Picture Book

I like the big Simply Red hits more than i perhaps ought to. I'm just about old enough to have nostalgia for them. This is still kinda boring though.

I did not care this album. I was not familiar with the band or any of the songs. It definitely had an 80s sound to it, but the songs sounded much different from each other.

Ok. I heard it. I can die now

Wasn't my thing

Apart from the hit singles "Money's Too Tight (to Mention)" and "Holding Back the Years" the album lacks good songs. The production and overall sound has aged better than expected and the vocals are still fantastic.

not my thing

i’m sure holding back the years was fire back in the day

Thought I was gonna hate this so much but its actually catchy AF 😂 he's got a decent voice tbf to him. Real mix between like Lounge Soul and more funky dance stuff. Prob worth a 3. Maybe actually a 2,its ite but just not for me. 2.5 at best.

not really something i like but i can tell its good music nonetheless

Forgettable 80s adult contemporary. “Holding back the years” is an amazing standout (though a cover) but that’s about it.

This kind of reminds of department store music. Not really my thing and the singer kind of sounds like a poor man's Nina Simone. 4/10.

meh

damn I hate those 80's synths... the album closes strong but the damage is done

Meh. Pretty boring. 4/10

A ratos me gustó, a ratos me aburrió. Supongo que no es mi tipo de música. Tiene momentos interesantes y un par bastante movidos pero nada que quiera volver a escuchar.

ugh. i wanted to like that, i really did. but i didn't.

Ehh it was 80s

Production: 7/20 Songwriting: 8/20 Innovation: 8/20 Bangers: 0/20 Emotional response: 5/20 =28 "His music's rubbish and he's a ginger." - Tony Wilson

Lo esperaba una rayita peor, con los antecedentes que tenía, sin embargo ya abierto a aceptar la música que los "adultos contemporáneos" oían en los ochenta, le alcanzo a ver algo de valor. El problema es que no me encantan los teclados, los metales que usa, la voz, las percusiones… Creo que solo el bajo me pasa. 'No Direction' y las marimbas de 'Come to My Aid' me chocaron.

First side was pretty poor, few good tracks on side 2 but overall a forgettable experience

Some good songs but not for me

Simply 80s... Fine for what it is, but it does nothing for me.

Just really felt like a random British pop group. Didn't stand out for me in any way.

meh, didn't move my needle

meh........ not too fond of the style....

Buttrock

Udefinerbart, opmuntrende, instinktivt, spontant

skimde deil

1985. Key Songs: Come to My Aid, Holding Back the Years

I dunno - conflicting feelings. Only listened to it once, but felt like a watered down Wham!

Disappointing to see this as an album selected from 1985. There was one good single and not much else going on here. Do better 1001.

Pretty boring. I just can't take this seriously. A bunch of brits trying to make Soul music with the charisma of wet cardboard. Honestly I have no idead how this group became so big. Key tracks: Holding Back the Years

Gear: ZMF Auteur Classic LTD Shedua Artwork: 🧑‍🦰🧢🖌️ Production (Recollections 2025): 😌👂🧈 Music: 📻🧼😑 Rating: 📕(📗)/5

What the fuck is Mick hucknall doing on a list of albums I have to listen to.

War noch nie meins.

🤮 Fuck right off!!

Can’t believe I had to listen to this.

This album sucks. I randomly read this weird little piece written by the singer of Simply Red talking about random shit (it was like some "sound off" column where they have celebrities write whatever they want), and holy shit is the guy a fuckin' asshole! Massive arrogant prick. This guy honestly sees himself as THE SHIT, like the most important singer of his generation and all that. Fuckin' incredible actually. And no sarcasm, no tongue in cheek, just balls-out I'm the shit and everyone can kiss the ass (or arse probably). Anyways, none of that really matters to me. What matters is the music, and here the music is really lame. I'm not gonna give it a 1 'cause it's not actually pissing me off, but it's right on the line. Nah, you know what? It's getting a 1 STAR. Fuckin' crap music.

Yeah this was awful dynamic 80s psychopath pop. Wiki reckons this is in a genre called "sophisti-pop" and I think this is the collective term for this sound that I find so irritating. Lowest common denominator stuff that seems to think it's pushing boundaries. Often comes with really terrible use of brass too. Did this have brass? I've already forgotten it really, can only remember it was awful.

Got a fairly strong dislike for simply red, not entirely sure why..... Might be because he's a United fan? Anyway it's pretty deep rooted for whatever reason, so this didn't bode well for old Mick going into this. I remember a childhood friends family really liking him and me not understanding at all....I think my instincts were correct. Pretty sure I've never listened to a simply red album before. Unnecessary cover of heaven, which annoyed me. Jericho was awful. Even holding back the years is bad. Sorry Mick, 1.5, would never choose to listen to this

I was so bored

Why is he looking all wistful on that cover? Why does it look like a cheap, yet pretentious sketch? As for the music... I absolutely loathed Simply Red before this. "Fairground" and the associated album was my first conscious encounter with this... Project? All of that was terrible. This album starts with a reasonably famous and okay song. Followed up by a more obscure but also okay song. From there on in, it descends into absolute 80s hell, including an incredibly unnecessary Talking Heads cover. I mean... The song's lyrics mock the boredom of a place where the same uneventful music plays all the time. He's turned the song into the thing the original was taking aim at. He must really hate Talking Heads. Soul music for (and presumably by) people with no soul.

Uggg, I'm getting tired of writing reviews for these lousy albums. Simply no.

I really disliked this. It was very corny and very 80’s. It was not my style.

Je vais passer mon tour merci bonne journée :)

I’ve never liked SR, or for that matter Mick Hucknall, not really into any white soul either, so no different here.

This album sucks.

Honestly, this has been the worst album in this entire process. I'm about 250 albums in. I'm British, so I see what happened, the writer grew up in the UK and listened to this. I think if we're actually being honest, this is true garbage, and should never have made it to the list.

Sure, he has a great voice but not even that powerful voice can save this album from being as boring as it gets. Simply crap.

Yeah, I don't do this often, but I tapped out on this one. Every song feels like it's trying to be a better song that already exists. I'm not listening to over an hour of ripoffs.

genérico, repetitivo, sem graça, xoxo esses são apenas algumas das características negativas desse álbum tem muito mais mas nem vale a pena escrever!! não precisava escutar esse antes de morrer.

Someone needs to walk me through how the hell this ended up on the list. It has one stand out moment that everyone knows, ‘holding back the years’ is a great song and showcases an admittedly great voice. But the rest is utter pap. The cover of ‘Heaven’ is laughably bad. The vocals on ‘Jericho’ and ‘Moneys Too Tight To Mention’ are painful and gimmicky. This needs immediate deletion from this list.

There are many reasons to dislike Manchester United, but their association with this pillock and his whining drivel is definitely a big one. This is timelessly awful. And what is it with these terrible covers of songs by credible artists?

Simply horrendous. I gave it a chance, and to be fair, some of the bass riffs aren’t bad (reminded me a little of chic in places) but the lackadaisical approach to drums, synths, percussion and banal singing was dire. The cover of ‘heaven’ in particular sucked any life and soul out of it, ironic for a band that tended to badge themselves as soul music.

Not really sure what I just listened to, but I hated it. I'm not sure if this album was supposed to be like ironic or satirical or intentionally funny? I dunno, but it wasn't really any of those things. It felt like someone trying really really hard to write a hit single and just sounding ridiculous. Mick Hucknall is a great singer and he's got a great voice. The band is exceptional. They perfectly hit that 80's sound, and yet, I hated it. Actually I just hate this style of music. Maybe it's on here because it sounds like your classic discount 80's middle school dance slow dance music. No idea what that one song about going to a ball was about. Actually, I know what it was about. It was about being exploited for money so you can make it big enough to join the "in-group" of rich socialites. Basically, Hollywood and the music industry. So I get it.....but man, it was not an enjoyable song to listen to. The highlights are that the band is great, but I wish they were playing a different type of music.

My god this is so cheesy. The song about heaven being a bar and the one about money are especially egregious. I couldn't wait for it to end.

Look at that precious smug jackass.

Boring review for a boring album.

Music that plays at the dentist, and you wonder who the fuck listens to this other than people at the dentist?

this ended up being way more stylistically eclectic than I was expecting based off the single. doesn’t mean I enjoyed it, but good for them I guess? there’s way better albums among the 3-5 genres they try to execute here and I’m sure we’ll experience some of those at some point (Scritti Politti? Prefab Sprout?). this album features a lot of what I find distasteful about a lot of popular music from the 1980s (emotive vocals drenched in cheap reverb, dinky production values, lazy approximation of music from the southern hemisphere).

Glad that's over. One of the songs ripped off Layla riff at beginning and vocals ripping off Michael Jackson. 80s music video music. Nothing good to say about this album. Simply dead to me.

Not for me.

HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE

There's the apocraphal tale of the first Sex Pistols gig where there were only 12 people in the audience, but all of them went off and started bands. One of them shouldn't have bothered. Poor 80s soul. Unpleasant Talking Heads cover. May have been important in terms of the British music scene at the time, but fourty years on it does nothing.

I could not have found this any less interesting. Which isn’t a capital crime but the “Heaven” cover was such a nothingburger that it hurt my feelings. One star.

Did I like it? No. Would I listen again? Definitely not? Did I like any tracks? Holding Back the Years gets a point for the nostalgia. Overall, this was boring and certainly not a must listen. There is nothing innovative or inspirational. 1

I'm not really sure why this is in this list? Its not exactly anything exciting, and that Heaven cover is really quite bad? Hucknall's voice however is so good he needs to be on a house track.

Awful, dreary,whiny. Minus 5 stars

Simply Dreadful.

Made it through a few songs. If this is one of the 1001 albums to hear before you die, I’d rather die than hear this garbage again

heaven completely ruined

50

It can be easy to forget when so many huge, genuinely talented artists and bands came from that decade, but this album serves as an important reminder that the 80s had some real shit pop music as well. That said, I actually quite like No Direction, despite the bizarre gremlin fella doing backing vocals. What's that little guy up to these days? Did he ever manage to break out of Mick Hucknall's basement?

3/10 What have they done to my beloved Talking Heads!? The absolute monsters...

Just plain garbage

Very bland. Seems like AI made an 80s album

I wasn’t feeling it. Actually mildly annoyed that I was listening to this while organizing my basement, but then Holding Back the Years came on and I flashed back to my days as a line cook where the chef always had this shit on the playlist and then the PTSD kicked in.

Now I know we all took the piss out of Simply Red something rotten when we were younger, but apart from the *hits* I’ve never listened to an actual album of theirs… so here goes… Well, first song is really not my thing. Second song is better, but I don’t like the live audience and the song isn’t really my taste. 3 & 4 less offensive to the ears. Track 5 back to being shit. Onto the hits… they’ve grown on me over the decades. Really wasn’t keen when they first came out in the 80’s but they have either worn me down or I’ve developed a warped nostalgia for these two. Out of the hits and tracks 8 and 9 don’t seem too bad, mind you that might just be because the start of the album was so terrible that these ones actually sound better … having just written that I’ve just hit a terrible midsection in No Direction (possibly a chorus) so have changed my mind and this track is as bad as the earlier ones. Final track limps things passed the finishing line. On the strength of the two hits this might manage a “2” but given the lacklustre and dismal other tracks I think it might be a 1 from me. Guess I’ll find out tomorrow how I’m feeling about when I get to submit a score. Not one I’ll ever listen to again in any case.

Bad but not so bad

Ikke for meg i det hele tatt.

What's this?? A non-rock album?? Aaaand I hate it. This passing the muster for the list does not fill me with confidence for albums to come. Talking Heads cover was fairly upsetting and boy do I really hate Jericho. From there it somehow keeps getting worse. There's a redeeming moment or two (I don't hate Come to My Aid) but shit me I couldn't wait for it to be over. Saved a song: N RYM: N

The hit is a hit but this was shockingly unenjoyable to listen to…

1. aid -0 2. zad - 0 3. nouu - 0 4. Heaven - 1 5. Jericho -0 6. Money - 0 7. Year's - 1.5 8. Box - 0 9. Direction -1 10. Picture - 1

Simply Dreadful

98/1001 :: Simply Red - Picture Book Heard before? ❌ Would I revisit? ❌ Rating: 1 Listen before you die: No If I owned an easy listening 80s radio station this whole thing would be on repeat. Thank God I don’t. This album was Simply Bad.

The only song I liked was Sad Old Red - sounded a little jazzy. I couldn't figure out why this album was on the list until I got go Holding Back the Years, a muzak staple in certain stores.

Very boring and bland. Even the “hits” on this baffled me; I can almost always tell why a song is a hit, even if I don’t care for the song personally. No clue what anyone saw in this album.

This is just not for me. Wishy washy, cheesy, and largely boring. Surely even he got bored of some of these lyrics? Redeeming features????? He’s got a decent voice, some of the music was fun. 1/5 Best Song: ugh idk, No Direction, maybe? Who cares?

Dull, crap soul sung by a bloke with a stupid little voice. Really tough listen, its the music of the aunt your family doesn't really see that much anymore. 1/5

The interesting songs are worse covers. The shit songs are theirs. Not a fan of Mick Hucknall's voice or style.

This is near-peak white dude soul. Unmemorable, and eye-roll worthy.

This is TERRIBLE. Veering spastically between attrocious, poorly recorded 80s pop and attrocious easy listening soul / jazz that should never have escaped that airport hotel bar ca. 1985. There is some musical talent here, but it's put to crimes-against-humanity-level use. And what's with the drastic variation in production level?? Every other song sounds like it was recorded on a VHS recorder. Album #444 and it has a legit claim to the worst album on the list.

Unlistenable

No es para mi

There's so much saxophone on this album. I enjoyed the start of the first song. Then the second track kind of ruined it for me and I never recovered. Did not like.

1/5. Disco jazz. Hard pass.

Did not listen. Hate simply red!

A band I have always heard of, but never (?) heard. The refrain "I'll keep holding on" from Holding Back the Years was the only part I recognised, and I have never liked it. I don't think I've been missing anything much else based on this album. Soft synthy love songs, trite and VERY uninteresting, my least favourite.

Hold nu op

Outdated ptehr than the single that hit. Nothing really outstanding just an ok album. Overall cool sets a tone and keeps songs in good timing and smooth running.

couldn’t get thru it i’m sorry

Meanwhile whilst waiting to be processed in the lobby of Hell, the following lift music comes on.

This looks odd. That's the only thing I can think of for a first impression. No idea who this is, though looking at song titles alone I'm feeling a bit worried. Hoping its content isn't as insufferable as it looks. Come to My Aid Sounds a bit hollow. Don't love the vocalist's voice. The synths are a bit annoying. Decent bassline. Catchy chorus. Energetic and dancable. Lacks some personality. Not great, not terrible. Average. 2.5/5 Sad Old Red Terrible sounding bass, lacks any sort of style or feeling. Boring piano. Decent vocal performance. Unspectacular horn section, but does the job. There's too much cheesy instrumentation for the vocals to have any impact. It's simply overpowering. Very busy and overdone. Dislike. 2/5 Look at You Now 80s cop show sounding song. Annoying drums. Extremely busy. Nothing here goes together at all, just feels like a random algamation of the most 80s sounding sounds they could find. Atrocious chorus. Headache inducing. 1/5 Heaven Insufferable instrumental. Generic vocals. An absolute diservice to the original. Makes the song boring as hell. Removes the charming simplicity of the original song and makes it a bombastic overproduced mess. David Byrnes lyrics sound terrible when presented in this manner. Disgraceful. 1/5 Jericho Absolute tripe. Souless and inoffensive. Sounds like it was produced by Satan for the fires of Hell. Apparently there's six writers on this song? Horrible synth. Endlessly annoying chorus. The crowd vocals makes it sound like there's a flock of lunatics chasing me inside the worlds saddest mall. Criminal. 1/5 Money's Too Tight (To Mention) Gentrified and whitewashed version of a pretty fun and funky track. Much prefer the bass on the original. Neither version is spectacular, but the original at least has some character and uniqueness to it. This version is just kinda overdone and generic. A bit shit. 1/5 Holding Back The Years Inoffensive easy listening that would feel right at home playing quietly inside a hotel lobby. Uninspired and bland, but not entirely unpleasant. Bores me to tears. Dislike. 2/5 Open 1Up The Red Box The return of the terrible bass. So incredibly uncool in every aspect. Annoying piano. Intimidating chorus, feels like a threat. No thank you. 1/5 No Direction Interesting tempo on the bass. Laughable lyrics. Feels a bit directionless (pun intended). What is that goblin voice? Strongly dislike. 1.5/5 Picture Book Finally at the last song, a real relief to be almost done with this album. I've got no gas left in the tank. Repetitive and boring. Annoying vocals. Goes on too long. Terrible production. Bad. 1/5 What the hell was that? A terrible waste of time in any case. Finding such a generic, uninspired, gentrified atrocity on this list was not something I expected when I started it. Deserves 1 star for that criminal Talking Heads cover alone. This album has zero upsides, nothing worth even discussing. It's needlessly bland, every instrument has been handpicked to be as annoying as humanly possible. His voice lacks any sort of defining characteristic, sounding manufactured and souless throughout. Nothing will prepare your ears for those terrible synths, or that overbearing bass, or the unecessary saxophone tooting away aimlessly inside your ear canals. There's no groove, there's no soul, there's not a single infectious or relatable moment on this entire album. You can find more character in a bathroom tile. Listening to this makes watching the grass grow seem like an entertaining activity. Absolutely shocking, would not listen again unless I was paid to. 1/5

How this album generated a number one track is beyond me. I disliked most every second of this forgettable offering. I know it is all a matter of taste, but sometimes I feel like this list is a product of CERN turning on particle collider and sending us into an alternate timeline. This one will not to be played again.....WTF

How the f*ck did Mick Hucknall smuggle his ginger dreds onto this list? Rumour has it, he was at the sex pistols debut gig along with Ian Curtis, Morrissey and Tony Wilson…. And yet despite that cultural warhead and how it affected all who attended… despite all of that he STILL turned out this turgid white soul within 5 years staggers me. The amount of willpower it must have taken to remain so dogsh!t when others formed the smiths, joy division and factory records when exposed to the same stimuli is fcuking sensational. This is the sound of a million call centres on hold, a million dentists waiting rooms, and a million elevators. With Adele or Robbie Williams I can forgive some elements of recency bias, but simply red have festered at the opening of satans anus for 40 years. How did this happen? HOW?! 1/5 for the music minus 1 point for Hucknall’s hair.

Didn’t listen

The inclusion of this is an insult to music.

Hopefully I go to heaven, but if not this is the album the devil will use to torture me.

Boooooriiiiiing.

not for me

Nah

I don’t know who this music is for but I certainly wasn’t me. This was the was the closest I came to not finishing the whole album.

Junk

The singer has an amazing voice but the music is terrible! The horns tried to add a jazz vibe but the cheesy synth ruined it. The slow songs were soulful but BORING!

Woof. This was a tough one. It just seemed like a very 80s, synth pop R&B. Not a lot to recommend it.

Well I feel I gave this a fair chance, but it's just awful, cheesy and nasty from start to finish. The only good thing was that there were five "bonus" tracks on Spotify so my initial horror of having over an hour of this pap was unfounded. I honestly would put Mick Hucknall on a list of people who should have had their vocal cords surgically removed when they were born, along with Chris Rhea and James Blunt.

no

Ick

Sorry I just can't....

Back when I was a kid in the 80s and early 90s and I was first becoming aware of music, this was type of this is just what I thought all adults listened to and that some day I would probably also listen to it and like, wear a shirt with blocks of different colors on it. Well, thankfully that never happened because this blows.

80s hook-up pop, sorry but no.

Largely forgettable outside of the one song that charted in the US. Kind of boring though. 1.5/5

Before listening to this album (I was only familiar with Holding Back the Years) I would tell you that there wasn't much difference between Simply Red, Tears for Fears and Simple Minds. Now, I feel there is a big difference - one of them has at least one album that is not worth listening to.

There's something about his voice though obviously impressive in range and delivery that I find irritates me. The music aside which I find often in need of a focus (aside from the covers), his voice irks me. Despite never liking Simply Red I tried to objectively listen to the whole record but ended at the same conclusion. Holding Back The Years is a beautiful song paradoxically however serving as a useful halfway balm saving myself from total despair

Ugh, this is wretched. My first one star review for something that isn't nu metal! I had Terence Trent D'Arby this week and really enjoyed that, so I know I've overcome my kneejerk antipathy to 80s production. Thinking about it, it's probably the repeated exposure to Simply Red and their ilk in the 80s and 90s that generated that antipathy in the first place! This project has done a great job of opening me up to some 80s stuff I've been resistant to before - new wave especially - but this bland schmaltz is the devil! The very devil! Fave track - well, that's the question, isn't it? I set myself the goal of picking at least one fave track from each album - "Picture Book" was cruising for a 2 after the first listen, but as I tried to pick out a fave on the second listen I got more and more irritated. "Heaven" is probably the track I like the most of this album, but it's such an egregiously bad cover when compared to the original. "Jericho" was shaping up to be a pick, but then it gets annoying as hell in the middle section. I guess I'll go with "Picture Book" as the slowed down cod dub is less grating than the rest of it.... 😒

This is...bad. Nothing good or innovative. Generally like something a SNL sketch would write, it combines all the iconic 1980s sounds but make no effort to be progressive in any means. Just some hollow repetition of what already exists. A album I have to endure? Simply no.

Overall: 2/10 Ooey gooey vanilla music. Big pass from me. Fav Song: Sad Old Red Least Fav Song: Jericho

I can’t even be bothered.

On very rare occasions you listen to an album you think you are going to hate based on your previous listening experience and preconceptions, and it turns out that album is actually really good. This is not one of these occasions, this one is a stinker!

No, just no. Never have, never will like this wishy washy soul pop gash.

nah

Jesus wept.

Dear god. This is truly awful. I remember this single. It was bad in the 80's. It's bad now.

omg i thought you guys were just being mean…. this shit is ass 😭

Surely one of the 1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear? A thin gruel of over-polished soul pop.

No

Generic 80s pop. Standout song: Money's Too Tight to Mention

Well that was dull

As someone who grew up on 1980s MTV, who has many times defended the 1980s as “not so bad” when it comes to music discussions, I have to admit, this project and especially this album, make me think that maybe the 1980s was “so bad.”

Holding Back the Years is here, aside from that there is nothing worth noting.

Meh

I very strongly disagree with the idea that you must hear Mick Hucknall butcher Heaven by Talking Heads before you die

It’s was complete cock when it came out and it has not aged well.

Truly one of the albums of 1985.

Imagine having a bad day, and then hearing this at the end of it. I'd rather just not make it home.

Note my jam. sort of slow and easy listing style

Good, consistent product. If you know any Simply Red and you're inclined to listen to more, you'll love this record. I, for one, cannot forgive them for the abuse they unleashed on Talking Heads' "Heaven". For that and Mick Hucknall's MTV-primed pouting and posing, they get my lifelong derision.

3.33 rym ma stiamo scherzando 1/5

No thanks.

This one was difficult to get through. It was sort of jazzy and what I like to call lazy pop. It doesn’t make me feel anything listening to it. The vocals are nasally to the point where I sometimes think “Red” is imitating Aaron Neville. I’m assuming this is from the 80’s, I don’t recall reading it. Choice Cut: Heaven

Adele AND Simply Red in the same week. Wow 1001 albums algorithm, you are *really* spoiling me.

Might be the weakest I’ve had so far. Just a ridiculous sound, super dated, ridiculous, cheesy, sometimes annoying. What is this and why is this here?prank?? Heaven is rough. Jericho is a wild ride that I’m not sure if I love or hate. I hate it but it also makes me smile and will probably be stuck in my head? What is happening… trigonomics?? Completely ignorable with only replay value being revisit f a song or two to say “did that really happen? Did I actually hear that right??”

Somewhere in a parallel universe there is a waiting room for a small town dentist. The middle aged receptionist, new to Spotify and quite excited by it all puts on one of her nice records - Picture Book - for the waiting clients. Perhaps just a little bit loud but she is hard of hearing lately. In this universe is a version of me who didn't floss his teeth and gets stuck in that waiting room preparing to have his teeth extracted. The sound of the dentist's drill can't quite drown out the horrible crime of Mick Hucknall murdering the Talking Heads classic 'Heaven'. As my teeth crumble under the clumsy ministrations of this small town dentist I hope for death. But then I realise that I really don't want to die with Simply Red being the last thing I hear. I'm glad I floss my teeth.

Absolutely not.

Not my speed then, or now. While I can appreciate it fits a niche, if I was scanning the dial I would punch out immediately on any of these tracks.

Simply confused. How did this white guy/jazz/RnB easy listening make it so far? I distinctly remember hearing “Holding Back The Years” everywhere. And it definitely took up much of my already limited time watching MTV just hoping I’d hear Twisted Sister just one more time. But in all seriousness, this reminded me of the much better debut by Terence Trent D’Arby that would come two years later, and I’m betting makes its way into this 1001 list. 1.5/5

Tf Is this? I know “music” like this exists, but can we pretend it doesn’t?

Do I like Simple Red? I do not like him, Mick Hucknall I do not like his first album at all I do not like its dated style I do not like it, it’s not worth my while Not on a playlist, not on repeat Not in my car or walking down the street Not in my room or on a train If I listen once more I’ll go insane I will not rate it more than just one I was so happy when the last song was done I do not like “picture book” you see, I do not like it, it’s not for me

A white dude doing jazz and soul/R&B music? No thanks! This is def not my tempo. Question is… is it Steely Dan bad? I’d argue no. It misses the mark but at least it feels like it is trying. And it has a song I recognize and think is ok [shrug emoji]. I bet peeps in mid-80’s power suits with huge shoulder pads rocked out to these tunes in elevators. Blah. 1.5/5 P.S. you know you want to punch that kid on the cover right in his stupid face.

Sucked

no

Insipid karaoke-grade takes on Philly Soul.

Picture this,me shitting on one side of this album and gently pressing it on the top of your head .. Why is this album on the list...I hope you like your new hat...I do not.

This is so boring

This album fucking sucks and I hate it. I can't deal with blue-eyed soul. It just is so bad. 1/5

Another boring British album. Do better, list!

Simply Red's Picture Book is not good. At best, I'll begrudgingly admit that Heaven is a nice song but would be better with a vocalist who could fucking sing, which is where this album and pretty much all Simply Red stuff falls down. Hucknall's voice sucks, plus he's a prick, but I'm trying to be somewhat objective about this. I've never liked the two famous tracks off this, Money's Too Tight and Holding Back The Years; the latter is like something Spandau Ballet would've said no thanks to. It's also mixed really badly in places and has a lot of really bad 80s tropes in it just to make it worse. I'm not sure I can find a way not to give it 1/5 because it's just bad.

There was so much going on and yet nothing of any substance.

Yuck. Steely Dan muzak, weird new wave vocals aka a softcore version of Color Me Bad

I once won tickets to see Simply Red at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and didn’t go because I assumed it’d be terrible, regardless of the beautiful venue. Now today I learn that they butcher a Talking Heads song!? Feeling vindicated. This sucked.

It's possible I just really dislike blue eyed soul

Halfway through “Come to My Aid” and I don’t know if I have the strength to go on. I soldiered on to “Holding Back the Years”, which is passable if only because the band seems to have worn themselves out overplaying the previous 8 songs. The singer has a great voice, but this album is something I’d put on to get people to go home.

The fuck is this?

Fake ass soul from a bunch of Manchester United supporters. Rubbish. Here's hoping Bayern Munich crushes the red scourge in the Champions League and I never have to listen to this tripe again.

It was painful to listen to, the singer is annoying. Any bluesy part of the album felt like a cheap imitation.

He always had a good ear for covers did old mate Mick. That's about it really, this type of mid 80's pop music really stinks, Sade, Phil C#### et al, incredible to think this was a less than a decade after punk. As they say, for every revolution there is a counter revolution. And I've always been dubious about this white boy "soul" singer business, what does that mean exactly? That he sounds like Solomon Burke? For those of you who just got the x rays back and the news is bad, I did listen to it all, and found the whole thing underwhelming. And funnily enough, for all the raves he gets about his pipes, it is not a good listen across a whole album, soul singer my arse. Give it a wide berth and put Rain Dogs on instead.

In June 1976, the Sex Pistols played a concert at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall, kickstarting the UK punk movement and directly prompting the formation of such influential bands as Joy Division, Buzzcocks, The Smiths, and The Fall. The message? Anyone can do this, anyone can start a band. A teenaged Mick Hucknall was also present; after listening to this record, one wishes he had been otherwise engaged that evening.

If I had one major critique of this 1001 Albums project, is that the list relies too heavily on debut albums from artists in a specific genre to stand in for that genre. This album is so bland and forgettable, but it fits the 80's mid-tempo pop that dominated the airwaves, so it's included. I almost shut it off when the lyric "Everyone is trying to get to the bar, the name of the bar, the bar is called Heaven" 1.5/5

Pish. A poor facsimile of the real thing, copied so many times any meaningful emotions have been lost. He can sing, but I'd rather he didn't. Just listen to some old soul and R'n'B records instead - this is not worth your time.

Sweet Jesus this is boring

2/10. Didn't even finish it. Meh jazz pop rock album.

Blechhh. This blows. Even their one good song…wasn’t. And they even managed to make a Talking Heads song skippable.

Painful. The 80s were a difficult time for music, and this album was painful to get through. Of al the great music in this world, why subject someone to this? No more Simply Red please.

Take some blue-eyed soul, dance beats, and 80s production; put itall together and for that reason, I am out.

Good I hate 80s "soul" music. It's fucking soulless. I'd forgotten their one hit, Holding Backing the Years. Not that I knew it was this band's song, just have a vague recollection of the song. It's ok, I guess

I had my doubts on this album, I've only heard Holding back the Years, which I never liked. The opening track surprised me a little but then it quickly divulged into adult contemporary washed out soul music. The cover of Talking Heads Heaven is downright insulting.

Records like this make me almost resent getting involved with this whole 1001 albums thing.

Didn't like it. Maybe it was too slow. Maybe it was the blue-eyed soul. Maybe i heard it too many times in dentist offices. It just isn't my thing.

Not my jams

A baby boy forms from the penis of a Wotsit. He travels through life, threatening to destroy the world with his gentle voice. He wades his way through a trough of broken bottles and cow shit to present his immaculate balls to the queen in an unflinching display of dominance and humility. This is the result.

Cheesy mid 80's soft rock sung by a beef tomato. Sold shitloads of copies and probably got played to death in middle managers' Ford focuses and shitty dinner parties with canapes and cocaine. Best Tracks: Come To My Aid; Money's Too Tight (To Mention); Holding Back The Years

Jesus wept. The singles are enough to go no further.

Dated.

Ew. This was released in '85?! Why does it sound like mid 70s disco trash? Gross.

4-bit nancy graphics

This is why I didn't like pop.

Simply Red? More like Simply Fuck Off. Absolute cuntbag of an album. Dogshit.

insufferable. I couldn't get through 3 songs. Feels like the worst of 80's tropes.

When this popped up this morning my initial reaction was "Oh God". I'm still scarred from having to endure Stars on repeat back in '91, when all I wanted to listen to was Jimi Hendrix. Anyway in the spirit of this adventure, I did listen to this album in full. It was alright.... I survived the experience. Will I listen to it again? Doubtful. But I can at least tick it off the list.

Some 80's pop album, couldn't listened to the end

Ook nog eens jazzy

I always Money too Tight to Mention. Guess that's a death blow for this album

no

Simply Shite more like

Boring , generic blue-eyed soul. 1 🌟

Music styling is pop-jazz-saxo beats. But good grief! Didn't really think too much about the lyrics until it got to "Jericho's" first verse. That sounds like some messed up crap, and made me go back and look at the other lyrics a bit closer. Hope there is a reasonable explanation for those lyrics on Jericho. Should re-think having this album in the best 1001 of all time in my opinion. 0 stars if I could

The beauty of this 1,001 albums project is it forces me to listen to a lot of music I have never heard before, even including this dogshit album. Regretfully, this also likely means I'll have to suffer through at least one Nickelback album, since they are likely somehow less bad than this album. The bright side is I never need to hear these songs ever again. And, God willing, likely won't.

This made me wish I was simply dead. Shite.

Nossa, eu odeio Simply Red. Que tortura. Esse álbum deveria estar numa lista "1001 albuns para NÃO ouvir antes de morrer"

1.5 | Muchos discos mejoran en la segunda vuelta, este es el primero que empeora. La base del disco, el fundamento musical, no es malo; tiene un cimiento muy fuerte en muchas canciones de Soul, R&B y Jazz. Después se dedica a tomar esas bases y embarrarlas de sacarina, quitarles todo su carácter y hacer música tremendamente aburrida. Lo que más me sorprende es que, la canción que fue el sencillo y la que todos conocen es la peor de todo el disco en mi opinión. En caso de Steely Dan les llamaba "música de elevador," pero esto es bastante más cansado y tedioso, lo único que se me ocurre es llamarle música de consultorio dental. El medio punto extra sería solo porque sí tiene bastante buena voz. Lo único que me dieron ganas fue de escuchar Soul de verdad.

Very Popy and boring

Boring lounge singer with a terrible face. Just moaning unlikable terribleness.

Yucky

Conjure every cliche you can think of when I say the words "Mid-80s adult contemporary music." This is that and more. I had to take three breaks while listening to this 45 minute album. Best track: Heaven

I am during your life

Not for me

I basically had this on repeat during 6th form. Brilliant blast from the past.