Simple Minds - Live In The City Of Light, Volume Two (1987)

THINKING OUT OF THE BOX SET WEEK (MARCH 8 - 14, 2020)*
*In which I've lost/misplaced/can't find/never had one or more CDs in a multi-disc set.

Disc 2 of a 2 CD set (which I previously owned on cassettes).

From the band's website:

Live In The City Of Light is the first (double LP / CD) live album by Simple Minds. It was released in May 1987 to document their successful worldwide Once Upon a Time tour, and charted at No. 1 in the UK. The album spawned one chart single release, a live version of “Promised You a Miracle”.

The album was recorded mostly at Le Zénith, Paris in August 1986, with one track recorded in October 1986 in Sydney, Australia. (Although the album was not recorded there, the inside of the gatefold sleeve features a photograph of a concert from the 1986 tour which took place in a square in Locarno, Switzerland). It features the band’s 1986 touring lineup, which included second vocalist Robin Clark and percussionist Sue Hadjopoulos. Lisa Germano (at the time, a John Mellencamp band member who would perform on Simple Minds’ next studio single, Belfast Child), contributed studio-overdubbed violin on “Someone Somewhere in Summertime” and former Simple Minds member Derek Forbes contributed (uncredited) bass guitar overdubs.

I'm not a huge fan of live rock albums, but I bought the pre-recorded cassettes on the cheap from a resale shop in summer 1988. They spent a lot of time in my car's deck that summer, so I didn't hesitate when I saw this CD sitting in a bin at another resale shop many years later (I'm detecting a resale shop trend). I didn't even look at the disc beyond the title because I already knew what was on the CD - it's the two albums on one disc, right?

It was not. In this case, two albums = two CDs. So I was stuck with only Volume 2 of this set. Live and learn. I shouldn't complain - after all, it's still 41½ minutes of music. But I'm a big, pouty baby, so I cross my arms, stomp my feet, and don't often listen to this disc on principle.

Billboard, July 11, 1987, p. 64

While I agree that the record packs a punch, radio did not, in fact, move on it. Despite the video being in "medium rotation" on MTV that summer, said single didn't sniff the Hot 100. Not that you asked, but Promised You A Miracle is track 4 on CD 1, so it won't get a sniff in this post, either.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #96

Tracks: Of the 7 tracks here, my favorites are Don't You Forget About Me, Once Upon A Time, and the medley of Love Song/Sun City/Dance To The Music. I've been to many shows where the band trots out the Sly Stone warhorse Dance To The Music as a way to introduce the band, so there's nothing new there, but I like the way the medley flows and they get their jabs in at apartheid, so I dig that, too. Tracks 3 & 4 - lackluster versions of Book Of Brilliant Things followed by East At Easter are unfortunate show killers.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I've got a couple, but I'm going to save them for when I eventually post about the complete CD set. Yes, I've purchased this set yet again, both discs this time.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Acoustic (2016)
Glittering Prize (1992)
Real Life (1991)
Once Upon a Time (1985)
Sparkle in the Rain (1984)
New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (1982)
New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84): Deluxe Box Set
Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call (1981)