Tracks

1. You Make Me Believe

2. So Many People

3. Lives And Loves

4. Fairground

5. Never Never Love

6. So Beautiful

7. Hillside Avenue

8. Remembering The First Time

9. Out On The Range

10. We're In This Together

Performer Notes

The extended version of "Fairground" is not listed on the CD package.
Simply Red: Mick Hucknall (vocals, guitar, bass); Heitor TP (guitar); Ian Kirkham (saxophone, EWI synthesizer, keyboards); Fritz McIntyre (keyboards, background vocals); Dee Johnson (background vocals).
Additional personnel: Hugh Masekela (flugelhorn); Robbie Shakespeare, Bootsy Collins (bass); Ritchie Stevens (drums); Sly Dunbar (drums, programming); Danny Cummings (percussion); Andy Wright (programming, keyboards); The London Metropolitan Orchestra.
Umoja Singers Chorale: Kwazi Shange, Janshi Mayo, Lawrence Matshiza, Tembe Mkhize, John Hassen, Marilyn Nokwe, Beulala Hashe, Phumzile Ntuli, Stella Khumalo, Faith Kekane,, Felicia Marion, Anneline Malebo, Khanya Malphumulo, Tu Nokwe, Tholo Ndlozi, Mandisa Dlanga, Vuyo Mokoena, Victor Rxumalo, Sipho Mbhele, Bongani Masuku, Zamo Mbutho, Luyanda Jezile, Ringo Madlingozi, Vuyisile Dikana, Sipho Mhlambi, Hugh Masekela (background vocals).
Recorded at Planet 4 Studios, Manchester, England; Air Studios, London, England; Downtown Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Undoubtedly, Mick Hucknall's soulful and honest voice is Simply Red's trademark; but while it holds prominence on the British group's fifth album, there is much more to LIFE than mellow, R&B-influenced crooning. There are also strong, pure melodies and mature, intimate lyrics, all written by Hucknall. On LIFE, Simply Red teams up with a solid group of musicians and the result is an accessible, smooth, pop-styled album that includes plenty of ballads, but is fortified by tangible reggae, funk and jazz influences.
The new weightiness of LIFE's lyrics moves beyond the personal toward the global, a clear theme of "So Many People," a mellow jazzy song which describes love as something enormous, reaching beyond human beings to the earth itself. Even on more earthbound songs like "Fairground," whose underlying tribal dance-beat gives it substance and which addresses a specific, individual love, the ever-present connection between the personal and the universal resonates.
For Life, Simply Red retain the basic influences that fueled their earlier albums, especially American R&B of the early '70s, specifically the Marvin Gaye of What's Going On? and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes-era Teddy Pendergrass. Mick Hucknall's singing has calmed down and smoothed out on such songs as "You Make Me Believe" and "So Many People," but that only makes them sound more like the product of Philadelphia International Records. On "Fairground," he opts for a Latin-tinged sound that ends up evoking Herb Alpert more than Milton Nascimento; reggae turns up on "Out on the Range," and the big-time closer, "We're in This Together," is a South African-style anthem, complete with Hugh Masekela's flugelhorn. Stripped of the international superstar trappings, Life is, of course, pretentious, but it does have a couple of promising songs, notably "So Beautiful" and "Remembering the First Time." ~ William Ruhlmann

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (11/16/95, p.110) - 3.5 Stars - Good - "...With rare command and airy confidence, lead singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall's free tenor steers the music....Didn't anyone ever tell Mick Hucknall that world superstars don't usually come up with albums as soulful and weird as LIFE?.."