| Big Love | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Simply Red |
| Cover: | Big Love-Simply Red.jpg |
| Recorded: | 2014–2015 |
| Genre: | Soul, pop |
| Length: | 43:15 |
| Label: | East West |
| Producer: | Andy Wright, Mick Hucknall |
| Prev Title: | Song Book 1985-2010 |
| Prev Year: | 2013 |
| Next Title: | Symphonica in Rosso – Live at Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam |
| Next Year: | 2018 |
Big Love is the eleventh studio album by British pop group Simply Red. The album was released on 29 May 2015 by East West Records.[1] It is their first studio album since Stay (2007), and the first album to only feature original material since Life (1995).[2] Big Love is also the first album to be released under a new recording contract with East West Records, a label Simply Red previously were signed to until April 2000.[3]
On 3 November 2014, Simply Red announced they would be reforming in Autumn 2015 for the Big Love Tour, a 30th anniversary European tour[4]
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.[5]
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".[2] 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".[6]
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.[7] In December 2015, the album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 60,000 copies in the UK.
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". 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."[8] The Telegraphs 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."[9]
with:
| Position | ||
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] | 71 | |
|---|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC)[12] | 84 |