Home (Simply Red album)

Home is the eighth studio album by British pop and soul band Simply Red, released in 2003. It is the first Simply Red album released on band frontman Mick Hucknall's own record label, Simplyred.com. The album was a success all around the world, and includes the hit singles, "Sunrise", "Fake", "You Make Me Feel Brand New" and "Home".

The album includes three cover versions: the Bob Dylan song, "Positively 4th Street", The Stylistics' soul hit, "You Make Me Feel Brand New", and the Dennis Brown song, "Money in My Pocket". "Sunrise" borrows a loop from the 1981 Hall & Oates song "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)", as well as some of the lyrics.

Critical reception

Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian described Home as "luxuriant" and "accomplished," praising Mick Hucknall for staying true to Simply Red's signature "cappuccino-soul" style while still sounding "angelically" refined. She concluded that the album proves "there is life in the old haircut yet," highlighting its polished mix of white funk, R&B influences, and elegant cover versions.^[1] Dotmusic editor Gary Crossing praised Hucknall's "superb voice" and acknowledged his long record of pop classics, noting that even if his songwriting is uneven, his best work remains memorable. He ultimately concluded that the album is "not the finest of offerings," but still contains "plenty here to remind us of why we loved the man and his voice in the first place."^[2]

Michael Hubbard, writing for musicOMH, described Home as "business as usual," noting that Simply Red continue to rely on their familiar "pop-tinged soul-ballad" formula that has long defined their success. He acknowledged that while the album is "not the best work" the band has ever produced, it nonetheless demonstrates Hucknall's distinctive place in pop music and features moments of polished, well-crafted production.^[3] Rolling Stone's Richard Abowitz argued that while Hucknall's long experience with Simply Red occasionally shines through on Home, particularly on tracks such as "Fake" and "Home Loan Blues," the album is ultimately uneven and lacking inspiration. He criticized the reliance on sampling and cover versions as "pointless" or "embarrassing," concluding that Hucknall "would do better to ignore the comforts of Home next time and instead just get more lost."^[4]

Commercial performance

Home achieved greater commercial success than Simply Red's previous studio album, Love and the Russian Winter (1999), particularly in terms of international chart performance, longevity, and overall sales. Whereas Love and the Russian Winter reached the top ten in a limited number of European territories and appeared on only two year-end charts, Home charted more extensively across Europe and internationally, including entries in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.^[5][6][7]

The album reached number one on the Italian Albums Chart and peaked within the top ten in several countries,^[8] including Austria, France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.^{[9][10][11][12][13]} It additionally reached number two on both the Dutch Albums Chart and the UK Albums Chart.^[14][15] Home also demonstrated stronger year-end chart performance. In 2003, the album reached number three on the Italian year-end chart and number seven in the Netherlands,^[16][17] while also placing within the top fifty in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the United Kingdom.^{[18][19][20][21]}

The album additionally surpassed its predecessor in certifications and sales. Home received double platinum certifications in both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom,^[22][23] platinum certification in Germany,^[24] and gold certifications in Austria,^[25] Belgium,^[26] Canada,^[27] France,^[28] Portugal,^[29] Russia,^[30] and Switzerland.^[31] The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) further certified the album platinum for shipments exceeding one million copies across Europe.^[32] Worldwide sales were estimated at approximately 2.5 million copies.^[33]

Track listing

Limited edition DVD

1. "You Make Me Feel Brand New" (live DVD footage)
2. "Lost Weekend" (live DVD footage)
3. Documentary (DVD footage)
4. "Fake" (single mix)
5. "Sunrise (Who Knows About Forever)"

2014 expanded edition

Disc one – Radio Edits

12. "Sunrise (Motivo Hi-Lectro Radio Edit/Mix)" – 3:26
13. "Fake (Radio Mix)" – 3:43
14. "You Make Me Feel Brand New (Single Edit)" – 4:18
15. "Home (Tin Tin Out Radio Mix)" – 3:34
16. "Fake (Phunk Investigation Radio Edit)" – 3:01
17. "You Make Me Feel Brand New (Antillas Full Vocal Edit)" – 4:14
18. "Home (Motivo Hi-lectro Radio Mix)" – 3:23

Disc two – Remixes

1. "Sunrise (ATFC Morning Glory Remix)" – 8:29
2. "Fake (Phunk Investigation Exte-Club Mix)" – 7:03
3. "Home (David Harness Taboo Vocal)" – 8:00
4. "Sunrise (Love to Infinity Classic Mix)" – 6:49
5. "Fake (Love to Infinity Classic Radio Mix)" – 4:34
6. "You Make Me Feel Brand New (Love to Infinity Radio Mix)" – 4:46
7. "Fake (Eric Kupper Club Mix)" – 6:51
8. "Sunrise (Love to Infinity Club Mix)" – 7:51
9. "Fake (Love to Infinity Club Mix)" – 6:58
10. "You Make Me Feel Brand New (Love to Infinity Master Mix)" – 6:04
11. "Home (Minimal Chic Mix)" – 6:47
12. "Sunrise (Who Knows About Forever?)" – 3:15

Disc three – Live at Ronnie Scott's (Recorded February 2003)

1. "Fake" – 3:52
2. "You Make Me Feel Brand New" – 4:57
3. "Positively 4th Street" – 4:27
4. "Home Loan Blues" – 4:51
5. "Home" – 3:30
6. "So Beautiful" – 4:57
7. "It's Only Love" – 4:29
8. "Come to My Aid" – 4:06
9. "Sunrise" – 3:23
10. "Lost Weekend" – 3:59
11. "Money in My Pocket" – 3:33
12. "Something for You" – 6:23
13. "Home (Live in Sicily)" (bonus track) – 3:46

DVD

Feature interview

1. "Mark Goodier Interviews Mick Hucknall About "Home" – March 2014"

Promo videos

2. "Sunrise"
3. "Fake"
4. "You Make Me Feel Brand New (Live)"
5. "Home"

Bonus features

6. "Home Album EPK"
7. "The Making of Sunrise"
8. "The Making of Fake"

BBC TV appearances

9. "Sunrise" (Parkinson, broadcast on 22 February 2003)
10. "Fake" (Later... with Jools Holland, broadcast on 20 June 2003)

Notes

• "Sunrise" contains extracts from "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)", written by Daryl Hall, John Oates, and Sara Allen.
• signifies an additional producer
• signifies an original producer

Personnel

Musicians

The album credits list the musicians who played on the record, with no indication of which musicians played on which tracks, or what instruments they played.

Credited musicians are (in order listed): Andy Wright, Anthea Clarke, Arthur Adams, Bernie Worrell, Chris De Margary, Danny Saxon, Dave Clayton, Dean Parks, Dee Johnson, Freddie Washington, Gota Yashiki, Ian Kirkham, James Gadson, Joe Sample, John Johnson, Karl Van Den Bossche, Kenji Suzuki, Kevin Robinson, Larry Williams, Lenny Castro, The London Session Orchestra, Mark Jaimes, Mick Hucknall, Miles Bould, Paul "Harry" Harris, Pete Lewinson, Sarah Brown and Steve Lewinson.

Production

Technical

• Michael Zimmerling – recording engineer (1, 2, 5–8, 11)
• Rik Pekkonen – recording engineer (4, 9)
• Andy Scade – recording assistant (1, 2, 5–8, 11)
• Johnny Wow – mixing (1, 4–7, 10)
• Steve Fitzmaurice – mixing (2)
• Andy Wright – mixing (3, 8)
• Madkap – mixing (3)
• Mark Jolley – mixing (3)
• John Lee – assistant mix engineer (1, 2, 4–7, 9, 10)

Album credits

• Peacock Design – art direction, design
• Rick Guest – photography
• Andy Earl – band photography
• Hugh Turvey – photography (pages 5 & 6)
• Gusto – photography (pages 5 & 6)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

!scope="row"|Worldwide | |2,500,000^[33] |-

References

1. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (21 March 2003). "Simply Red: Home". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
2. ^ Crossing, Gary. "'Home' – Simply Red". Dotmusic. Archived 11 December 2003 at the Wayback Machine.
3. ^ Hubbard, Michael (24 March 2003). "Simply Red – Home". musicOMH. Archived 13 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
4. ^ Abowitz, Richard (18 September 2003). "Simply Red – Home". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
5. ^ Australia
6. ^ New Zealand
7. ^ Billboard200
8. ^ Italy
9. ^ Austria
10. ^ France
11. ^ Germany
12. ^ Portugal
13. ^ Switzerland
14. ^ Netherlands
15. ^ UK
16. ^ {>"Classifica Annuale 2003 (dal 30.12.2002 al 28.12.2003) – Album & Compilation" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
17. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2003". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
18. ^ {>"Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
19. ^ {>"Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2003". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
20. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 2003". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
21. ^ url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/20030105/37502/|title=End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2003|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=16 October 202
22. ^ NVPI
23. ^ BPI
24. ^ BVMI
25. ^ IFPI Austria
26. ^ BRMA
27. ^ MC
28. ^ SNEP
29. ^ "Top 30 Artistas – Semana 20 de 2004" (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Archived 3 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
30. ^ NFPF
31. ^ IFPI Switzerland
32. ^ Europe
33. ^ Feddy, Kevin (3 October 2005). "Simply Red on song with £5m". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
34. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2003". Ultratop. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
35. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2003" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
36. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2004". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 21 January 2022.