ARTIST: Simple Minds           

TITLE:  Life in a Day

YEAR RELEASED: 1979

CHART ACTION: #30 UK

SINGLES:  Life in a Day (#62 UK), Chelsea Girl

OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Die hard Simple Mind fans

LINEUP: Jim Kerr, Charles Burchill, Derek Forbes, Brian McGee, Michael MacNeil

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Simple Minds’ debut is a rather cloudy affair, with production issues and some rambling songs.

SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Instead of a rather ornate sound of keyboards and high production values, the Simple Minds debut is a guitar-based affair, and muddy, muddy, muddy. There are some keyboards and a little goth element, but it’s kind of rote post-punk.

Jim Kerr’s vocals are oddly mixed, kind of back there and showing none of the depth that he’d show later on. Some songs, like “Pleasantly Disturbed” meander forever. The band doesn’t know what they want to be when they grow up, and that includes the singles.

The main turnoff is the production – Kerr himself doesn’t like it. It seems to highlight the weakness instead of the strengths of the band. There are glimmers of goodness, but mostly it’s a sad, soggy affair.

NOTES & MINUTIAE: “Chelsea Girl” is a tribute to the Andy Warhol film of the same name, and the star, Nico.

IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No.

GRADE: C: I’m exiling a few songs. I probably should exile more, but there’s a few tidbits here and there that are good. But it’s a thin, tinny sound and it undermines the band.