Real Life (Simple Minds album)

Real Life is the ninth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released in April 1991 by record label Virgin Records worldwide apart from the US, where it was released by A&M.[7]

Real Life
Studio album by
Released8 April 1991
Recorded1990–1991
Studio
GenrePop rock
Length52:15
Label
ProducerStephen Lipson
Simple Minds chronology
Themes – Volume 4: February 89–May 90
(1990)
Real Life
(1991)
Glittering Prize 81/92
(1992)
Simple Minds studio albums chronology
Street Fighting Years
(1989)
Real Life
(1991)
Good News from the Next World
(1995)
Singles from Real Life
  1. "Let There Be Love"
    Released: 11 March 1991
  2. "See the Lights"
    Released: 13 May 1991[1]
  3. "Stand by Love"
    Released: 12 August 1991
  4. "Real Life"
    Released: 14 October 1991[2]
North American cover art
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Martin C. Strong5/10[4]
NME1/10[5]
Rolling Stone[6]

Background and recording edit

This was the first album without founding member keyboardist Mick MacNeil as he left the band to spend time with his family. Peter-John Vettese played keyboards on the album. The rest of the band included lead singer Jim Kerr, guitarist Charlie Burchill who also took up keyboards, and drummer Mel Gaynor. Bass was played by Malcolm Foster. Stephen Lipson, who had co-produced Street Fighting Years produced the album and also played some bass parts.

For the title track, the chord sequence was built up around a drum loop called the Bonham Loop Idea or Loop Idea, inspired by the rhythmic backing of "When the Levee Breaks" by Led Zeppelin. It was one of the later demos, first appearing in March 1990. The opening intro was one of the last flourishes added to the album. (The edited version of the song, which appears on the single, was how early versions of the album opened).

"See the Lights" was first composed in November–December 1989. It was formally recorded (on 11 December 1989) and committed to a compilation tape of potential ideas. Unlike most of the ideas floating around at the time, the song had its final title and some working lyrics.

"Let There Be Love" first appeared during the writing sessions at Wisseloord between November and December 1989. The first demos were called "Anthem". It was premiered by national radio in February 1991 and confirmed that the post-MacNeil Simple Minds had not lost any vital musical elements. The song was a slick continuation of the sounds from Street Fighting Years, complete with celtic-sounding melodic pipes, but with modern drums and rhythms. (Trills and synth swoops came courtesy of Lipson which he borrowed from Grace Jones' "Slave to the Rhythm").

"Banging on the Door" was formally demoed during the second Real Life writing sessions at Wisseloord in March 1990. Six takes of a new live arrangement was recorded at Loch Earn/Bonny Wee Studios on the 1st May; and this formed the basis of the various mixes and session recordings which took place at the studio during the following months. The opening intro, indexed separately on most CDs, was taken straight from a demo called "Dark Isle". The voice in the background was Kerr, directing changes within the song. (During the early stages of songs when the arrangement wasn't finalised, he'd direct the course of the song, often suggesting "Charlie. Go to the chorus" or "Repeat the verse.") The intro was one of the last things to be added to the album. A cassette from Olympic Studios (dated 16/1/91) has a different track order, but the songs are all in their final form, with the exception of "Banging on the Door", which had yet to gain this magical opener. The song was many of the highlights of the album and was played during the Real Life and Good News from the Next World tours. After other performances during the catalogue-spanning Alive and Kicking Tour, it enjoyed a comeback in the mid 2010s, becoming a staple of the various tours at the end of the decade.

"Rivers of Ice" was inspired by Ian Maclachlan's "Dr. MacKay's Farewell to Creagorry" although it gained promenance when adapted by David Silver for the BBC thriller The Dark Island. The programme was so popular that Maclachlan's melody also became known as "The Dark Island". It was well known to MacNeil, whose grounding in the musical celtic roots of Scotland made him familiar with the track. In a prophetic piece by Rapido in 1989, documenting Simple Minds preparing for Street Fighting Years at Loch Earn, Kerr opened the studio door to find MacNeil and Burchill working on an acoustic version of the song, and the narrator even described it as "the new Simple Minds sound". Perhaps it was being considered for the acoustic interlude for the tour, but got nudged out by "Gaelic Melody" instead. Burchill picked up the baton during the Real Life sessions. MacNeil may have left the band, but one of his remaining legacies was planting the seeds of this melody. The song was recorded as a demo at Olympic Studios in London as "Dark Isle". Opening with a haunting swirl of Burchill's keyboards and Kerr's ghostly studio directions ("Try this Charlie") the intro jumped into a bass heavy thudder, rising to crescendo after crescendo, with Burchill literally working up through the keys. Oddly, for an early demo, it also featured lyrics, which were avery close to the final recorded version. These gave the song its final title, and on some annotated cassette inlays, the title "Dark Isle" was crossed out and replaced by "Rivers of Ice". In the end, it was calmed down, the elements subtly redrawn and reworked, and it moved back to its original, gentler form. Session work took place at Loch Earn/Bonny Wee Studios from July through to December 1990, with final mixes at Olypmic in January 1990. The haunting intro from the demo actually survived, neatly snipped from its original placeholding, and added to the intro of "Banging on the Door". That brief opening is a rare occurrence of a demo recording slipped onto a commercial Simple Minds record. It appeared during the Real Life tour as a gentle ballad, serving as a brief intro to "Alive and Kicking". It was also later showcased (with a slightly different melody) during the Big Music tours where this time it served as the introduction to "Dolphins" and as a showcase for Catherine A.D. It appeared in the same pairing for the quickly aborted 40 Years of Hits Tour in 2020 and didn't reappear when the reorganised tour recommenced two years later.

"Let the Children Speak" is based on the 1981 Simple Minds instrumental "Theme for Great Cities" from Sister Feelings Call. A re-recorded version of that piece, called "Theme for Great Cities '91", appeared as a B-side of the "See the Lights" single.

"Travelling Man" bears some resemblance to the 1983 song "Waterfront" from Sparkle in the Rain.

"When Two Worlds Collide" is based on the title track "Real Life", as is the 1995 song "And the Band Played On", which subsequently appeared on the following album, Good News from the Next World. "Women and Ghosts" (included on the US edition of the 1995 single "Hypnotised") is a reworked instrumental version of the title track.

Release edit

The album reached no. 2 in the UK,[8] and no. 74 in the United States. All four singles from the album were Top 40 hits in the UK, including the Top 10 hit "Let There Be Love". In the US, "See the Lights" reached the Top 40 and also reached no. 1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.[9]

In America, the front and back covers were switched and the front was now the photo of the band on the white background. The US version of the cover is what has been used on reissues of the album.

Virgin Australia decided to create a limited "collectors'" edition of the album by packaging the album with five live tracks.

Virgin reissued the CD as part of the Simple Minds remasters in late 2002 and early 2003. On the remastered version, a couple of differences are apparent when compared to the first edition: the 2002/2003 remaster features an extended mix of "Let There Be Love", not the one used on the first edition of the album, although it is not mentioned on the cover or in the booklet; the segues between tracks have also been re-edited, so that the running time of individual tracks may differ slightly between the editions; also, the CD version of the first edition had "Banging on the Door" split into two tracks in the disc's table of contents (running time was 1:16 + 4:22), but the music as such did not indicate any break between the parts. On the 2002/2003 reissue, the track is indexed as one.

Reception edit

The album received mostly negative reviews from critics. In Rolling Stone, Paul Evans said: "What might have been the band's most cohesive record misses, if only by frustrating inches."[10]

AllMusic's Alex Henderson opined: "Real Life isn't terrible, but play it next to any of [the band's previous three] albums, and you're reminded how much less inspired their writing had become by the early '90s."[11]

Track listing edit

CD and cassette track listing edit

All tracks are written by Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr, except where indicated

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Real Life" 4:53
2."See the Lights" 4:22
3."Let There Be Love" 4:57
4."Woman"Burchill, Kerr, Stephen Lipson4:40
5."Stand by Love" 4:04
6."Let the Children Speak" 4:16
7."African Skies" 4:52
8."Ghostrider" 3:22
9."Banging on the Door (Intro)" 1:16
10."Banging on the Door" 4:22
11."Travelling Man"Burchill, Kerr, Lipson3:34
12."Rivers of Ice"Iain MacLachlan (music), Simple Minds (lyrics)3:30
13."When Two Worlds Collide" 4:01

LP track listing edit

All tracks are written by Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr, except where indicated

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Real Life" 4:53
2."See the Lights" 4:22
3."Let There Be Love" 4:57
4."Woman"Burchill, Kerr, Stephen Lipson4:40
5."Stand by Love" 4:04
6."African Skies" 4:52
7."Let the Children Speak" 4:16
8."Ghostrider" 3:22
9."Banging on the Door" 5:33
10."Travelling Man"Burchill, Kerr, Lipson3:34
11."Rivers of Ice"Iain MacLachlan (music), Simple Minds (lyrics)3:30
12."When Two Worlds Collide" 4:01

Personnel edit

Charts edit

Singles edit

Single Chart (1991) Position
"Let There Be Love" Dutch Singles Top 100 7
Irish Singles Chart 5
UK Singles Chart 6
"See the Lights" Irish Singles Chart 16
UK Singles Chart 20
US Billboard Hot 100 40
US Modern Rock Tracks 1
US Billboard Mainstream Rock 10
"Stand by Love" Irish Singles Chart 14
UK Singles Chart 13
US Modern Rock Tracks 4
"Real Life" UK Singles Chart 34[27]

Certifications edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[28] Gold 35,000^
France (SNEP)[29] 2× Gold 200,000*
Germany (BVMI)[30] Gold 250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[31] 3× Gold 300,000[31]
Netherlands (NVPI)[32] Gold 50,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[33] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[34] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[35] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[36] Platinum 300,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References edit

  1. ^ "press release".
  2. ^ "press release".
  3. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Simple Minds: Real Life > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  4. ^ The Essential Rock Discography – Volume 1: 970. 2006. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ Dudfield, Simon (13 April 1991). "Long Play: Life in a Daze". New Musical Express. p. 32.
  6. ^ Evans, Paul (13 June 1991). "Simple Minds: Real Life". Rolling Stone. No. RS 606. Straight Arrow. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on 6 May 2007.
  7. ^ "Real Life". simple-minds.demon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 April 1997.
  8. ^ "Real Life". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  9. ^ "Real Life > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles" at AllMusic. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  10. ^ Evans, Paul (13 June 1991). "Simple Minds: Real Life: Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 May 2007.
  11. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Simple Minds - Real Life". AllMusic.
  12. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Simple Minds – Real Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Simple Minds – Real Life" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1527". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Simple Minds – Real Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  16. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  17. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Simple Minds – Real Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Charts.nz – Simple Minds – Real Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Simple Minds – Real Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Simple Minds – Real Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Simple Minds – Real Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  23. ^ "Simple Minds Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  24. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1991". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  26. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1991". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  27. ^ "Simple Minds". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  28. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1991 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  29. ^ "Les Certifications depuis 1973: Albums". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 26 May 2019. (select "Simple Minds" from drop-down list)
  30. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Simple Minds; 'Real Life')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  31. ^ a b "Simply Gilded" (PDF). Music & Media. 26 October 1991. p. 7. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  32. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Simple Minds – Real Life" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 26 May 2019. Enter Real Life in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1991 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  33. ^ Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990 (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 8480486392.
  34. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  35. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Real Life')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  36. ^ "British album certifications – Simple Minds – Real Life". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

External links edit