New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)

This album slipped across my mind without leaving any trace of it's time there.

This couldn't be more of its time if it tried. It's the musical equivalent of Molly Ringwald doing a Jane Fonda workout while wearing leg warmers and a Walkman. Very 1980s. But the 1980s was the best era for music (it just was alright), so that's just fine.

In listening to this for the first time in nearly 40 years my observations are 1) Jim Kerr's voice is just sooo smoooth, nothing like their first few albums, it's like he hired Mel Torme or Brian Ferry as a vocal coach 2) the band lays down beautiful textures and is happy to stay in the background and let Kerr sing 3) There are so many pop hooks and pop songs in general (!) - it's like they are shooting for that massive hit that would be heard in grocery stores and bus stations for decades to come, but that was still a year or two away. Sue says their prior album was better, which I can't disagree with, and smoe fans would have been disappointed by the less-edgy sound of this album. Before I gave it too high a mark I wanted to make sure the lyrics weren't fluff so I looked up King is White and in the Crowd - it's about the assassination of Anwar Sadat. Good enough for me.

“ We heard the deacon's hopeful eulogy/ At least in dying you don't have to deal with New Wave for a second time” - The Hold Steady, “Multitude of Casualties” Hard to argue with that sentiment when an album like this comes along. This list is bloated with indistinguishable New Wave records, and this one in particular seems to revel in the genre’s worst overindulgences. Some of the instrumentation is interesting in a sort of curio way, but there was nothing here to make me want to listen again. Favourite track: “Promised You A Miracle”

Richly textured beautifully crafted songs making for a complete, cohesive album.

Couple of amazing singles and a big load of rubbish

I just can't stand those 80's synths... this, as much of the decade stuff i've been hearing just did not age well

Every song sounds like it's going to be "Relax" by Frankie goes to Hollywood, but they always turn out to be better.

I along with most people really only know their one big hit, Don't You (Forget About Me), so this was a real treat to hear the band a few years prior. First thing of note to me was how involved the bass playing is; every song has a slick bass line that drives them forward. The layering of the mix with different synth sounds along with the rest of the band makes for a really fun soundscape that shifts with each song. Overall I’d say I was definitely not expecting 80’s pop to be so fine tuned; make no mistake, this is an album firmly planted in the 80’s, but even 40 years on now, it still sounds great. Extra points for so many of the album's 9 songs hitting the 5-minute mark. Top pick from first listen is "Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel." Even though this is the shortest song, the bass line drives the groove right from the get-go, the drum playing perfectly syncopated and I love the sparse hits from the synth, it creates such a vibe. Shout out to the single "Glittering Prize" and it’s ethereal like synths and constantly moving bass line.

A great groover that earns itself a solid, strong 4 from me. Really easy to make a mediocre muck of this genre, but they do it right with catchy hooks, varied production backing the synth-i-ness of it all, and a dramatically romantic lead with a brass voice. No moments where they go above and beyond to me, feels more slow burn on the dance floor in a drug haze type vibes, so at 4 it stays. Standout Tracks: Someone Somewhere In Summertime, Promised You A Miracle, Somebody up There Likes You, Hunter And The Hunted

Really didn't think I'd like it but, actually did.

Pre-listen: I’m so fucking sick of so many fucking 80’s albums. I hope I’m wrong and I look/sound like an idiot, but oh my god, it feels like every other album is from this wretched decade. Post-listen: nope, wasn’t wrong. More terribly boring and dated music to be filed away under the worst, most pretentious genre name: “sophisti-pop.” Spare me your declarations of how “intelligent” it is. It gets a generous bonus star for sounding competently made. 2/5

Horrible album cover! Nothing standing out for me on this one.

This sucked

Fun, dubby basslines. Bright, cracking drumming. Angular, reverb drenched, noisy guitars. Songs about Chelsea Girls and Murder. Jim Kerr's compelling vocals. Yes, Life in a Day is an excellent record. Check it out. . . Except that's not the album I was dealt. I did supplemental research and listening to attempt to get a handle on the one I was dealt. One thing I read is that producer Peter Walsh was tasked with capturing the sound of the band live. If this is how Simple Minds sounds live, it may be the lamest thing I have heard. Was Walsh responsible for turning Derek Forbes onto Stanley Clarke, and recording Forbes slapping in the most generic fashion imaginable? Did Walsh purposefully murder the drums into a mush of cardboard thuds? Can we blame Walsh for the whole band sound sliding into the the kind of AOR 1980s dribble that made worldwide moms think they, too, were "kinda punk". Post-Punk beginning into Air Supply bullshit? People that like this probably voted for Reagan or Thatcher. Get those acid washed Sassoons on. Chop up those baby laxative lines. Get an angular haircut. Find some shoulder pads. Put this on, and let the nothing happen. Recommended for Incels and Conservatives. If I could give this a black hole as a review, I would.

What’s not to like?

Brilliant 80's album! Every track is good.

One of my favourite new-wave albums.

Brilliant. Was brilliant when released, and still is today

New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) It’s one of the obvious things that you don’t think much about, but doing this list you realise that pretty much every British band is influenced either by The Beatles or Bowie, or both. The 80s synth/new wave albums we’ve had in particular have been clearly Bowie influenced, and this is the same. It grew on me a lot over repeated listens. Initially I was struck by the overall hazy and dreamy atmosphere of songscapes, rather than the catchy tunes their pop rock pomp later in the decade. Along with Bowie there seems to be quite a bit of Cure and ABC - a not uniteresting mix. As I listened more, more melodies and moments emerged and I realised what superb bass playing there is on here, and how many of the songs are both melodically and rhythmically driven by the bass, with guitar and keyboard providing texture and embellishment. Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) sets the tone with its insistent groove and atmosphere, the guitar riff sounding a lot like Echo and the Bunnymen. Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel is great, excellent bass with a nagging groove and a nice chorus. A real grower. Promised You a Miracle I know as the single, and it’s definitely the most immediately catchy, although it does sound very ABC. Some great synthesiser parts though. Big Sleep, again some great bass and another grower with its slightly edgy but delicate atmosphere. More atmosphere on Somebody Up There Likes You, this time more hypnotic and mesmeric. I like this one. New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) is probably the 2nd most immediately catchy track. Up to now it doesn’t seem obvious that this is the same band as Don’t You Forget About Me and Alive and Kicking, but you can hear the genes of those songs in this, a sense that a massive stadium song is about to burst into life, but is being held back, a great bit of tension making a great track. Glittering Prize is very reminiscent of The Cure, and it sounds slightly odd after New Gold Dream, flatter and less atmospheric, poppier but not as catchy, despite some great bass. Alex James must have heard the bass in the intro to Hunter and the Hunted, a definite Boys and Girls-ness to it. It’s another atmospheric and moody track. Big big Bowie vibes to King is White and in the Crowd, the bass as always is great, and yet more spectral atmospherics. After the first couple of listens I liked this, but found it hard to pick individual tracks, and I felt I couldn’t remember it, but then it started to get its hooks into me, and I found it’s slightly nervy dream-like quality quite seductive, finding new little interesting parts and moments in it with further listens. I don’t think I would have listened to this without doing the list, but I’m very glad it came up. Not quite sure it’s a 5 (yet), so I’ll go for a solid and intriguing 4. 🧠🧠🧠🧠 Playlist submission: New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)

De sacrées bonnes synthpoperies qui auront trouvé leur public au creux de mes oreilles crasseuses.

The version of this I listened to showed a 2016 date. I kept saying to myself, “Wow, this sounds a lot like early 80s electronica, but better.” Turns out I was listening to a re-release…or AppleMusic has the wrong date. Either way when I realized it was released in 1982, everything made more sense. New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) stands above most 80s electronica for me, especially tracks like Someone Somewhere, Hunter and Hunted, and the title track. I can hear snippets of Chromatics, a modern electronica band I dig, in this album. The bass guitar is badass. It carries the album. Derek Forbes, take a bow. The producer, Peter Walsh, should also be commended for pushing the bass so far forward in the mix.

Cet album vous permet désormais de comprendre pourquoi j'ai interverti mon père avec celui de mon camarade d'écoute robgouttière. En effet, alors que je me rapprochais de plus en plus du père de rob, et de sa caverne a vinyles hard rock, mon propre père tenta de s'interposer, et me glissa un album dans les mains afin de regagner mon coeur. Cet album, c'était New Gold Dream de Simple Minds. Comme vous le savez désormais, cet album est de très piètre qualité, ce qui finit d'entâcher complétement la relation qui me liait à mon père.

I don't like Simple Minds. It's a band that once was great and then... it's just not even ok. I see this album as the begining of their decadence.

Don't You (forget about Simple Minds) ...Don't, don't don't you... Unless you're a Ferris Bueller fan, it's pretty easy to forget about Simple Minds. To me they were always a one-hit-wonder that just existed behind the antlers above Ferris' dresser. Ferris Bueller's Day Off was unforgettable. I saw it in the theatre when it was released and had a copy on VHS. There are plenty of memorable scenes like at The Art Institute of Chicago and lines like "you killed the car...", and my favorite "the 'Sausage King of Chicago?'" Sadly, this album isn't as memorable. From the cover art and outset, New Gold Dream looks like it would play from an hymnal at a random new age church. The song titles read like religious brainwashing. "King is White and In the Crowd", "Somebody Up There Likes You", "Promised You a Miracle," etc. All of this religious garbage mixed in with pop music is a huge turn off in the states... but maybe I should turn this album off, get out of my bubble and explore the world because this album was largely a waste of time. ...as everyone knows. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” https://www.chicagomag.com/arts-culture/february-2016/ferris-bueller-bedroom/

Easily forgettable

Hat mir nich gefallen 1

Shite, twaddle, and unredeemable, synthetic trash.

If you love early new wave pop this is the album for you. It is painfully terrible.

Fantastic album.

Probably their best.

I love this album, capturing a moment where the chilly Euro-fluenced dance music they'd been perfecting on Empires and Dance and the Sister Feelings Call set thaw out with a new pop sensibility. It's really one mood, with pop sunshine ('Miracle') and longer more abstract tracks (King Is White) moving the dial back and forth but never leaving the unique mood they create on this album. From hereon in the law of diminishing artistic returns/bigger sales would kick in, as their writing and arrangements became simpler. But marvel at how complete an achievement this is.

Those coming to Simple Minds when they became a stadium rock band often don't know their roots as an influential and important part of the new wave electronica scene. Until this their albums were packed with instrumentals. This is really the bridge to their popular phase but I still really like the nods back to it with "someone up there likes you" and the more proggy/electronica tracks. I like this a lot. It's got depth.

One of the Best!

My 80's loving heart adored this album.

Huh! Thanks for reminding me if the glorious and Simple Minds. Adding them to my list of "live bands to see before I die' list now.... this album = Gorgeous on headphones - they were loving their work together and everything was just working for them. And they shapes pop music for a decade or more and there are some eternal songs that came out of this period (not all on this album, but you get a sense of how they can make soaring anthems here) . Warm sounds, funky beats, and playful - and most of all the gift for the warm voice of Jim Kerr, which of course have us - a few years later - "Don't you (forget about me)" which a new generation is learning. An excellent and very "tight" pop music style, rich vocals and all the funky electric toys of 80s music here. Yes this band deserves a place on the list. They would groove a stadium live. Something to keep in mind. I just checked. Anyone going to be in Nimes (FR) ON 12 JULY?

Wonderful in the day. Lots of good songs.

LOVE 80s synth pop. Really enjoyed this!!

This was one of those albums that was instant love as soon as I put it on. A proper, full, cohesive collection of songs which reminds me why I love the 80s. Also love the album cover, very Catholic school prayer book.

Liked

good album

01) Someone Somewhere in Summertime - 10,0 02) Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel - 8,0 03) Promised You a Miracle - 10,0 04) Big Sleep - 8,0 05) Somebody Up There Likes You (Instrumental) - 9,5 06) New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) - 9,5 07) Glittering Prize - 9,5 08) Hunter and the Hunted - 8,0 09) King is White and in the Crowd - 8,5 TOTAL: 9,00 (90/100) Current ranking: 30/304 This one took me completely by surprise. I thought I knew two songs from the album, but in the end it turned out that I knew five out of nine. And that's a good recipe to get five stars from me. "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" is one of my favorite "summer" songs, "Promised You a Miracle" is a big hit, and when the first notes of "New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84)" started I thought, damn, it's Usura's "Open Your Mind", I know this song! "Somebody Up There Likes You" is a wonderful instrumental, and "Glittering Prize" is another hit that was often played on radio stations in the eighties. With the remaining four songs not bad at all, we come to the final five stars that I didn't think would happen today. Great job, Simple Minds!

This is in my top 10 fave albums of all time

One of my favourite Simple Minds albums - my favourite track is the last one: "King is White and in the Crowd".

Loved it

This album is sensational. I love Jim Kerr's distinctive vocals and the music is brilliant. Such a great sound. One of my favourite bands. It's worth a listen for the instrumental too. Fabulous 👌

Love the vibe

Magnificent as is this band as well.

Ethereal melodies, uplifting.

Hell yeah. I know others fatigue of it, but I love the fact I've been able to discover tons of new wave thanks to this list. Bring it on!

Oldie but a goodie!

♥️

This album is awesome. Sound slike billy idol a bit

Good

oh nice, that one-hit-wonder band this album was really good, I’m not too picky when it comes to this genre solid 9/10

I've always loved this band. This is a great album.

Super!

First of all, those bass lines! 🤌 I hadn't heard this one at all before, although I of course I knew and liked Don't You Forget About Me. This is one of the dreamier and more ethereal 80s pop/new-wave albums I've heard up to this point... Which of course means it's right up my alley. Sparkling 80s synth + chugging funky bass + layers of reverb + smooth vocals... I mean, yeah, that's plenty enough to love for me already.

I love New Wave so I was bound to enjoy this. The use of actual drums really helps this album, and the bass and guitar parts both jump out as particularly fantastic as well. I can definitely see the influence this album had.

yes

An absolutely fantastic album for New Wave alternative. 3 absolutely undeniably great and catchy songs, and the rest exude a kind of haunting electronic beat that makes it a great listen.

I was surprised how gorgeous, lush and catchy so many songs were from this album. I genuinely went in with the presumption that Simple Minds were a one hit wonder, and here I am leaving with more songs that I genuinely prefer Don't you (forget about me). It's a wonderful cosmonaut of an album that leaves you entranced in it's simple but beautiful synths. It's not only so great on first listen but I think I'm definitely going to be coming back to this regularly. I do however wish the vocals were a little louder or present. I think the group could've put them a bit more into the centre focus. But first impressions are good, I was not expecting this to be one of my favorites of the previous albums I've listened to. And if you just want to listen to some genuinely great synth pop, go nuts!

My favourite Simple Minds album used to be Once Upon a Time (I like the commercial Big Music sound). Then it became this album (the consensus album) but ultimately would go for Real to Real Cacophony. All three albums are very different from each other, but obviously 5 stars. There is not a single weak track on New Gold Dream and the songs are in the "right" order. A perfect album. Overall score: 10/10.

Perfect album!!

really good

Ace!

Iconic music executed at its best. One of my all time favourite groups, who produced a quality of sound that is as fresh today as it was 40 years ago.

Nice. Very 80s, not extremely memorable but still solid. Could listen to this again sometime.

I enjoy this sort of thing. Drama and all. Like the prominent bass. Perhaps it sticks out more in contrast to the synths than it would to the more common guitar centered rock sound? Elements sound balanced and clear. Reminds me of Roxy Music quite a bit. I also like when there's a single instrumental track on an album like here.

45 minutes of dreamy goodness

Have listened to previously, did not relisten. 3.5/5

Jammier and simpler than it sounds.

The title song is the best the Simple Minda have ever made. Such a great song.

I have a friend who loves this album but I'd never listened to it. Now I see why she loves it. It's a super cool new wave work, with a title that deftly looks forward to the future.

An outrageously 80s New-Wave Synth-Pop album. I can totally see how this was probably quite an inspiration for the 80s revival and synthwave scene we're seeing right now, a scene and aesthetic I really love, and probably the thing that got me into 80s Synth-Pop in the first place. I think there was a little too much of the same thing to keep me fully invested for the entire album, but it was still really good. Favourite: Promised You A Miracle

Очень приятный синтпоп. Кайфанул от вокала и музыки. Очень КРЕПКО

Very chill and enjoyable. I love the instrumentation, especially the bass but the synths are great too. Glittering Prize is just a fantastic song by any measure.

This is a very 80s sound. Daughter and I enjoyed it as background music.

Great 80s bass sound and synths. Catchy hit singles and atmospheric songs. Mature sounding, but with groove. Not yet the stadium rockers of the late 80s. Caught between Bunnymen, Duran, U2 - in a very good way.

Stylish and atmospheric, ‘New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)’ is up there with ‘The Lexicon Of Love’ by ABC and ‘Dare’ by The Human League as the best of the quintessential pop/synth/new wave albums from the early 80s.

80s synth pop and new wave are really not my cup of tea but I enjoyed this album a lot more than I thought I would. A great collection of songs.

Holds up well, especially the relatively complex rhythms and the understated guitar work, which one sometimes must strain to hear over the synths, which never reach "ultimate '80s" degrees off cheesiness but are maybe more prominent than might be considered absolutely ideal. Kerr is a strong vocalist, believable, concerned sounding, a less showy Bono. One wishes there was an auto production filter to hear what this record, made with the studio tech available today or in the aughts, might have sounded. One suspects they were great live and wishes one had seen them so. And hey editors, they ruled more in the early and mid-80s, not late.

Ahh the memories

Only know this band for the one hit, but this is a very enjoyable album. I was fully prepared for some christian rock based on this cover though. Very smooth '80s new wave, or "art pop" as they seem to call it. I'd put it in the same camp as that Steve McQueen album from Prefab Sprouts. Really, really loved "Glittering Prize." Favorite tracks: Glittering Prize, Someone Somewhere, Promised You a Miracle, Somebody Up There Likes You. Album art: It's so obviously designed to look like the hymnal books at church, I really love it. I'd never even thought of the idea of interpolating that art style. I still don't think it "fits" the music necessarily, but I think this one is super cool. 4/5

Very cool landmark 80s record! Melodic songwriting at its finest, some very good hooks. Just a brilliant pop record with beautiful sounds. My only gripe is the somewhat muddy mix. Favorite lyrics: - Brilliant days, wake up on Brilliant days. Shadows of brilliant ways will change all the time. Memories, burning gold memories. Cold of day memories change me in these times. - Where did you go? Immaculate friend. For a lifetime I'm grateful. And it's only seconds away. - Like a glittering prize, I saw you up on a clear day. First taking heart, then a last breath away. - The side effects of cruising at the speed of life. - Kyoto in the snow. Heaven's far away. Key tracks: Someone Somewhere (In Summertime), Promised You A Miracle, Big Sleep, Somebody Up There Likes You, New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84), Glittering Prize, Hunter And The Hunted. 8 out of 10

80's, but in a good way

Naf as fuck but spawned one of my favourite 90s dance tracks and the rest is decent. I'm feeling generous.

Pleasant semi-atmospheric rock. Not life-changing, but maybe a good album to put on while working when you don't want to get distracted.

Pure, shiny, hook-driven pop, and that is by no means a bad thing. Jim Kerr sounds great here.

I like most 80's music and I have always liked Simple Minds just fine. I was the exact right age for Breakfast Club so there's that. Anyway, this is *very* 80's and I enjoyed it completely. I am not particularly convinced this album belongs on this list but I'm happy to have had it brought to my attention.

Gold by name….. this is the transition album between post punk and stadium rock. Fantastic blend!

kinda hesitating between 3 and 4 (again!). A bit soft rock, but I like softness every once in a while

Een 3,5. Maar omdat ik in het voorjaar naar een concert van ze ga, rond ik het af naar boven.

Een voor mij wel ondergewaardeerde band. Hoe meer ik naar hun (vooral oudere) werk luister hoe beter ik het ga vinden. Goeie sound!

Verrassend goed!

- симпатично - даже как депеш мод - британцы все ясно ;)))

Een beetje eenheidssoep, maar wel genietbaar

A band I'd tried getting into on the premise I was missing something. Conjures memories of the 80's and John Hughes movies but there's a lot more going on behind the facade. The hits are a real treat but the rest is a bit hit and miss as you'd expect. All in all this is high-end 80's New Wave.

I can't tell if I genuinely liked this or if, due to my age, I am predisposed to feeling comforted by 80's synths and Jim Kerr's voice so there are may be two stars of bias in this rating.

I remember almost 40 years ago (OMG!) first listening to this album and being completely blown away by it. So much that I wrote a letter to the band gushing about how brilliant it was. That was a first (and last) for me. Back then I would have given it 5 stars instantly. Listening to it again now I find that some of the singles such as Promised you a miracle didn’t age too well and I cringe a bit at the overly pretentious lyrics and Jim Kerr’s 80s “New Romantic” singing style. However there are some real gems on this and I really like the more atmospheric and moody pieces such as Someone Somewhere, Big Sleep, Somebody up there and Hunter and the Hunted. It’s good to hear that the deep and propulsive bass and drums throughout the album still hit the spot.