Simply Red - 25 The Greatest Hits (2008) [FLAC]

Artist: Simply Red
Release: The Greatest Hits 25
Discogs: 1535547
Released: 2008-11-00
Label: simplyred.com
Catalog#: SRA006CD
Format:FLAC / Lossless / Log (100%) / Cue / 2 x CD, Compilation
Country: Europe
Style: Jazz, Funk / Soul, Pop, Europop, Soul, Ballad

Tracklisting:

1-1. Sunrise (3:19)
1-2. Stars (4:08)
1-3. A New Flame (3:57)
1-4. Holding Back The Years (4:11)
1-5. It's Only Love (3:52)
1-6. The Right Thing (4:22)
1-7. Your Mirror (4:04)
1-8. For Your Babies (4:17)
1-9. The Air That I Breathe (4:21)
1-10. Night Nurse (3:54)
1-11. Ain't That A Lot Of Love (3:53)
1-12. Fake (3:46)
1-13. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye (3:06)
2-1. You've Got It (3:57)
2-2. Say You Love Me (3:44)
2-3. So Not Over You (3:37)
2-4. Angel (4:00)
2-5. Never Never Love (4:07)
2-6. Home (3:33)
2-7. You Make Me Feel Brand New (5:04)
2-8. Something Got Me Started (3:59)
2-9. Money's Too Tight To Mention (4:29)
2-10. Fairground (4:26)
2-11. If You Don't Know Me By Now (3:26)
2-12. Go Now (3:27)

You could never accuse Mick Hucknall of not springing surprises: after years of apparently revelling in his ghastly public image, he calls time on Simply Red and gives an interview to the Guardian in which he suddenly emerges as a funny, likable figure. Listening to him play the big hits, there was evidence that personal antipathy towards Hucknall may have clouded people's judgment of his music. There was stuff that's as unctuous and awful as the critical brickbats suggest – runny ballads like For Your Babies – but there were also moments of glossy perfection that explain the 50m album sales: Fairground, the drifting Thrill Me.

Yet, more than 25 years into his career, Hucknall still cut an improbable figure on stage. The suit was designer, and the voice effortless – to his immense credit, Hucknall has never bothered with the melismatic showboating that's defined modern soul vocals — but the stage movements were odd: when he sang "your beauty lies within you", he rubbed his tummy, in the internationally recognised gesture for "that was a nice pasty".

When Hucknall announced "a tribute to Gregory Isaacs, who we lost this year", mention of the late reggae singer was met with uncomprehending silence. He seemed on safer ground when he paid tribute to "Teddy Pendergrass, who also passed away this year", but it was hard not to be disconcerted by the fact that everyone Simply Red covered seems to have snuffed it recently. As he launched into an admittedly great version of You Make Me Feel Brand New, you pictured the faces of the Stylistics clouding with mortal dread. Perhaps that's why he's drawing Simply Red's career to an end: he's concerned about getting a reputation as the ginger Jonah of MOR soul. Perhaps not, but judging by the crowd's final roar, he'll be missed.

dickthespic.org