Its status and its

SIMPLE MINDS: CELEBRATION [ESP 1982] LP/COMP SIMPLE MINDS: CELEBRATION [ESP 1982] LP/COMP Simple Minds   "Celebration"  LP (Arista)  1982  made in Spain cat. num.   I-204 521 #new wave  #pop rock  #synth pop   Life In A Day   Chelsea Girl   Premonition   Factory   Calling Your Name   I Travel   Changeling   Celebrate   Thirty Frames A Second   Kaleidoscope   Originally released in 1982 by Arista in the U.K. and reissued on CD by the Dutch Disky imprint in 2001,  Celebration  serviceably culls some of the better moments from  Simple Minds ' first three albums: 1979's  Life in a Day  and  Reel to Real Cacophony  and 1980's  Empires and Dance. Given the sadly neglected status of the band's early catalog -- meaning anything that was released prior to 1982's breakthrough  New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)  -- through the early 2000s, it is doubly unfortunate that a compilation like this remained out of print for an extended period of time. And though the studio albums remained in print in the U.K.,  Simple Minds ' early years hardly received the red carpet compilation treatment that their later works did. While nothing here came close to approaching the stadium-pleasing popularity of later smashes like "Don't You (Forget About Me)," "Alive and Kicking," or even "Promised You a Miracle,"  Celebration  might provide a little shock to an initiated someone who snaps up a copy. It's a near-definite that plenty of people who own  New Gold Dream  and/or the  Glittering Prize 81/92 compilation remain oblivious to the fact that  Simple Minds  released five albums that ranged from good to spectacular between 1979 and 1981, before  New Gold Dream  came along with its perfect balance of art and pop to connect with a mass audience. Not only was 1979-1981 a prolific period for the band, but it was a period that witnessed them blossoming from a decent guitar-based post-punk band to a far more rhythmic and experimental entity that gradually shed their influences while ambitiously building on them. And as the few brave souls who have remained devout  Simple Minds  fans from day one might tell you,  Celebration  has stood the test of time better than  Glittering Prize  track-for-track.