Critical Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| The A.V. Club | (favourable) |
| CMJ | (favourable) |
| Martin C. Strong | (8/10) |
| NME | (mixed) |
| Rolling Stone | 1984 1992 |
| Virgin Encyclopedia | |
Upon release Sparkle in the Rain received mostly favourable reviews. In the U.S, Parke Puterbaugh writing for Rolling Stone awarded the album four stars out of five, describing the record as the band's finest, and their playing as weaving "a complex web of sound from the unlikeliest parts: churchy, staccato keyboards; lacelike, arpeggiated guitar lines and soaring wisps of feedback; and metallic-sounding drums." Puterbaugh summarized Sparkle in the Rain as "Roxy Music-gone-2001". A review in the College Music Journal complimented how Lillywhite's production gave the band "a grand sound to match their lyrical ambitions", drawing comparisons with the sounds of bands such as U2 and Big Country and how "it helps Simple Minds sound more cohesive...the words and music forming a complete whole rather than two antagonistic elements as in the past." Sparkle in the Rain was listed by CMJ at #20 in their "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1984".
In the U.K., meanwhile, where the album met with much greater commercial success at #1 in the charts, Don Watson of the NME felt such a grand, rock-oriented sound compared unfavourably with those aforementioned bands, dubbing Simple Minds "U3" in his review. This moniker went down badly amongst members of the band. Nonetheless, listeners of the Toronto-based radio alternative radio station CFNY-FM voted Sparkle in the Rain the third best album of 1984, behind Mirror Moves by the Psychedelic Furs and U2's The Unforgettable Fire but ahead of Echo & the Bunnymen's Ocean Rain and Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Welcome to the Pleasuredome.
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, MacKenzie Wilson awarded the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, saying the record marked "the band's best effort thus far, capturing thick seascapes of illustrious lyrical visions". The review continued: "Sparkle in the Rain is a glimpse of what's to come from Simple Minds. Kerr's heart-wrenching vocals soar and such emotion only leads to earning a global following."
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