‘Looking Back – Living The Years’ Mike + The Mechanics A best-of compilation encapsulating hit singles celebrating forty years since their debut record
18th February 2025‘Looking Back – Living The Years’ is a career-spanning collection celebrating the 40th anniversary of Mike + The Mechanics. To be released via Craft Recordings on CD and digitally on 14 March and as a double LP on 4 April, it is a retrospective look back at the incredible body of work that has seen the band sell over 10 million records globally.
Pre-order and pre-save all versions of the record from here.
‘Looking Back – Living The Years’ starts with their debut hit ‘Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)’ and showcases the band’s biggest hits from their 1985 self-titled debut through to their latest album ‘Out Of The Blue’ that was released in 2019 and broke into the UK top 10. The compilation features all of the band’s vocalists through the years – Paul Young, Paul Carrack, Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar – and includes amongst a plethora of era defining hits, GRAMMY®-nominated single ‘All I Need Is a Miracle ’96,’ Ivor Novello Award-winning and GRAMMY® nominated ‘The Living Years,’ and the international smash-hit ‘Over My Shoulder’.
Formed in 1985 by Mike Rutherford “as a side project to Genesis”, Mike + The Mechanics originally featured Paul Young and Paul Carrack as frontmen, and together, they achieved huge commercial success through the ’80s and ’90s gaining number ones all over the world.
Amazingly, by the time Mike started the band, he had already released 12 albums with Genesis and the idea of the band was initially to be a creative outlet for Mike who, to that point in his career, had only been in the studio with the other members of Genesis.
Mike + The Mechanics ran concurrently with Genesis. In 1985 they released their self-titled debut which included the global phenomenon ‘All I Need Is a Miracle’, and the following year Genesis released ‘Invisible Touch’. In 1988 ‘Living Years’ was released featuring one of the Mechanics’ biggest hits, ‘The Living Years’, and in 1991 Mike returned to Genesis releasing ‘We Can’t Dance’ and the harmonious and incredibly prolific period that continued through the ’90s. After Paul Young’s sudden death in 2000, the band went into a period of uncertainty and released one further album, ‘Rewired’, in 2004 before deciding to call it a day.
In 2011, Mike started writing songs again and invited Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar to join him – and their chemistry was instant. They released ‘The Road’ album that year, and the Mechanics began touring again with huge success and have remained together since, playing sold-out concerts across the UK and Europe; the group continues to write new music to this day.
Mike Rutherford says – “It’s been 40 years since the Mechanics’ first album. It opened up another part of me as a songwriter. I’d only ever written with Phil and Tony together in the studio, and it gave me the confidence to branch out and co-write with other people. It also kept Genesis very fresh for me, and I always looked forward to going back with the guys.”
An extensive ‘Looking Back – Living The Years Tour’ will be coming through the UK from early March. A full set of dates are below and tickets are on sale now from one of the following outlets:
www.mikeandthemechanics.com,
www.ticketmaster.co.uk
www.ticketline.co.uk.
www.mikeandthemechanics.com
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Track Listing:
Double-LP
Side 1
Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)
All I Need Is A Miracle ‘96
The Living Years
Word Of Mouth
Side 2
Over My Shoulder
A Beggar On A Beach Of Gold
Another Cup Of Coffee
Taken In
Side 3
Nobody’s Perfect
Everybody Gets A Second Chance
Nobody Knows
Seeing Is Believing
Side 4
The Road
The Best Is Yet To Come
Don’t Know What Came Over Me
Out Of The Blue
CD / Digital
1. Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)
2. All I Need Is A Miracle’96
3. The Living Years
4. Word Of Mouth
5. Over My Shoulder
6. A Beggar On A Beach Of Gold
7. Another Cup Of Coffee
8. Taken In
9. Nobody’s Perfect
10. Everybody Gets A Second Chance
11. Nobody Knows
12. Seeing Is Believing
13. The Road
14. The Best Is Yet To Come
15. Don’t Know What Came Over Me
16. Out Of The Blue
Mike + The Mechanics – Looking back – Living The Years 2025 Tour
March
Monday 3rd – Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
Tuesday 4th – Aberdeen, Music Hall
Wednesday 5th – Edinburgh, Usher Hall
Friday 7th – Perth, Concert Hall
Saturday 8th – Stockton, Globe Theatre
Sunday 9th – Manchester, Bridgewater Hall
Tuesday 11th – Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
Wednesday 12th – Stoke, Victoria Hall
Friday 14th – York, Barbican
Saturday 15th – Ipswich, Regent Theatre
Monday 17th – Cambridge, Corn Exchange
Tuesday 18th – Sheffield, City Hall
Thursday 20th – Halifax, Victoria Halls
Saturday 22nd – Gateshead, Glasshouse
Sunday 23rd – Llandudno, Venue Cymru
Monday 24th – Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall
Wednesday 26th – Leicester, De Montfort Hall
Thursday 27th – Basingstoke, Anvil
Saturday 29th – Bournemouth, Pavilion
Sunday 30th – Portsmouth, Guildhall
April
Tuesday 1st – Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
Wednesday 2nd – Northampton, Derngate
Friday 4th – Birmingham, Symphony Hall
Saturday 5th – Eastbourne, Congress Theatre
Sunday 6th – Oxford, New Theatre
Tuesday 8th – Guildford, G Live
Thursday 10th – Bristol, Beacon
Friday 11th – Swansea, Arena
Saturday 12th – Plymouth, Pavilions
Monday 14th – London, Royal Albert Hall
About Craft Recordings:
Craft Recordings is home to one of the largest and most essential collections of master recordings and compositions in the world. Its storied repertoire includes landmark releases from icons such as Joan Baez, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Isaac Hayes, John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, R.E.M., Joan Sebastian, and Traveling Wilburys. Plus, the catalog recordings of celebrated contemporary acts including A Day to Remember, Evanescence, Alison Krauss, Nine Inch Nails, Taking Back Sunday and Violent Femmes, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Fania, Fantasy, Fearless, Musart, Nitro, Panart, Prestige, Riverside, Rounder, Specialty, Stax, Vanguard, Varèse Sarabande, Vee-Jay and Victory, among many others. Craft creates thoughtfully curated packages, with a meticulous devotion to quality and a commitment to preservation—ensuring that these recordings endure for new generations to discover. Craft is also home to the Billie Holiday and Tammy Wynette estates which preserve and protect their respective names, likeness and music through day-to-day legacy management of these cultural trailblazers.
