Simple Minds

This cube-sized doorstop is a 25-disc box set, an elaborate and expanded reissue of expanded reissues. In 1990, Virgin released four Simple Minds Themes sets. Each Themes volume contained five CD singles -- reissues of the band's singles from 1979 through 1990, essentially, with occasional bonus content in the form of live material and just what every Simple Minds fanatic needs: album tracks. And now, these Themes, which were like box sets, have been boxed, with a fifth Themes box added to the mix that extends the set's scope through 1992. These five Themes are packaged in elaborate foldout digipacks; one could unfold all the foldouts and tile a decent-sized room. Beyond a few extended versions and remixes, and what amounts to a double live album, there's nothing here for anyone who owns the Simple Minds albums from Life in a Day through Real Life, unless he or she is overly fascinated with something so extravagant being placed into circulation in 2008. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide