Tears For Fears
- Thread starter Txetxu
- Start date
The Raoul album was underwhelming. There is no doubt about that. Not sure if I'd call it a shitfest. I didn't even know that album existed until a few years ago. It obviously got ZERO promotion in the part of the world (i.e. India) I was living when it released. For me, the real letdown was "Everybody loves a happy ending". Besides "Secret World", everything else was a crushing disappointment. I remember counting down the days to that album from the minute that I heard that Roland and Curt were on talking terms again. I even watched their reunion concert at the Beacon Theatre at New York. The show was good but its impact was heavily diluted by the number of songs they played from "Everybody loves a happy ending". They also skipped my two favorite songs in that show. The only consolation for that oversight of theirs was Curt Smith performing his beautiful solo "Snow Hill". Anyway, here are my top 3 songs by Tears for Fears:
a. Goodnight Song
b. Advice for the young at heart
c. Head Over Heels
a. Goodnight Song
b. Advice for the young at heart
c. Head Over Heels
They were one of my absolute favourite acts of the 80s and early 90s. Songs From The Big Chair is one of those utterly flawless 80s albums along with Dare, The Lexicon Of Love and Into The Gap. I've owned it in so many formats I've lost count.
Not even the loss of Curt could send the quality control plummeting at first; Break It Down Again is probably one of "their" finest-ever singles, but neither Elemental nor Raoul felt like proper TFF records..either in sound or the depth of songwriting. But then, ironically, the reunion with Curt actually produced an even less TFF-sounding album, ha.
Raoul isn't so bad, I prefer it to Elemental overall and there are two great non-hits in the shape of God's Mistake and Secrets. Picking the title song as lead single might have been a bad idea, though....they were on a new label, too (Epic/Sony), and perhaps they just didn't market the campaign as they could have done, who knows.
TFF are also one of the most annoying bands (along with New Order) for not including the original 7" mixes of their singles on albums or compilations. They're usually buried away on obscure cash-in compilations or B-side collections.
Not even the loss of Curt could send the quality control plummeting at first; Break It Down Again is probably one of "their" finest-ever singles, but neither Elemental nor Raoul felt like proper TFF records..either in sound or the depth of songwriting. But then, ironically, the reunion with Curt actually produced an even less TFF-sounding album, ha.
Raoul isn't so bad, I prefer it to Elemental overall and there are two great non-hits in the shape of God's Mistake and Secrets. Picking the title song as lead single might have been a bad idea, though....they were on a new label, too (Epic/Sony), and perhaps they just didn't market the campaign as they could have done, who knows.
TFF are also one of the most annoying bands (along with New Order) for not including the original 7" mixes of their singles on albums or compilations. They're usually buried away on obscure cash-in compilations or B-side collections.
Txetxu said:
"Seeds of love" is brilliant. I know I did not appreciate it back in the day for no other reason other than the fact that it was NOT "Songs from the big chair" but it really is one hell of an album. Roland Orzabal is like a marriage between a technically proficient sound engineer and musical genius.
I thought Closest Thing To Heaven was great, just not what my heart wanted to accept as a TFF single. The rest of Happy Ending is perfectly proficient and rather fine in a Crowded House/XTC sort of way. But a bit dull, and it might as well be by a totally different band.
The Seeds Of Love's a funny one. In 1989, after all that wait, I was prepared to accept anything from them! Woman In Chains is sublime, Advice likewise, and the rest veered from alright to a bit self-indulgent. So I thought at the time. But then Famous Last Words came on my iPod the other week and bloody hell, it sounded stunning.
The Seeds Of Love's a funny one. In 1989, after all that wait, I was prepared to accept anything from them! Woman In Chains is sublime, Advice likewise, and the rest veered from alright to a bit self-indulgent. So I thought at the time. But then Famous Last Words came on my iPod the other week and bloody hell, it sounded stunning.
Well, The Hurting and Songs From The Big Chair are both in my Top 10 of all time. The Working Hour from SFTBG has always been a favourite. It was the first album I bought on CD and I remember how great it sounded! The Hurting probably edges it for me though, Memories Fade, The Hurting, Watch Me Bleed, Suffer the Children....and singles Mad World and the amazing Pale Shelter! Awesome.
I saw what you did there, haha.
Laid So Low is a brilliant intro, great verses and then....hmm, iffy chorus for me. But it's one of the last true TFF-feeling singles for me, along with Break It Down Again.
The Working Hour is also my favourite track off an album with so many perfect tracks.
Laid So Low is a brilliant intro, great verses and then....hmm, iffy chorus for me. But it's one of the last true TFF-feeling singles for me, along with Break It Down Again.
The Working Hour is also my favourite track off an album with so many perfect tracks.
I always thought it a shame 'Broken' wasn't a 'proper' song, more an intro/outro to 'Head over heels', it has potential as a song, and as such the album is really only seven songs long.
I love Elemental
Goodnight Song always brings a tear to my eye as it reminds me of not a nice time in my life, but I listen to it and remember where I am now
Brian Wilson said is just sublime, I love it
Raoul and the Kings of Spain album, I love except I Choose You
Love the B-Sides Until I drown and War of Attrition
oh and Lord of Karma is fantastic too
Goodnight Song always brings a tear to my eye as it reminds me of not a nice time in my life, but I listen to it and remember where I am now
Brian Wilson said is just sublime, I love it
Raoul and the Kings of Spain album, I love except I Choose You
Love the B-Sides Until I drown and War of Attrition
oh and Lord of Karma is fantastic too
I'd recommend the Cherry Pop/Edsel (?) reissue of Raoul, as it has tons of B-sides from the era; I need to get it myself actually, for completism's sake.
Elemental starts SO well...that intro on the first song really gets the adrenalin going. Despite that song, and Break It Down Again, I just never got into the album like I always did with TFF, but then it was summer 1993 and exactly the same thing happened with the a-ha and OMD album released at the same time.
Elemental starts SO well...that intro on the first song really gets the adrenalin going. Despite that song, and Break It Down Again, I just never got into the album like I always did with TFF, but then it was summer 1993 and exactly the same thing happened with the a-ha and OMD album released at the same time.
Eric Generic said:
A cousin of mine moved in to my home for a few months and played "Elemental" a lot at home. That is how I grew to look like the album. Of course, besides the two singles off the album, I did not think anything else off the album was radio-worthy.
Summer of 1993 was also the first time I'd heard of a-ha. "Dark is the night" was the song on the radio at the time and I remember being quite underwhelmed. I only heard "take on me" a few years later and I still wasn't swayed towards a-ha - not until "Summer Moved On" released in 2000 - but's a whole different story and completely off-track.