Glittering Prize - Best of 81/92
Best known in the U.S. for their 1985 number one hit 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' from the film The Breakfast Club, Scotland's Simple Minds evolved from a post-punk art rock band influenced by Roxy Music into a grand, epic-sounding pop band along the lines of U2. Picking up where the band's previous hits compilation, 1982's 'Themes For Great Cities' left off, 1992's 'Glittering Prize' compacts five albums into 16 tracks. Because they were bigger critical and commercial successes, 1982's 'New Gold Dream', 1984's 'Sparkle In The Rain' and 1985's 'Once Upon A Time' are better represented than 1989's 'Street Fighting Years' and 1991's 'Real Life'. Those two albums are well enough represented by the few tracks contained here that their purchase may now be unnecessary for all but the most devoted Simple Minds fan. The mid-'80s tracks, particularly 'Up on the Catwalk', "Promised You a Miracle' and 'Someone Somewhere in Summertime'. Their presence gives the latter tracks some added luster by their proximity. EMI.