Simple Minds The Best of Virgin By David Chiu

It's easy to pin Simple Minds as just an '80s band that scored big off a film directed teen-angst auteur John Hughes, but this compilation uncovers the breadth of their twenty year plus history. The Minds have been influenced by almost everyone from the punks, postpunks, and New Wave. Early tracks like Promised You a Miracle and Glittering Prize reflect the synth sound. However it was their work in the mid-'80s that really set Simple Minds, for a while, apart from the rest. Aside from their biggest hit off The Breakfast Club, "Don't You Forget About Me," they recorded some wonderful, exuberant tracks such as Sanctify Yourself, Alive and Kicking, and All The Things She Said. From their on, the duo of Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill made empowering music in "Mandela Day," a cover of Peter Gabriel's "Biko," and "Belfast Child"; the group even gets downright reflective in "See the Light" while regaining some that buoyant rock and roll form in "She's a River." For a band whose success was respectable here in the states, a 2-CD collection might seem exhausting but one might be surprised at the scope of solid songs that this band has done.