SIMPLY RED: FAREWELL

Recorded at Sydney's Opera House in October 2010 during Simply Red's farewell tour of 2009-2010, the aptly named Farewell captures Mick Hucknall in fine nostalgic form. There are no surprises, either in song selection or in his band's impeccably smooth approach, but comfort is the point of the whole affair: it's one last chance for fans to hear those songs again. For anybody who isn’t a fan -- or got off board somewhere around the time when Stars turned Simply Red into sensations everywhere but the U.S. -- this will hardly be cause for re-evaluation, but Farewell does celebrate everything that made Mick Hucknall into an international superstar.