| The Hurting | 1983 |
| Songs From The Big Chair | review #2 | 1985 |
| The Seeds Of Love | 1989 |
| Tears Roll Down (compilation) | 1992 |
| Elemental | 1993 |
| Raoul And The Kings Of Spain | 1995 |
| Saturnine Martial & Lunaticf | 1996 |
| Shout: The Very Best Of (compilation) | 2001 |
A proper intro coming eventually.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Mad World, Pale Shelter, Change. LOW POINTS: The Prisoner.
An interesting debut that actually succeeds in spite of itself. What Tears For Fears (and main songwriter Roland Orzabal in particular, although other member, bassist/keyboardist Curt Smith, certainly plays a more prominent role than he would later) had in mind for this one was a lyrically-driven, confessional album where inner feelings were let out over a synth pop background, creating something of an aursl visit to the psychologist or some technical crap like that. The potential problem with the actual musical background, though, is that there are really quite a few instances where the modern 80's production attempts to get in the way, with dated keyboard sounds, drum machines, and a general important-sounding feel to things, which would rear their ugly head even more on later releases. So The Hurting definitely has the potential to grate on the listener, or simply just bore them. What side am I on, you ask?
To be honest with you, I really don't notice the lyrical approach on here as much as I probably should (but then again, I have trouble concentrating on Dylan's lyrics sometimes as well, so make of that what you will) - it's the vocal deliveries and melodies that accompany them that work for me, and there's a fair amount to praise in this department. Out of the ten songs here, only a couple of them aren't very catchy (the abrasively mechanical "The Prisoner" - also the weakest, and thankfully shortest, track on the album - and the quiet drum machine/piano ballad "Ideas As Opiates", which is only memorable because it's so repetitive), and the rest of them routinely get stuck in my head. Yeah, even when there's not much particularly special musically, like the jazzy soft rock of "Memories Fade" (which is lifted up by a powerfully resonant vocal delivery) and "Suffer The Children", but even that one overcomes its' potential obnoxiousness by including one of the bounciest and most addictive hooks here, backed by children's choir later on.
It's not the album tracks that stand out most on here, of course - those standouts would be the best known singles. "Mad World" in particular - what a brilliant pop song this one is. Sure, the production may be distracting to some, but everything about the sound is at its' peak here - the confused lyrics are at their most powerful, and are backed up by an extremely bouncy and infectious melody. And those bursts of synth horns rule! And that song gets a killer dance groove going (particularly during the 'I'm feeling kind of sad...' lines). An absolutely awesome song, and together with its' followup "Pale Shelter", a truly great 1-2 punch is found. On this song, the tone is almost disco-ish (particularly with its' main bass part), but it's got two fantastic melodies, and the simple repeating acoustic guitar pattern after the 'you don't give me love... you give me pale shelter' is as catchy as anything else in the song, including the quieter, contemplative verses ('how can I be sure...'). It rules supremely.
If all the album had to recommend it was those two hits, though, it wouldn't get as high a rating as it does. Fortunately, the remaining four songs are all somewhat impressive, especially the catchy as hell marimba driven chant that makes "Change" come alive, and the opening title track, which distinguishes itself by its' solid guitar part, 'heeeey' vocal breaks and scary 'ahhhhhh' backing vocals sounding as if they were lifted off Peter Gabriel's "Intruder" (his third effort might have been an influence for this one). But I won't leave the more acoustic guitar driven "Watch Me Bleed" (a perfectly good uptempo anthem) or the closing ballad "Start Of The Breakdown" (more marimba driven goodness! and its' bassline gets pretty funky as the song goes on too) out in the cold either. In short, a very good record that would pave the way for their following pop masterpiece, even if I can see some people not liking it too much on account of the evil that is 80's production and the occasional generic music. The melodies rule, though!
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(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: Head Over Heels, Shout, Everybody Wants To Rule The World, The Working Hour. LOW POINTS: None.
If you think that nothing great can come out of 80's pop for whatever reason, well, that's understandable, but it just so happens that, whatever you might say about it as a whole, there were a few albums released during that time period that really showcased the considerable virtues of it in all its' glory, and this is one of them. Concerning this album, though, this is one of those love it or hate it type of records - the sound is very overproduced and pretentious here, with a lot of huge, important sounding arrangements and equally big lyrical statements, with a nice helping of synths and huge drums that seem to date it a bit. But still, all these potential negatives can't change the fact that I adore the whole entire style. The energetically produced, artsy vibe is attractive enough for me, but most importantly, the melodies here are simply incredibly catchy and entertaining and clever arrangements are added on top of them.
You've probably heard the singles on the radio or MTV at one time as well and could complain about their overplay, but I personally believe all three of them to be among the greatest singles of the 80's. The opening "Shout" in particular is an incredible booming anthem with probably the most striking vocal melody on here as a whole (and that's saying a lot) - how can you not get that 'shout! shout! let it all out!' portion out of your head? The instrumentation is tasteful, too, with the keyboards giving the whole thing a shiny, beautiful atmosphere, and the whole epic feel of the structure is pulled off nicely. Then there's "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", which goes just as far to define the entire style, only it's in a more radio-friendly structure, with a straightforward tempo and it's more guitar-oriented as well. There's something also XTC-ish about the vocals of Roland Orzabal here, though that might be because that band ripped this song off for "King For A Day" 4 years later.
The ultimate highpoint, though, comes in a sort of 'suite' in the middle of side two, starting out with the mostly instrumental "Broken" (a throbbing synth/bass groove). It may be just me, but this one actually seems to give the illusion of Big Chair being a concept album, with a lyrical reference to an earlier song ("Mother's Talk") and the main melody from the following one. And that 'following' one happens to be the third huge hit here in "Head Over Heels", my favorite on the album, and a song that just has to be one of the greatest of the 80's. Man, it just seems to hit upon the perfect, extremely majestic piano part (which really, really works with the "Hey Jude"-style coda at the end in such a heavenly fashion). There's also appropriate falsetto parts from Orzabal only helping out the great vocal melody (and lyrical matter) and it even reprises "Broken" at the very end of it to an amazingly awesome effect. Brilliance at work.
And there's still a few more gems within the non-single entries, too (besides "Broken"). "The Working Hour" is a haunting, jazzy epic that actually has an appropriate, non-dated(!) merge of sax playing with 80's production, plus it has a great moody guitar line well worthy of the very best Cure stuff. And it's fascinating the way it goes to a more uplifting melody once the actual singing comes in. The aforementioned "Mother's Talk", meanwhile, is a really loud disco-ish rocker with neat 'we can work it out!' chants and another really exciting melody. It's definitely the most dated song on here by far, just in its' overall sound (it even has a sample of an orchestra). But that just kinda adds to its' overall charm anyway. It's really really good, entertaingly memorable stuff.
Of course, as great as the overall album might be, it does have a few flaws here and there that prevent me from calling it one of those immaculate 10 masterpieces, most of them contained within the two weaker tracks and the not exactly timeless sound. For one thing, while "I Believe" is certainly a decent piano ballad, it kinda deflates the momentum the virtually flawless first half had a lot in its' overly lifeless vibe. It's at least memorable and nice, though, and could be a lot worse. Also, the near-instrumental closer "Listen", as hauntingly peaceful as it is within its' atmosphere, is mostly based on just a couple repetitive keyboard lines, one verse of lyrics and repeating chants for nearly 7 minutes, and that's a little much, maybe. Regardless, though, most of this effort is an incredible showcase of how great 80's pop can be when it tries (one of the best of the mid 80's, in fact), and you should go get it if you have a taste for the particular kind of sound displayed here, or if you just like the singles.
HIGH POINTS: Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Shout, The Working Hour, Head Over Heels. LOW POINTS: I Believe.
Yep, you can tell just by the cover that it's going to be another one of those damn mid-80s synth-pop albums. Seriously, what was it with those dreary album covers? Apparently, all the mainstream acts thought that taking ugly photos of their bored, expressionless faces and slapping them on the front of a record sleeve was a good idea. This one certainly qualifies. Not only do Roland Orbazal and Curt Smith look like they don't want to be having their picture taken, but the person who has the album in their hands doesn't necessarily want to look at them, either. With the simple task of creating a viewable cover working strongly against Orbazal and Smith, it's a wonder that this album sold at all. Then again, Phil Collins put one ugly mugshot after another on his albums and they sold like crazy. The only major difference is, of course, that his albums suck, and that Tears For Fears' Songs From The Big Chair somehow defies what seems impossible: It's good!
Orbazal and Smith had had a few substantial hits from their 1983 album The Hurting ("Mad World," "Change," and "Pale Shelter" are known), but it was the work of a few of their Big Chair songs that made them the household name that everybody still remembers twenty years later. Everyone and their mother has heard the album opener "Shout," a big, booming six and a half minute anthem that advises the listener to "let it all out." It was a huge MTV success, and it remains one of the most distinctive and recognizable 80s hits to this day. It works very well as an opener, and stands as the only real "rocking" song on the album. It also manages to be the album's only real believable revelation of Mr. Orbazal's soul, with each repetition of "Shout! Shout!" becoming louder and louder, and the verses, as they progress, seeming more and more desperate. It's a great song.
The other number one hit was "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," which is my favorite track. A somber, wistful song, it somehow manages to combine its overall melancholic nature with a beautiful pop melody, creating something more timeless than anything else the band ever did, as far as I'm concerned. Apparently, they spent months recording and perfecting the songs that they saw as potential hits, while they recorded "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" in two days. It sold more than any of the other singles from the album. "Head Over Heels" (the title of which is misspelled on the back of the jewel case - it reads "Head Over Heals") was the third hit, peaking at number three on the charts. It's a nice (although a little gloomy) love ballad, and it works very nicely.
Of course, the singles aren't the entire album. There are a couple other worthy additions here aside from those, such as the nocturnal, haunting "The Working Hour." For its entire duration, Orbazal and company manage to perfectly combine the 80s pop sound with some eerie jazz touches, firmly placing the image of a lonely summer night in some large city in my head. With "Shout," this, and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," a great 1-2-3 punch is had. "Mothers Talk," while not quite as good as its predecessors, is still a nice funk groove, with the memorable "we can work it ouuuuuut!" line in the chorus.
Unfortunately, not everything here is a completely worthy additon to the mix. The balance lies in a sort of "pleasant, but..." category, where the songs are, indeed, pleasant and completely unoffensive, but rather boring and lifeless when compared to everything else. The most notable candidate is "I Believe," which is certainly an okay piano ballad, but it really doesn't deserve to go on and on and on for five minutes, boring the listener to tears (for fears) as it does so. Similarly, the seven-minute closer "Listen" seems to go on far longer than it should, incorporating some ethnic chanting with the vocals. Nothing terrible about it, but after "Head Over Heels" gets your toes tapping, you really want something a little livelier.
So, the album ends on a rather uninteresting note, alas, but who really cares when you've got your "Shout" and your "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," anyway? I'm not complaining. For an example of listenable and catchy mid-80s mainstream pop, there are few albums better than this one. That is, unless you really want to spend your time on No Jacket Required, but I wouldn't recommend it.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Woman In Chains, Advice For The Young At Heart. LOW POINTS: Badman's Song, Swords And Knives, Standing On The Corner Of The Third World.
After the huge success of Big Chair, Tears For Fears (well mostly Roland Orzabal, probably) couldn't be bothered to release their followup album in a decent amount of time, instead opting to take several years in laboring on it in true studio perfectionist style. You know, sometimes spending too much time making an album sound perfect and studio glossy can be a bad thing, as witnessed by the results here. If it might be a bit hard to imagine a record more overproduced and pretentious than the last one, one listen to The Seeds Of Love might change that view. This thing is overproduced and layered to the extreme, with all these backing vocals and textures and important-sounding song structures and crap like that, but where's the wonderful poppy energy that was such a success earlier? Sure, this album does have ambitiousness, diversity and all that sort of thing, but... arrghh. Maybe it's just me, but this sort of overproduction mixed with softer styles like jazz, lounge, gospel, and whatever else (adult contemporary?) just does not gel together into something pleasurable, especially when the melodies are often not up to par.
Of course, given all these factors, it's no surprise that I thought this album absolutely sucked at first, but over the last couple listens, I do admit it has grown on me - a little. At this point, I can see the opener "Woman In Chains" as a simply excellent song - it may seem overlong and bland at first, but the way it gradually builds up from its' bubbly beginnings to a very majestic burst of chiming guitar is fabulous (with fairly soulful and pleasant counterpart vocals from Oleta Adams throughout), and before you know it, the melody, not all that noticeable at first, really grabs after awhile. Elsewhere, "Advice For The Young At Heart" is a pretty nice pop song with lead vocals from Curt Smith (who's he? oh - the other member of Tears For Fears... he'd leave after this one, by the way), where the smoothness doesn't bother me at all. And though the closing "Famous Last Words" is marred a little by ridiculous vocal intonations from Roland, it does have one of the more attractive melodies on the album, and the more 'epic' sounding middle section is a nice break from the slight dullness of its' overall tone.
Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot else positive I can say about this album. Like I said, their stabs at softer styles don't mesh well with pretentious overproduction, especially on the somewhat gospel style "Badman's Song". I gues the melody is decent in places, and again, Oleta Adams does a commendable job throughout, but the overall tone is incredibly dull and the pace of the song so dragging that the 8 minutes it runs seems almost excuciating. I also can't remember a damn thing about either "Standing On The Corner Of The Third World" or "Swords And Knives", except that both were extremely slow, just about pulseless, and almost completely lacking in any sort of melody or presence that could save them from the doldrums of filler and overproduction. Needless to say, I don't ever want to hear those songs again.
Even when the material does occasionally get more poppy and/or exciting, the results aren't that great. The hit "Sowing The Seeds Of Love" has a nice Beatles-esque chorus, but the song itself ends up repeating it way too many times, and the verses are just dull jazzy music with an "I Am The Walrus" ripoff melody. Elsewhere, "Year Of The Knife" has a lot more energy and conviction than the rest of the album by far, with its' pounding harmony chorus, but the arrangement and melodic strength? The song seems to go on way longer than it should, and that chorus melody is about all I can remember of the damn thing. Zzzz. I guess I can raise the rating a little from my initial idea of giving it a 4, since there are more good-quality moments than I originally gave the album credit for, but still, this is a pretty low 5, a good example of 'reach exceeding grasp' at work here, and such a huge disappointing falloff from what came before.
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