Simple Minds: Street Fighting Years - 1989

This was a totally different beast of an album. It as the product of a mature band who had "made it". For that reason, it attracted criticism of being self-satisfied and smug. I'm not sure about that. It is a cohesive, solid piece of work. It is decidedly uncommercial, dark in ambience and political in its lyrical motivation. It suffers a little from CD bloat in being over an hour in length. Too long for someone like me brought up on sixties and seventies albums. 

Anyway, it begins with a smoother, bassier, almost jazzy and laid-back sound in Street Fighting Years. It is great to hear some bass dominating a Simple Minds track. Despite some orchestrated bolder parts, it is overall a most atmospheric, but low-key introduction to the album. A similar acoustic vibe is found on Soul Crying Out. As is often the case, Simple Minds seem to be mirroring U2 in the stages of their musical development. Wall Of Love is more robust and chunky, with more clearly U2-influenced guitar breaks. It has a great guitar solo near the end which is all of their own making, however. The song is more typical Simple Minds than the previous two had been. 

This Is Your Land is a slow-paced, meaningful and vaguely folky song, despite being dark and contemplative. The pulsating Take A Step Back is archetypal late eighties, guitar-driven synthy rock and Kick It In is vibrant and drum-powered in its attack. These are both punchy, powerful tracks. 

Let It All Come Down is a mournful but evocative number while the big hit Mandela Day, although well-meaning, comes over as a bit clichéd. I'll forgive them that, though, as their hearts were in right place. I love the rhythms on it as well. A huge number one hit was surprisingly gained in the sombre Celtic tones of Belfast Child. It is full of atmosphere and completely unlike anything Simple Minds had done before. The same applies to their cover of Peter Gabriel's anti-apartheid anthem, Biko. Their effort is fine, but I will always prefer the original. 

The album ends with a short bit of Belfast Child-style Celtic instrumentation entitled When Spirits Rise. This was an adventurous album, and a brave one. Unfortunately, Kerr's proselytising on South Africa and Northern Ireland, however well-intentioned, had the effect of making those subjects somewhat boring, which was a great shame, as they needed bothering about. It was now that the band had most definitely become a music media bête noire and they would remain so for the rest of their career.