Simple Minds: New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), Once Upon A Time & Street Fighting Years

"Summer's gone winter's in your eyes, I can feel the thunder storms inside. I wake every morning and the cold winds cover me.  All I've got's a ghost of what could be." -See The Lights (Real Life)-

Don't you (forget about me)! Perish the thought Jim. Never.  While on the subject of super men this week we take a look back at one of the 80s absolute best also marked with a capital S in Simple Minds.

Stepping away from my love for certain bands happens.  It leaves the door open to the joy of rediscovering them with an reinvigorated passion.  So, yes, Jim, sometimes I've gone, but I've never forgotten the best of the 80s for very long.  And when I go on a tear listening to a band, like Simple Minds fronted by the immense, robust voice of Jim Kerr, I simply flood the 6-CD changer in my car (I know I'm so old school) with six discs and dozens of tracks from my favorite artists.  At approximately 20 tracks a disc I'm good for about 120 songs.  There aren't many quality acts from the 1980s that can boast that kind of legacy and depth.  Simple Minds is certainly one that can.  Simple Minds is the Scottish-based band led by kick-it-in vocalist Jim Kerr and guitarist/ synthesist Charlie Burchill.  These two Scots forge and anchor the center of Simple Minds, a band hailing from the great city of Glasgow, Scotland.

 

Unfairly, die-hard fans or perhaps once upon a time fans, have sometimes written off Simple Minds best years with the departure of bassist Derek Forbes (1977-1985; 1997-1998).  Forbes was certainly a huge part of some of the very best years of their successful sound.  As a fan myself I've always enjoyed the ebb and flow of the lengthy musical spans and Simple Minds is certainly one group to appreciate.  The act has weathered the storm with the best of them.  Duran Duran and Depeche Mode are other bands that come to mind.  I wish I could say the same for The The, Talk Talk, Tears For Fears and Thompson Twins all defunct or seemingly so.



Drummer Brian McGee (1977-1981) was also considered one of the bands most important integral components to their most successful years.  Others key musicians have come and gone as well offering various contributions to the overall sound that is Simple Minds, part alternative rock, part future sounds, part rock and soul, but all brilliant things.  But without question Kerr and Burchill have crafted the heartbeat to a band that formed in 1977 and have been making some of the best damn alt rock music for nearly forty years.  That's just incredible really.



Today, Simple Minds is comprised of Kerr, Burchill, longtime Minds associate drummer Mel Gaynor (1982-1991; 1997-1998; 2002-present), keyboardist Andy Gillespie (2002-2005; 2007-present) and finally bass player Ged Grimes.  Now Grimes is a hell of a talent by the way.  I could write an entry on Grimes all its own.  He was one of the founding members of the sorely underrated, under appreciated, dismissed and all but forgotten band Danny Wilson out of Dundee Scotland fronted by equally fantastic vocalist Gary Clark (be sure to purchase Danny Wilson's The Best Of Danny Wilson, Meet Danny Wilson and/or BeBop MopTop as well as Clark's amazing and lost solo effort Ten Short Songs About Love -positively goofy ridiculous just how stunning these efforts are).  Further, Grimes has worked producing and writing for a host of talents and has played with fabulous Scottish band Deacon Blue settling into work with Kerr and company as part of Simple Minds.  The point here being, Kerr and Burchill no talent and they don't just hire anyone.  If you think Simple Minds are old news because Derek Forbes is no longer with the band than sod off because you just don't get their music.  Artists change.  It's inevitable and the infusion of talent has made Simple Minds' music resonate through the years despite a lack of commercial success.



A recent three disc release dubbed Celebrate: The Greatest Hits spanning the nearly four decades of Simple Minds just blew me away.  I suppose I realized I was getting just as old as the minds.  But, by God, how Kerr does it I'll never know.  He and Burchill still look amazing with a spring in their steps and the two of them were both born in 1959. They're no spring chickens.  It must be all that Scotch.



The recent greatest compilation follows two solid efforts in Black And White 050505 (2005) and Graffiti Soul (2009).  Hearing those two recordings continues to restore my faith in bands that just keep on keeping on with real talent.  Their never perfect, but they are solid outings filled with great tunes and some that are truly epic like Home, Moscow Underground and Rockets.  It's all far superior to the bubble gum-inflated pop of today's radio barring the exceptions.





But the latest, massive best of, Celebrate: The Greatest Hits, a title that pays self-tribute to one of their earliest moments, comes complete with two superb new songs in Blood Diamonds and Broken Glass Park.  They are simply outstanding, big and bold in the mighty Simple Minds manner.  Kerr seems never to lose his touch behind the microphone. Like a baseball player, it's not easy elevating your game this long especially an artist working with vocals.  Ask Paul Young about preserving those pipes.



So I must tell you how hard it was to focus on just one recording by Simple Minds from a career spanning the decades and scattered with momentous productions.  It would truly be an injustice to suggest just one recording by Simple Minds.  A case can truly be made for a host of them as great efforts and wonderfully listenable outings from start to finish.  Simple Minds have sixteen (16) studio recordings, three (3) live albums, seven (7) compilations and fifty-two (52) singles.  That's nothing to sneeze at.  Yes, they did more than Don't You (Forget About Me).



The obvious choice to true fans is Simple Minds fifth recording New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (1982).  This production gem is a beast - a truly classic monster of epic proportions.  Anyone who is any fan of music from the 1980s must own this recording.  It is immense and utterly flawless in its studio craft work. It's like these guys stepped off a spaceship or out of the heavens and said let there be music.  It's stunning how good it is. The title track, Promised You A Miracle (check out Kerr's remake of the song with Martha Wainwright for Oxfam - mind-blowing!), Someone Somewhere In Summertime, Glittering Prize, Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel, Big Sleep, and three more leave you simply devastated and weak in the knees.  I remember being in London, England around the early 1990s when a remixed club version of New Gold Dream positively lit up the dance floor. It was absolutely potent and intoxicating - and that song needs no remixing.  It's perfect as is.  Glittering Prize, too, just shines with crooning inspiration the kind that would lift See The Lights into a similar stratosphere from Real Life long after Simple Minds were considered relevant by those struck by the fleeting commercialism of the shiny penny acts.  So, I don't think I can offer much more to the sterling, shimmering electronic and rock beauty that was New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) other than go out and discover that collection for yourself.  The songs have aged well. It exists and is waiting for you. To give credit where credit is due the aforementioned classic was the work of Kerr, Burchill, Forbes, keyboardist Mike MacNeill and drummers Michael Ogletree and Mel Gaynor.  It is also, perhaps, producer Peter Walsh's greatest moment in music.  To further illustrate my point, the voting placed New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) at number 8 in the Top 100 of 1983 over at Slicing Up Eyeballs.



But looking back even further, apart from the occasional track, some of Simple Minds earlier work has not aged well if I'm to be honest.  There are selections from Empires And Dance like I Travel that impress.  Sons And Fascination/ Sister Feelings Call (1981) sees the Minds finally delivering the goods.  Slicing Up Eyeballs recently had it listed in their Top 20 for the best 100 recordings of 1981.    But that placement is fair and the recording has some notable standouts.  Love Song, The American and Sweat In Bullet are some true highlights and establish the epic sound of Simple Minds - the kind of sound that U2 established with greater success.



So it would make sense Producer Steve Lillywhite (U2) would throw down with Kerr and the band for their 6th studio affair. Following the classic that was their 1982 template for the masses, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), Simple Minds followed up with a complex, not entirely accessible, but some would argue equally brilliant Sparkle In The Rain.  A much more raucous affair, there's hardly a bad track in the bunch for this outing too.  The unbelievable power of Waterfront is supported by a host of strong selections from Street Hassle and Book Of Brilliant Things to C Moon Cry Like A Baby and Up On The Catwalk.  Sparkle In The Rain will register big on classic lists for 1984.  It clocked in at number 21 on Slicing Up Eyeballs' Top 100 for 1984.  It's a magnificent affair and one that proved that Simple Minds was growing artistically while also gaining in popularity.



And speaking of popularity, it all changed for the Minds when director John Hughes contracted with Simple Minds to perform the theme song to the legendary brat pack film The Breakfast Club (1985).  Simple Minds reached their commercial pinnancle and blew the hats off of Americans with their Billboard #1 Don't You (Forget About Me). It was a well known fact the song was originally intended for Billy Idol.  Idol would later record that song for his own best of many years later.  While his is a good version, it's pretty clear the right artist was selected to create the emotion for that unforgettable single.  Simple Minds was the right choice.  The Scots Are Right as Kerr once sung on a song for Alan Stivell.





Simple Minds shared space on the soundtrack for the aforementioned film with Wang Chung, one of a number of 80s artists still recording respectably good pop songs today, who recorded Fire In The Twilight.  You can check out their release Tazer Up! (2012).  For those interested, actress Molly Ringwald of John Hughes film acclaim in pictures like Pretty In Pink (1986), Sixteen Candles (1984) and The Breakfast Club (1985) recorded a jazz version of that number one hit this year for her Except Sometimes (2013) cocktail jazz effort.



So paraphrasing Jerry Seinfeld, when you reach the top you know what's coming next.  It was a gradual decline and slide into commercial obscurity for Simple Minds, but they were able to capitalize on the success of their number one smash single by releasing their seventh studio recording Once Upon A Time (1986).  The much maligned effort is my choice for must own 80s recording by the Minds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) not withstanding.  At this point, Simple Minds were selling out stadiums and fans in general were celebrating to a degree but the backlash was coming. You know it.  You can feel it.  You can taste it. You can see it coming a mile away and there's nothing you can do to stop it.



Unlike many who saw the band's success as selling out, Once Upon A Time boldly captures the rock genre and bends it and folds it into Simple Minds fashion.  Many listens recently of that recording have revealed a powerhouse of a record produced by Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain that still holds up swirling and rocking the atmosphere in all its sweating beastly glory.  I can even picture an unkempt, long-haired, large-nostrilled Kerr positively soaked and snarling away on stage.  Simple Minds were kicking it in and letting it all hang out there.  They gave it their all and Once Upon A Time holds up as a well-produced and slickly crafted effort without stepping into over production often associated with today's pop stars.



Kerr, Burchill, Gaynor and MacNeil were largely responsible for the outing along with bassist John Giblin.  Alive And Kicking clearly established itself as the latest from the band who brought you Don't You (Forget About Me) and while the group was largely successful in capturing that sound it also moved their music forward.  In fact, Alive And Kicking certainly isn't the pop song that was the theme to The Breakfast Club, but suddenly Kerr and company needed to satisfy a thirsty fan base while producing music like the aforementioned hit, which wasn't entirely like their earlier records.  Still, Once Upon A Time got the sound right for their day in the sun and as a unified whole captured the spirit of a work.  Once Upon A Time effortlessly feels like a well-honed and streamlined pop record with eight strong, splendid songs.  It does for stadium rock what New Gold Dream did thematically for Euro-styled electronica.  Still, the songs are complex and layered as pop songs go.



The songs all hit their mark from the title track, to the follow-up just mentioned, All The Things She Said, Sanctify Yourself, Oh Jungleland, I Wish You Were Here, Ghost Dancing, and Come A Long Way.  It's pure energy.  The Simple Minds even preview to an extent where their sound might be going and their politics through Ghost Dancing.  It certainly echoed and previewed the even bigger but more conceptual album to come in Street Fighting Years (1989).





And finally, an argument can certainly be made for Street Fighting Years (1989) as a must own effort.  It went largely overlooked stateside and was essentially discarded, but was well-received across other parts of the globe.  In fact, Kerr and the group took big risks drawing up massive, sprawling, epic, political songs in developing yet another big bold statement of an album in the spirit of Tears For Fears' magnificent Sowing The Seeds Of Love (1989) also that year.  Clearmountain also worked with singer/writer Roland Orzabal on that project.



Street Fighting Years never disappoints.  Each song is an aching, emotional or thoughtprovoking aural experience.  And they Let It All Come Down. The driving, but simple riff of Mandela Day, an equally stirring remake of Peter Gabriel's Biko, the beautiful understated title track, the eco-friendly This Is Your Land with Lou Reed and the heartbreaking UK number one Belfast Child all round out a strikingly powerful effort.  Street Fighting Years was simply a brilliant, bold, ambitious work complete with organ and pagpipes and it was recognized as such in the UK and Europe.  It was just too amazing for its own good and hardly lent itself to the short attention spans of pop radio.  Groups like this rarely find a place on radio today.  Thankfully, the paradigm for commercial sales has certainly shifted and the ability to find great music has gotten much easier.



Real Life (1991) followed with another wall-to-wall solid collection of fine songs. Good News From The Next World (1995) shines from a handful of tracks and is highlighted by the stellar Hypnotized.  Ultimately, their recordings all offer something truly special on them.  But Once Upon A Time, and once upon a time, Simple Minds were making their mark, influencing the music world, kicking ass, taking names and today, they are still doing what they do best and that's make great records.  A new recording is scheduled for this year.



Many would differ with me on Once Upon A Time as a classic, but I felt a reevaluation of the project was in order.  Producers Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain are not producers that I would readily admit to enjoying despite massive discographies with some tremendous talent, but they really worked well with Simple Minds on this outing and they have certainly had their hands on some classics.  Bob Clearmountain with INXS on Kick (1987).  Jimmy Iovine with Stevie Nicks on The Wild Heart (1983). They have had their moments.



On a more contemporary note, for those of you willing to roll the dice and try something a little different Jim Kerr stepped into a side project worth your time.  By comparison, Depeche Mode has recently released Delta Machine (2013), a recording that feels a little lacking to be honest.  I was disappointed. It feels a little too stripped, if you will.  In a similar fashion to Kerr's extracurricular activities, vocalist Dave Gahan stepped away from his bandmates for an acoustic and guitar-based construction called The Light The Dead Sea (2012) by Soulsavers.  Gahan is the primary vocalist on the entire project and it is far superior in almost every way to Delta Machine.  It pains me to say that about my beloved Depeche Mode, but their latest feels a little, well, boring.  The Light The Dead Sea by contrast is a wonderfully tuneful and melodic affair that is passionate and anything but underwhelming.



Meanwhile, Jim Kerr stepped away from his baby to join The Dark Flowers for a recording titled Radioland (2013) and an accompanying Ep.  It is a production that suits Kerr's voice nicely stepping away from his stylistic comfort zone and stripping things down.  He joins several other vocalists but remains a key contributor on the wonderful collection of songs.  He offers five stellar tracks in all.  Radioland is available through the UK, while, oddly, the Ep, When Stars Fall (2012), is available stateside on iTunes (unless things have changed as of this writing).  These Kerr and Gahan efforts are worth an investigation by not only any 80s fan, but also any self-respecting fan of great music.



In the meantime, if you're eager for a fix of Simple Minds begin with the massive celebration that is Celebrate: The Greatest Hits.  It's simply a book of brilliant pop things.  I stand by most of their catalog as I would Scottish band Deacon Blue, Danny Wilson, Aztec Camera, or Aberdeen singer Annie Lennox with or without the Eurythmics and others, proving, as SNL noted years ago - let's face it, if it's not Scottish it's crap!



Simple Minds Discography: Life In A Day (1979)/ Real To Real Cacophony (1979)/ Empires And Dance (1980)/ Sons And Fascination/ Sister Feelings Call (1981)/ New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (1982)* / Sparkle In The Rain (1984)/ Once Upon A Time (1985)* / Street Fighting Years (1989)* / Real Life (1991)/ Good News From The Next World (1995)/ Neapolis (1998)/ Our Secrets Are The Same (2000)/ Neon Lights (2001)/ Cry (2002)/ Black And White 050505 (2005)/ Graffiti Soul (2009).

Compilations And Live: Themes For Great Cities 79/81 (1981)/ Celebration (1982)/ Alive And Kicking (84-85-86) (1986)/ Live In The City Of Light (1987)/ Themes Volume 1-5 (1990)/ Glittering Prize 81/92 (1992)/ The Promised (1997)/ The Early Years (1977-1978) (1998)/ Real Live 91 (1998)/ The Best Of Simple Minds (2001)/ Early Gold (2003)/ Silver Box (2004)/ The Platinum Collection (2006)/ Sunday Express Live (2007)/ Themes Volume 1-5 (reissued + 5; 2008)/ Live 2011 (2011)/  X5 (2012)/ 5X5 (2012)/ Celebrate: The Greatest Hits (2013)*. 

* essential

Star Trek Into Darkness

I ventured into darkness the weekend before last - Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013) to be specific.  The darkened room of the local cinema called to me for this one.  Not many can pull that off.  I suspect Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim, Zack Snyder's Superman and Neill Blomkamp's Elysium (three directors we continue to watch) will be the ones to get me out of my home and into the cinema house- well, that and the hot buttered popcorn with extra salt.  That's the place to see these films.

Star Trek: Into Darkness kicked off the summer in style. The film is indubitably the epitome of high flying, high octane summer adventure.  In this, the film is a soaring enterprising success capturing the spirit of all of those great summer films from summers past that I so thoroughly enjoyed with buttered popcorn, candy and soda.

Of course, Star Trek: Into Darkness is not my father's Star Trek: The Original Series (or mine) as the saying goes.  But, of course, having children, mine would be the first to say thank God.  I have no delusions in this nor such an expectation.  ST:TOS was then and this is now. The former will always remain special and the very best science fiction has to offer in my mind, but the latter is now, special in its own right, but for the texting generation.



In stunning fashion, director J. J. Abrams has reinterpreted, reimagined and recreated the spirit of that series in a young, slick, smart, funny, sophisticated new cast of young actors and actresses that feels very much alive breathing much required new life into Gene Rodenberry's lasting and living dream.  As visionary as the great bird of the galaxy once was, Abrams, too, has brought his own sense of imagination and style to an already pre-determined and pre-existing mythology.  Abrams is handcuffed in this as he should be, but he adds muscle and excitement, testosterone and sex appeal to a franchise that seemed nearing extinction to some - not me, but some.



Mind you, Star Trek: Into Darkness is both a reworking of the classic second film Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan (1982) starring the Original Series cast, yet surprisingly is also original in its alternative approach to the outcomes and underpinnings of that original film and inverting aspects of the always profound relationship between James T. Kirk and Spock.  So Abrams manages a fine tightrope here of being at once original while also reinventing the wheel.  Star Trek: Into Darkness, as such, couldn't be better than this and, for what it is, is exceptional.





The very thing I worried most about going into this film was just how boldly going it would be.  Ultimately, the film is an undeniably fun film and one that I wholeheartedly embrace as the new Star Trek with characters that are (almost) as infinitely appealing and likable as that original cast.

Chris Pine and Karl Urban are spot on amazing.  Zachary Quinto is also stunningly good, but lacks some of that distinct presence offered by my beloved Leonard Nimoy.  I love Simon Pegg as an actor, but my James Doohan never had to be geek funny.  He was science cool all the way.  He was a technician that could kick your ass.  The comparisons aren't entirely fair.  It's just fun.  It's like comparing a 2013 Lotus to the 1970s James Bond model.  Both are exquisite and would have a place in my garage.  Nevertheless, this is the new Star Trek and I love Pegg's approach to the character and his minor touches in making Scotty his own. And of course, James Doohan never had an Ewok-like sidekick either.  Abrams is sure to have fun with that Star Wars franchise.



Still, these are just minor fanboy quibbles by a self-professed fan of Star Trek: The Original Series and, trust me, I do not hold any of it against what is trying to be achieved here for a new era and new generations.  You would have to be unreasonable and potentially out of your mind.  Star Trek, of course, will and should endure and this film is exactly what the franchise required for it to do so with new blood and new energy.  While, it's another interpretation in the journey of the Star Trek legacy, the film is more than that, topical in keeping with the war on terror, fresh and exciting.  It's not just any old reimagining.  Remember Tim Burton's Planet Of The Apes (2001)?  It doesn't always work.  This is something much more successful with its fresh ideas, new twists and execution.  And listen I love Star Trek. I wouldn't be writing about it if I didn't, but I'm not so stubborn that I can't step back and enjoy the ride that is this film.  How could you not enjoy this picture?  In fact, this second Abrams installment easily out performs his Star Trek (2009) reintroduction by sheer force and focus of its story delivered like a red hot cattle prod.  This one simply out pops his debut arrival on the franchise.



Star Trek: Into Darkness takes on terrorism, torture, the behavior of men and political chess between great powers and turns the mirror on our own political past, the affect of decions past and present and the impact on our future.  Star Trek: Into Darkness is a terrific morality play. It will likely be the best one of the summer next to Elysium (2013).  It's everything science fiction should be.

A young boy I know is clamoring for this particular Star Trek to become a television series as it so often has been teased.  Wouldn't that be something special?



Admittedly, I had read much about Star Trek: Into Darkness before seeing the film, so I knew the basic layout going in and I wonder how it would have played for me had I not read those spoilers.  I attended the picture with a friend - a casual, but versed, fan of Star Trek.  He let out an audible gasp, along with a small percentage of others within the theatre when the identity of actor Benedict Cumberbatch (can you believe he is the son of UFO's Wanda Ventham?) was revealed.  Much laughter followed either by those seeing the film a second time or by those like me who couldn't help themselves to read about the film.  While I saw it coming I was just as amused by the reaction of those ignorant of the facts.  One older man in front of me was audibly irked at the reveal and literally shrugged seemingly prepared to exit the theatre as if he had just been violated.



I was in the back row.  It was crowded. Do you know I've never been in the back row before.  Interesting place.  A teenage girl was sleeping and literally snoring next to me.  She woke maybe twice to take a sip of her slurpee.  She showed up midway through the film.  She had to be tired because I don't know how you could sleep through this one.  These teenagers have no stamina for movie crashing/ hopping today.

 

The film closes with Kirk team reassembled with a refurbished and shiny new U.S. S. Enterprise with Chris Pine reciting those famous lines from the original series about boldly going.  My hope in that final scene was that this crew would take us out at warp speed into the great unknowns and truly deliver us the promise of something surprisingly original. In fact, I read that Abrams wished he had closed his film with that opening Nibiru sequence.  In many respects, that might have worked quite well lightening things up after the dark and heavy heart of the film's overall pulse. Nevertheless, the film is assembled with near perfection and darted with good humor and character interaction throughout.

 

This film is splendid and as reimaginings go it's a wonderful production, but venturing into a place we've not gone before might be something to see with an incoming new creative team as Abrams relieves himself of Star Trek for Star Wars.  The promise of a new director brings with the picture a new hope and new fears.  I like that.  But listen, anyone who is a fan of The Original Series opened to new possibilities should hardly fear anything. 

I'm not threatened in the least by new Star Trek pictures.  I can't wait for them.  Star Trek: The Original Series will always be my girl, but like Alice Eve, variety is the spice of life and she and this film were welcomed new arrivals.  This trumped the first Abrams picture for me.  So this new Star Trek crew or reinterpretation of the original Star Trek crew couldn't be finer.

What if The Original Series crew finally met the Borg?  That's not only an alternate vision of one franchise but two in Star Trek television and film history combining the best of both worlds, but is that the kind of originality we want?  Ultimately, if the creators continue to put out Star Trek films of this caliber who really cares.  I'm eager to experience the adventures to come.  This group has settled in beautifully and the potential is wide open.



One final point, Abrams felt he may have been overly gratuitous by spotlighting a half naked Alice Eve in space underwear.  But really, in the time honored tradition of Star Trek women dating back to the unabashed Original Series and its handling of all manner of lovely ladies, and following a long line of endless beauties, including Jolene Blalock and Jeri Ryan, would we have it any other way?  Besides, listen, I hardly noticed.

Star Trek: Into Darkness: B+/ A-.

Star Trek Into Darkness Promo

 

The U.S.S. Enterprise. You have to love her. She looks terrific warping, firing photon torpedoes, submerged in water, and even on fire, doomed and crashing.  What a girl.  How many ships can do all of that and look amazing doing it?

 

With the arrival of Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) who could possibly have imagined the seeds of a story by Carey Wilber and the legendary Gene L. Coon (1924-1973; the other great Gene) captured for the Star Trek: The Original Series Season One episode Space Seed (February 1967) would endure and span more than forty-five years?  Like Star Trek itself, those are inspired ideas and characters that have truly stood the test of time.

Falling Skies Promos II

They're here.

Falling Skies is raining down upon us once again with aliens, technology, probes, harnesses and a number of exciting new surprises for Season Three. 

Falling Skies brings in some fairly heavy hitters with Terry O'Quinn (Lost, Millennium) already making a landing in Season Two.  Doug Abe Sapien Jones (Hellboy and other Guillermo del Toro films, Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer) joins the cast as an alien friendly (?).

Remi Aubuchon (Stargate Universe, Caprica) steps in as showrunner for Falling Skies, following his Season Two finale co-authorship on A More Perfect Union, and promises to make Season Three the strongest yet behind two already impressive summer runs with an ever-growing and more complex mythology.  Aubuchon penned Visitation and Seizure for Stargate Universe Season Two.  He also co-created Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica with Ronald D. Moore and co-wrote the Pilot for the series with Moore.

We'll even be graced by an appearance from Star Trek: The Next Generation's Jonathan Frakes (ST:TNG First Contact, ST:TNG Insurrection, Thunderbirds) on directorial chores for the penultimate episode for Season Three called Journey To Xilbalba.

It's sure to be an excellent summer for science fiction.  Now, should I go with the popcorn or Dove bar tonight for the two-hour premiere? I've also come up with a nifty nuts, chocolate topping and peanut butter concoction.  It's Sunday, I'll enjoy these tough decisions for a day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have to love the Trust No One tagline.