Big Love (Simply Red album)

On 3 November 2014, Simply Red announced they would be reforming in Autumn 2015 for a 30th anniversary European tour, the "Big Love Tour 2015".[7]

On 19 April 2015, on their official Facebook page, the band announced that they would be releasing a new studio album containing 12 new tracks.[8]

Lead singer Mick Hucknall said of the album: "Once I began wondering how Simply Red were going to sound, I started writing songs. With ‘Stay' I was running away from Simply Red. But now I'm comfortable with the notion of us as a blue-eyed soul group. I had to stop myself fighting that idea. Our sound is original too. I honestly don't know of another band that has pulled so many musical strands together".[5] Hucknall has said he wanted to make an album like Stars with a consistent theme: "And the theme here is life from a family viewpoint. It’s an album that deals with birth, love, death, and all the stuff in between".[9]

The album debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart, with first-week sales of 18,292 copies, becoming Simply Red's 13th top 10 album.[10] In December 2015, the album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 60,000 copies in the UK.[11]

At Metacritic, which assigns a "weighted average" rating out of 100 from selected independent ratings and reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a Metascore of 58, based on 7 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12] Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian gave Big Love three out of five stars and wrote that, "a wizened nostalgia hangs above this blue-eyed soul – the songs are smooth and sentimental, like easy-listening epitaphs. Wistful laments are nothing new for the group, and their unbridled sincerity remains consistent."[13] The Telegraph's Helen Brown also gave the album three out of five stars, and commented that "Hucknall appears to have got some of his mojo back, with added sincerity."[14]

All tracks are written by Mick Hucknall.

• The album was re-released on 27 November 2015 in a two-disc version entitled Big Love – Greatest Hits Edition (30th Anniversary), featuring a second CD with 18 previously released tracks.[16]

• Mick Hucknall – vocals, guitar
• Kenji Suzuki – guitar
• Dave Clayton – keyboards
• Ian Kirkham – saxophone on 1, 2, 10, 11
• Kevin Robinson – trumpet on 10, 11; flugelhorn on 3, 6
• Jack Stevens – bass (except on 5, 8, 12)
• Roman Roth – drums (except on 5, 12)

with:

• Mark Jaimes – additional guitar on 1, 2
• Danny Saxon – additional keyboards on 1, 2
• Pete Lewinson – drums on 5, 12
• Steve Lewinson – bass on 5, 12
• Andy Wright – bass on 8