Good News from the Next World Simple Minds (CD)

Although Simple Minds pretty much dropped off US pop radar after 1985's hit ONCE UPON THE TIME, the band, effectively reduced to the duo of singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill plus session musicians, continued their success in the UK. The Scottish group was still popular enough there to be skewered in a scene in Nick Hornby's pop-geeks-in-love novel HIGH FIDELITY.

1995's GOOD NEWS FROM THE NEXT WORLD, the second album by the Kerr-Burchill duo, continues its predecessor's trend towards adult, reflective, mildly anthemic pop. It's less experimental and immediate than '80s classics such as NEW GOLD DREAM or SPARKLE IN THE RAIN, but less bombastic and pretentious than later records such as ONCE UPON A TIME and STREET FIGHTING YEARS. A sense of wistfulness pervades these eight spacious, uncluttered tracks, though there's plenty of joy to be had in songs such as "And the Band Played On."