''Good News from the Next World'' is the tenth studio album by Scottish rock band

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for " Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United ...

, released in January 1995 by record label

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

. The album's recording started in the band's own studio in

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nort ...

, Scotland, in 1993, and finished in

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, US, in summer 1994. The two original band members – singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill – wrote all nine tracks on the album. They were joined by a number of guest musicians for recording sessions.

Keith Forsey Keith Forsey (born 2 January 1948) is an English pop musician and record producer. Early life Forsey began his career as a percussionist in the mid-late 1960s as the drummer for The SpectrumCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons - The Vault - Chris ...

, who had previously worked with Simple Minds on their breakout single " Don't You (Forget About Me)", shares producing credits with the band. In some markets the album performed somewhat better than their previous record,

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the characters they portray. It has become a popular term on the ...

, but it quickly faded from public attention, producing only two moderately successful hit singles.

Commercial performance

The album garnered moderate commercial success. In the UK, it reached number 2 and produced two UK top 20 hits: " She's a River" (number 9) and "Hypnotised" (number 18). *"She's a River", inspired by Herman Hesse's novel '' Siddhartha'', was also a commercial success worldwide, reaching number 3 in Canada, number 6 on the ''Billboard''

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart (now the Mainstream Rock chart) and number 52 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. It was their first hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

since "See the Lights" in 1991. *"Hypnotised" was less successful globally, though it charted in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland and Italy.

Critical reception

''Good News from the Next World'' received favourable reviews among critics in the United States. In the UK, it received mixed reviews. John Harris wrote in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' that the album "approximates the noise that would be made if the entire contents of a music shop were strapped to an Empire transport ship from

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

", adding "for all its cod-

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ian vastness, there are no tunes." ''Good News from the Next World'' also received a favourable review from ''

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'', while '' Vox'' gave an unfavourable review.

Track listing

Personnel

Simple Minds *

Jim Kerr James Kerr (born 9 July 1959) is a Scottish singer and the lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States. Ot ...

– vocals *

Charlie Burchill Charles Burchill (born 27 November 1959) is a Scottish musician and composer, best known as the guitarist of Simple Minds. He is one of the founders of the group. Style During Simple Minds' early to mid-1980s period, Burchill's guitar had a dis ...

– guitar, keyboards Additional musicians * Mark Browne – bass * Malcolm Foster – bass *

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

– bass * Lance Morrison – bass *

Mark Schulman Mark Schulman (born September 4, 1961 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician and corporate speaker. He performed with Cher as her tour drummer on her D2K Tour. Schulman is also a session drummer as well as a music producer, audio en ...

– drums * Tal Bergman – drums *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

– drums * Stefani Spruill – backing vocals * Pat Hodges – backing vocals * Maxann Lewis – backing vocals * Julia Walters – backing vocals Technical *

– producer * Simple Minds - producer * Brian Reeves – recording * Tom Lord Alge – mixing * Chris Fogel – assistant engineer * Sean O'Dwyer – assistant engineer * Rob Kirwan – assistant engineer * Gil Morales – assistant engineer * Kenny Polakovich – assistant engineer * Doug Cowan – technical direction * Tony Donald – equipment * Clive Banks for CBL – worldwide representation * Alan McBlane – coordination *

Stylorouge Stylorouge is a graphic design studio based in Yalding, Kent, formed in London by creative director Rob O'Connor in 1981. Art work created by the studio has included record sleeve designs for bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees for their 1981' ...

– art direction and design * David Scheinmann – band photography * Rob O'Conner – textural photography * Stuar MacKenzie – textural photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1995 albums Simple Minds albums Albums produced by Keith Forsey Virgin Records albums