Good News From The Next World
	Produced by Keith Forsey & Simple Minds
	Released on January 30, 1995
	UK CHART POSITION #2 . . . US CHART POSITION #87
	Find it at GEMM
39922 cover [high resolution scan]

T hey might as well have called themselves Us2 at this point. Now simply a duo of Jim Kerr and Charles Burchill plus session musicians, Simple Minds released a big-sounding disc that feels for the life of me like a bouncier Achtung Baby. The good news is that Kerr and Burchill pull it off somehow. Good News From The Next World beats with a vital, healthy heart, and the pair seem re-energized by the prospect of making more music. In fact, the songs themselves allude to that drive to discover, to keep on creating. You’ll hear it in “Night Music,” “This Time” and “And The Band Played On.” You’ll also find that new energy in the two hit singles, “She’s A River” and “Hypnotised.” Listen to these two tracks, and you’ll swear Simple Minds haven’t lost a step since the golden days. Not that I’m letting the pair off scot-free. For the disc’s photo shoot, Burchill and Kerr look like they’re sharing one Adam & the Ants outfit between them, and the entire packaging is built on two well-coiffed Scots shot in some filthy corner of the globe fighting social injustice through thoughtful posing. But glossy packaging is part of the Simple Minds experience; underneath the glitter lie the heart of a poet and the soul of a singer. I’ll admit that the glossy exterior slid off my sensibilities on the first listen. I had the same reaction to Once Upon A Time. But by the third time you hear “She’s A River,” “Hypnotised” and the end of “And The Band Played On,” it would take a tin ear not to hear something masterful in them. Good News From The Next World is bigger, better and bolder than a two-man band has a right to be. Headliners indeed.

39922 gatefold sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. SHE'S A RIVER
2. NIGHT MUSIC
3. HYPNOTISED
4. GREAT LEAP FORWARD
5. 7 DEADLY SINS
6. AND THE BAND PLAYED ON
7. MY LIFE
8. CRIMINAL WORLD
9. THIS TIME
10. (JPN CD bonus track:) CELTIC STRINGS
    
    All songs written by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill

CREDITS

CHARLIE BURCHILL -- guitars, keyboards
JIM KERR -- vocals
Tal Bergman -- drums
Mark Browne -- bass
Vinnie Calaiuta -- drums
Malcolm Foster -- bass
Pat Hodges -- backing vocals
Maxann Lewis -- backing vocals
Marcus Miller -- bass
Lance Morrison -- bass
Mark Schulman -- drums
Julia Waters -- backing vocals
Stefani Spruill -- backing vocals
Brian Reeves -- engineer
Tom Lord Alge -- mixing
Stylorouge -- design & art direction
David Scheinmann -- band photography
Rob O'Connor & Stuart Mackenzie -- textural photography

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