Simple Minds: Jim Kerr (vocals); Charlie Burchill (guitar, keyboards); Michael McNeil (piano, keyboards); Derek Forbes, Malcolm Foster, John Giblin (bass); Mel Gaynor, Brian McGee, Mike Ogletree (drums).
Producers include: Jimmy Iovine, Bob Clearmountain, Keith Forsey, Trevor Horn, Steve Lillywhite.
Includes liner notes by Brian Hogg.
Digitally remastered by Chris Blair (Abbey Road Studios, London, England).
Picking up where the band's previous hits compilation, 1982's THEMES FOR GREAT CITIES left off, 1995's GLITTERING PRIZE compacts five albums into 12 tracks. Because they were bigger critical and commercial successes, 1982's NEW GOLD DREAM, 1984's SPARKLE IN THE RAIN and 1985's ONCE UPON A TIME are better represented than 1989's STREET FIGHTING YEARS and 1991's REAL LIFE. Those two albums are well enough represented by the few tracks contained here that their purchase may now be unnecessary for all but the most devoted Simple Minds fan.
The mid-'80s tracks, particularly "Up on the Catwalk," "Promised You a Miracle," "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" and of course "Don't You (Forget About Me)," sound as good as ever. Their presence gives the latter tracks some added luster by their proximity.