Once upon a time... an album left me cold

I bought all the albums, wore the buttons, read the books and even saw the gig.
I was the biggest SIMPLE MINDS fan I knew in high school.
Then "ONCE UPON A TIME" came out.
Oh, I bought it. I just didn't really like it.
The Simple Minds of "SONS AND FASCINATION," "EMPIRES AND DANCE" and the like were my band -- obviously European, forward-looking, definitely alternative.
SPIN MAGAZINE'S contemporary review by Armond White summed it up for me:
"Grandeur is the hobgoblin of Simple Minds. The band has great skill and panache, but on 'Once Upon a Time,' singer-lyricist Jim 'Look Ma, I'm Flying' Kerr pushes it to empty extravagance."
Put, er, simply, Simple Minds were straining too hard to be "big," too hard to be a Glasgow U2.
White blamed the shift on the band's American breakthrough single: "The radio-ready, movie single 'Don't You'... may have been the worst thing to happen to Simple Minds. Now, every cut is neat and punchy pomp in the name of Bono. Who can trust Simple Minds' innocence after this vapid, big-beat production?"
Four years elapsed by the time the next album, "STREET FIGHTING YEARS," and by that time I had moved on, and was exploring reggae, rhythm & blues and even some jazz.
I listened to "Once Upon a Time" in the car today, and I can report it has grown on me a little. Of course, it might just be nostalgia that has shed a more forgiving light on the album.
I still don't rate it with the earlier efforts.
As funny as it might seem, it sounds too "American" for me.