04:59)
1-9. Simple Minds – Chelsea Girl (04:27)
1-10. Simple Minds – Alive And Kicking (05:52)
1-11. Simple Minds – Don’t You (Forget About Me) (05:15)
1-12. Simple Minds – Long Black Train (04:35)

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