Live - in the City of Light

There are no really weak tracks here but the inclusion of Oh Jungleland and a dubious medley of Love Song (a great live track in it's own right)\Sun City\Dance to the music now sounds a little out of place alongside other traditional 'minds' live classics which have lasted in their live set to the present day such as Waterfront, Alive and Kicking, Don't you forget about me and the sublime New Gold Dream, but as this was originally recorded 18 years ago we can forgive these inclusions, as creative ideas and outlook for the band will have changed a great deal in that time.

Despite this Album being originally released 17 years ago, Live in the City of Light still stands up as a good live recording with versions of Ghost dancing, Big Sleep, Someone Somewhere in Summertime and New Gold Dream being my standout tracks. For me the weakest area of this album is Jim Kerr's vocals which are at times putting it kindly variable, particularly when the going gets tough and he has to push his voice. The vocals ending up more of a gruff shout at times, and it is for this reason why the album doesn't get the full 5 stars from me. Also the keyboards and percussion can at times come across as over indulgent and occasionally too dominant in the mix, perhaps an indication of the era and production techniques used at the time the album was recorded, and also the bands approach to their music at the time.

In many ways it is a shame this remains their only official live album release to date as having witnessed their live performance recently on the Floating World tour, I am happy to report that they sound even better now than they do on this album. Live in the City of Light mainly includes tracks that attained chart success up to and including the excellent Once upon a time album, so no tracks from Street Fighting years, the superb Real Life or Good News from the Next World all of which were released subsequent to this Album.

Truthfully Live in the City of Light is really one for the die hard fans, but if you are one and haven't yet heard or purchased this album, do so and Enjoy...


Live and lives up to expectations!   March 27, 2003
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This the album that got me listening to Simple Minds music other than the traditional favourates Don't You (Forget About Me) and Alive and Kicking. The album has a great uplifting feeling to it that comes from the electric guitar and the keyboards. There is not one dull song on the album and is definatly worth the price. The only question remains after listening to this album is that of why have Simple Minds never released any other live albums? If unsure give the album a go!


Not quite live   June 4, 2002
 6 out of 15 found this review helpful

For a band that had proven itself live time and again it was ironic to find Simple Minds involved in such a huge touching up exercise as the one involved in the release of this album. Midi information was used to replace a large number of keyboard sounds (whilst retaining Mick McNeil's performance), guitar parts were sampled and re-pitched, vocals re-recorded and, most incredibly, former bassist Derek Forbes was invited back to re-record the bass part to Someone Somewhere In Summertime.
The resulting album is an odd hybrid of live performance and studio production. In some cases, this is clearly beneficial, with the songs from Once Upon A Time sounding far better than their original recordings. Elsewhere, the tracks sound curiously dislocated.
There are some beautiful moments, including the coda to Big Sleep and the radically re-arranged New Gold Dream, which seems to capture a little of the band's original spirit. Elsewhere, rewrites of Promised You A Miracle and Book Of Brilliant Things are leaden and add little.
It's a sad fact that this remains the sole full album of Simple Minds' live material, when there were so many excellent concerts prior to 1985, evidenced by the huge number of high quality bootlegs that were available.
The Themes collection contains live versions of In Trance As Mission as well as League of Nations, both of which hint at the bands historic strengths.


Simple Minds-Live in the City of Light By Simple Minds   April 1, 2001
 6 out of 8 found this review helpful

This one of the most special band of the wordl, because combines some kind of music of the finally 70`s and early 80's, with passion, style, and brilliant performance. The result is an unique rock & pop sound, that I have never heard, which is its brand of the band, like any band of the world.