''Real Life'' is the ninth studio album by Scottish rock band
Simple Minds, released in April 1991 by record label
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
worldwide apart from the US, where it was released by
A&M.
Background and recording
This was the first album without founding member keyboardist
Mick MacNeil as he left the band to spend time with his family.
Peter-John Vettese played keyboards on the album. The rest of the band included lead singer
Jim Kerr
James Kerr (born 9 July 1959) is a Scottish musician and lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds. Commercially successful singles released by Simple Minds include " Don't You (Forget About Me)", " Glittering Prize" (1982), " Someone Somewh ...
, guitarist
Charlie Burchill who also took up keyboards, and drummer
Mel Gaynor. Bass was played by
Malcolm Foster.
Stephen Lipson, who had co-produced ''
Street Fighting Years'' produced the album and also played some bass parts.
"Let the Children Speak" is based on the 1981 Simple Minds instrumental "Theme for Great Cities" from ''
Sister Feelings Call''. A re-recorded version of that piece, called "Theme for Great Cities '91", appeared as a B-side of the "
See the Lights" single.
"Travelling Man" bears some resemblance to the 1983 song "
Waterfront" from ''
Sparkle in the Rain''.
"Rivers of Ice" is based on "Dr. Mackay's Farewell to Creagorry", an instrumental written by accordionist Iain MacLachlan in 1958. It became famous after being adapted for the 1962
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
thriller ''
The Dark Island''.
"When Two Worlds Collide" is based on the title track "Real Life", as is the 1995 song "And the Band Played On", which subsequently appeared on the following album, ''
Good News from the Next World''. "Women and Ghosts" (included on the US edition of the 1995 single "Hypnotised") is a reworked instrumental version of the title track.
Release
The album reached no. 2 in the UK, and no. 74 in the United States. All four singles from the album were Top 40 hits in the UK, including the Top 10 hit "
Let There Be Love". In the US, "See the Lights" reached the Top 40 and also reached no. 1 on the US
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...
chart.
In America, the front and back covers were switched and the front was now the photo of the band on the white background. The US version of the cover is what has been used on reissues of the album.
Virgin reissued the CD as part of the Simple Minds remasters in late 2002 and early 2003. On the remastered version, a couple of differences are apparent when compared to the first edition: the 2002/2003 remaster features an extended mix of "Let There Be Love", not the one used on the first edition of the album, although it is not mentioned on the cover or in the booklet; the segues between tracks have also been re-edited, so that the running time of individual tracks may differ slightly between the editions; also, the CD version of the first edition had "Banging on the Door" split into two tracks in the disc's table of contents (running time was 1:16 + 4:22), but the music as such did not indicate any break between the parts. On the 2002/2003 reissue, the track is indexed as one.
Reception
The album received mostly negative reviews from critics. In ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'', Paul Evans said: "What might have been the band's most cohesive record misses, if only by frustrating inches."
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's Alex Henderson opined: "''Real Life'' isn't terrible, but play it next to any of
he band's previous threealbums, and you're reminded how much less inspired their writing had become by the early '90s."
Track listing
CD and cassette track listing
LP track listing
Personnel
;Simple Minds
*
Jim Kerr
James Kerr (born 9 July 1959) is a Scottish musician and lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds. Commercially successful singles released by Simple Minds include " Don't You (Forget About Me)", " Glittering Prize" (1982), " Someone Somewh ...
– vocals
*
Charlie Burchill – guitar, keyboards
*
Mel Gaynor – drums
;Additional musicians
*Alfred Bos – shaft guitar on "African Skies"
*Andy Duncan – percussion
*
Malcolm Foster – bass
*
Lisa Germano – violin
*
Carol Kenyon – backing vocals
*
Stephen Lipson – production, bass, keyboards, odaiko
*
Wil Malone – orchestral arrangements
*Sonia Morgan Jones – backing vocals
*
Peter-John Vettese – keyboards
*
Gavyn Wright – string conductor, string section leader
;Studio personnel
*Dougie Cowan – technical master
*Giles Cowley – mixing, mixing assistant
*Tony Donald – equipment coordinator, equipment technician
*Simon Fowler – art direction, design, photography, stylist
*Efren Herrera – engineer
*Simon Heyworth – mastering
*
Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''.
Early life ...
– mastering
*Paul Kerr – logistics
*Will Malone – orchestration, orchestral arrangements
*Heff Moraes – engineer, MIDI engineer, MIDI manager
*
Stylorouge – art direction, design
*Gary Thomas – engineer
*Au Yeung, Ying Ho – catering
*Jane Ventom – A&R
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Singles
Certifications
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1991 albums
Albums produced by Stephen Lipson
Simple Minds albums
Virgin Records albums