CD: SIMCD4
RELEASED: 2003
LABEL: Virgin

01. In Trance as Mission
02. Sweat in Bullet
03. 70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall
04. Boys from Brazil
05. Love Song
06. This Earth That You Walk Upon
07. Sons and Fascination
08. Seeing Out the Angel
09. Theme for Great Cities
10. American
11. 20th Century Promised Land
12. Wonderful in Young Life
13. League of Nations
14. Careful Career
15. Sound in 70 Cities

2003 remastered reissue of the Simple Minds fourth album which was originally released in 1981. Sons and Fascination is certainly one of the pinnacle albums of the early-1980s, establishing the then-avant garde musings of Simple Minds as a major force to be reckoned with. Produced in conjunction with its highlights version (Sister Feelings Call), Sons and Facination was subject to the superb production textures applied by Steve Hillage and the band themselves. Highly experimental in places, but never dull or pretencious, Sons and Fascination is a masterpiece of multilayered instrumentation coupled with some strong melodies and a definite underlying mood of both ambient calm and cerebral excitement. Key moments include the beautiful Seeing Out The Angel, the pop-driven singles Love Song and The American, plus the excellent Sweat In Bullet and the more settled tones of Theme For Great Cities. However, cornerstone of the album must be the utterly brilliant Wonderful In Young Life, surely one of the Minds finest moments. Simple Minds certainly succeeded where all of their peers failed, producing so-called avant garde music which provided a truly vivid and engaging musical canvass which has stood the test of time. Highlights of the remastering are the metallic echo of Sweat In Bullet, the crystal clear vocals of Seeing Out The Angel and the sheer exuberance of Wonderful In Young Life. Furthermore "League of Nations" and "Sound in 70 Cities" ARE finally included on this release. Previous issues ommitted these tracks. The resultant playing time is 79 minutes. Sons and Facination was to be succeeded by the era-defining milestone New Gold Dream in 1982. However, a slow descent into US-oriented stadium rock may have brought in the money and the dreaded maninstream record-buyers, but also lost many if not all, of their original fans.

Influences / Similar Artists:
Kraftwerk, Roxy Music, The Velvet Underground, TC Matic