Simple Minds - Up On The Catwalk (Virgin)

More rattling, battering drums from Simple Minds, but this time Jim Kerr's cries to the four winds lack the melody and rhythm that made "Waterfront" so persuasive. You get the feeling old Jim's not too keen to be up on the catwalk with all these wicked capitalists but lyrically the high points are a name-check for Nastassia Kinski and (yet another!) for Mr de Niro. Don't say they want to meet him too! (Paul Simper, No 1, March 17, 1984)

I had a bet with a Virgin employee that their album wouldn't come straight in at number one, and I lost. The thing I find about Simple Minds is you can almost sing any of their songs over the backing these days, the last three singles have all been in that same solid production, everything upfront, so there's no gaps. I find that a bit annoying in a way, I'm not a big fan of theirs, they're just OK to me. Jim Kerr's phrasing of lyrics, although it's very unique, is always very similar. There's no real melody, even in the music. (Roy Hay [Culture Club], Record Mirror, March 17, 1984)