Over the course of two discs, THE BEST OF SIMPLE MINDS chronicles all the phases of the Scottish band's eclectic career. They began as a gritty young post-punk outfit in the late 1970s. But by the turn of the decade, they had incorporated a precocious mix of punk, dance beats, and synthesizers, for a sound that helped create the template for much of what followed in UK pop for the next several years. This golden age of the group is represented by percolating, synth-laced tunes such as