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.".
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | You Make Me BelieveMick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 03:53 | 0 MB | 25 MB |
| 2 | So Many PeopleMick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 05:20 | 0 MB | 37 MB |
| 3 | Lives and LovesMick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 03:22 | 0 MB | 22 MB |
| 4 | FairgroundMick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 05:33 | 0 MB | 39 MB |
| 5 | Never Never LoveMick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 04:20 | 0 MB | 27 MB |
| 6 | So BeautifulMick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 04:58 | 0 MB | 29 MB |
| 7 | Hillside AvenueConnie Crothers, Mick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 04:46 | 0 MB | 30 MB |
| 8 | Remembering the First TimeMick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 04:44 | 0 MB | 31 MB |
| 9 | Out on the RangeMick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 06:01 | 0 MB | 41 MB |
| 10 | We're in This TogetherMick Hucknall | Simply Red | Play | 04:15 | 0 MB | 24 MB |
| 11 | Fairground | Simply Red | Play | 05:33 | 0 MB | 39 MB |
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| 52 mins | 350 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bootsy Collins | Guest Artist, Guitar (Bass) |
| 2 | Connie Crothers | Composer |
| 3 | Danny Cummings | Percussion |
| 4 | Caroline Dale | Conductor |
| 5 | Jake Davies | Assistant Engineer |
| 6 | Vuyisile Dikana | Vocals |
| 7 | Mandise Dlanga | Vocals |
| 8 | Sly Dunbar | Drums, Guest Artist, Programming |
| 9 | Bernie Grundman | Mastering |
| 10 | Beulah Hashe | Vocals |
| 11 | Roland Herrington | Engineer, Mixing |
| 12 | Mick Hucknall | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Bass), Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 13 | Luyanda Jezile | Vocals |
| 14 | Femi Jiya | Engineer, Mixing |
| 15 | Dee Johnson | Vocals (Background) |
| 16 | Faith Kekana | Vocals |
| 17 | Stella Khumalo | Vocals |
| 18 | Ian Kirkham | EWI, Keyboards, Saxophone |
| 19 | Stewart Levine | Producer |
| 20 | London Metropolitan Orchestra | Guest Artist |
| 21 | Aidan Love | Assistant Engineer |
| 22 | Ringo Madlingozi | Vocals |
| 23 | Anneline Malebo | Vocals |
| 24 | Khanyo Maphumulo | Vocals |
| 25 | Felicia Marion | Vocals |
| 26 | Hugh Masekela | Flugelhorn, Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 27 | Bongani Masuku | Vocals |
| 28 | Lawrence Matshiza | Vocals |
| 29 | Sipho Mbhele | Vocals |
| 30 | Zamo Mbutho | Vocals |
| 31 | Fritz McIntyre | Keyboards, Vocals (Background) |
| 32 | Sipho Mhlambi | Vocals |
| 33 | Vuyo Mokoena | Vocals |
| 34 | Tholo Ndlozi | Vocals |
| 35 | Marilyn Nokwe | Vocals |
| 36 | Tu Nokwe | Vocals |
| 37 | Phumzile Ntuli | Vocals |
| 38 | Merv Pearson | Coordination |
| 39 | Victor Ruxmalo | Vocals |
| 40 | Robbie Shakespeare | Guest Artist, Guitar (Bass) |
| 41 | Kwazi Shange | Vocals |
| 42 | Simply Red | Primary Artist |
| 43 | Richard Stevens | Drums |
| 44 | Heitor T.P. | Guitar, Trumpet |
| 45 | Chris Vermaak | Assistant Engineer |
| 46 | Andrew Wright | Keyboards, Programming |
| 47 | Zanna | Art Direction, Photography |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |