Tears for Fears: C or D?

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jerry did you see that not-so-long-ago doc on new romantics where penman was interviewed w.sinister lighting and a demonic GOATEE!!

spandau were better cz there were more of them

― mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 19 February 2003 12:38 (twenty-three years ago)

If you go here :

http://www.btinternet.com/~d.i.w/Dublin_Castle_210401.htm

you can see what Blancmange vocalist Neil Arthur is up to now. Click around the place and you might even see me!

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 19 February 2003 12:39 (twenty-three years ago)

I did see that Mark!

I don't see what the problem is with calling Blancmange, TfF, Howard and Nik etc etc progpop - it was lots of people who in a previous time would have been making concept albums but because of synthesizers/not having to form a band/no need for drum solos - wound up making daft - often enjoyable - synthpop instead. Part of the fun of it and the reason it was so odd, was that they really didn't have a feeling for/much knowledge of pop - which divides them from popswots/Bowieboyz like ABC, Human League, even Spandau Ballet...

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 19 February 2003 12:45 (twenty-three years ago)

He's looking healthier than ever is Mr Arthur. What exactly IS he doing nowadays?

Jerry - I'm a label-phobe through and through. I hate the determination people seem to have with 'boxing' and 'labelling' music. It's so, so pointless. And 'progpop' is a new one even by me.

Nah, Blancmange were musicians, not flimsy synthy pop. And bloody good songwriters, too (we can forgive them 'The day before you came'....).

― russ t, Wednesday, 19 February 2003 12:58 (twenty-three years ago)

flimsy is a nice word

― mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 19 February 2003 13:22 (twenty-three years ago)

"The Day Before You Came" is one of the best songs ever written by anyone.

I think Jerry nailed it, actually. Also the TFF best of has been growing on me, chiz chiz.

(But Spandau were still better.)

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 February 2003 09:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Prefer Spandau Ballet obviously but the comparison's a good one given TFF's bizarre lyrics -- the great triarchy of impenetrable lyrics bands, Spandau Ballet - Tears for Fears - Duran Duran

Spandau wins because they seem at all times to be saying something, unlike Duran Duran who should have just gone ahead and sung in fake Esperanto

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Thursday, 20 February 2003 09:38 (twenty-three years ago)

seven months pass...

i have "songs from the big chair", its on V HIGH ROTATE! like over and over and over. i thought these guys were boring when i was a kid, but they turned out to be really important to me... i cannot listen to "everybody wants to rule the world" without thinking about moving to oamaru and what a dingy little town it seemed. that doesn't sound very positive, but i grew to love dinginess, and everything i associate with it. excuse me while i put "head over heels" on again. yeah its true i love songs that have anthemic "na na na" bits, like JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING BRYAN ADAMS EVER DID.

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Thursday, 9 October 2003 07:27 (twenty-two years ago)

i can't deal with spandau ballet to be honest.

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Thursday, 9 October 2003 07:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw the video for Change the other day and only then it struck me that it is a fantastic song. What's bothering me though, is that the xylophone bit is sampled in a really well known dance track and I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT IT IS!!!

― Siegbran (eofor), Thursday, 9 October 2003 11:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Reunion

― willem (willem), Thursday, 9 October 2003 11:23 (twenty-two years ago)

"Mad World" was kind of cool. Not at all my favourite "new pop" act though

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 9 October 2003 23:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't know who used that xylophone part of 'Change' as a sample, but I do know that it sounds like a missing track from the 'Monkey Island' series of games.

And is the better for it!

― Muppet Boy, Friday, 10 October 2003 02:34 (twenty-two years ago)

How on bloody Earth did I miss this thread?!?!

Tears for Fears -- unbelievably classic, beyond words. Roland Orzabal is a gorgeous man with gorgeous vocals and is a highly underrated guitarist. Curt Smith also has a gorgeous voice and is happily multitalented. *sighs*

I would say SEARCH The Hurting, Songs From The Big Chair, and Raoul & The Kings Of Spain (the last one seems to be to my fellow TFF fans what Medazzaland seems to be to my fellow Duran fans). Possibly DESTROY Elemental, but that could just be because I felt like it was a bit too straight-ahead pop for me.

btw, this thread revival is SO right on the mark, because next month the newly reformed TFF will release a brand new album!! *squeal!* It's called Saturnine, Martial, & Lunatic, and I'm so looking forward to it! Roland and Curt are BACK!

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 10 October 2003 04:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh yes, and I *do* like Sowing The Seeds Of Love, but not as much as I do, oh, say, Raoul & The Kings Of Spain, which I could listen to back to back to back in one day and not get tired of. (I've actually done this, btw.)

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 10 October 2003 04:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Dee is the only person aside from Roland who has ever heard Raoul, I gather.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Friday, 10 October 2003 05:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Classic! I can't think of a band I like more than Tears for Fears.

― Dan I., Friday, 10 October 2003 05:52 (twenty-two years ago)

well you're in luck because they're back!

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Friday, 10 October 2003 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah its true i love songs that have anthemic "na na na" bits

even "hey jude"?

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 10 October 2003 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Dee is the only person aside from Roland who has ever heard Raoul, I gather.

*snort* You know, the sad part is that you're probably right. Aw.

Proving that she has very unpopular tastes in just about everything,

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 10 October 2003 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Cool thread! TFF = one of my earliest music loves. The Hurting = CLASSIC. Funny enough, I only just got Kershaw, Howard Jones & Spandau Ballet in the past few weeks. I heard "The freeze" by SB and loved it. I think it's really the only thing they did, that sounds great but doesn't sound like everything else they and a bunch of other cliche bands did. Kershaw and Jones on the other hand, sound like the cliche except without any great individual moments my ears can pick out. It's pleasant enough but I can't get past how bland-vanilla the keyboards are and the lyrics are sort of dull. Is there anything worth getting by them?

― sucka (sucka), Saturday, 11 October 2003 05:00 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

has anyone heard the new album? I'm not hoping for much although the allmusic entry seems to point to it being great; I only like the first two albums (and woman in chains) and I'm sure it's not going to measure up to them.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 18 April 2005 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Classic for The Hurting (soundtrack for my childhood during my childhood) but I'm fearful of hearing the rest.

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Monday, 18 April 2005 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

"The Hurting" is great, "Song From The Big Chair" is nice enough, while "The Seeds Of Love" is a nice way to test the sound quality of a stereo set....

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 18 April 2005 20:15 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

can't we show more love for 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love'?
-- stevem (bluesk...), February 18th, 2003.

got that right here.

― EARLY-90S MAN (Enrique), Monday, 25 September 2006 21:28 (nineteen years ago)

five months pass...

The album Elemental from 1993 has completely lifted me into another universe. I am in awe. I had no idea they had the capability of being that good. I had no idea.

― Bimble Is More Goth Than You, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:36 (nineteen years ago)

song from the big chair is one of my favorite tapes. haven't heard the hurting.

― artdamages, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:49 (nineteen years ago)

though i've passed buying it on other formats in dollar bins. i feel the same way about ocean rain. nothing else by echo and the bunnymen has done anything for me.

― artdamages, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:51 (nineteen years ago)

You are absolutely right, my friend. Ocean Rain is the beginning and end of the Bunnymen.

― Bimble Is More Goth Than You, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:53 (nineteen years ago)

Here's some videos:

(note that this is only ONE song from an entire album which has killed me)

"Cold":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ock0h4JkNRw

And back to their early days, just for fun:

"Change" (live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXXkGti9dVU

another video version of "Change" (live, sortof):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03Ininkieng

God they kicked arse, didn't they?

― Bimble Is More Goth Than You, Monday, 26 February 2007 07:05 (nineteen years ago)

I mentioned upthread that I liked a couple songs from Elemental, and "Cold" is one of them. "Fish Out of Water" from that album is also quite good, and I would have liked to see more songs in that direction.

― Vinnie, Monday, 26 February 2007 15:51 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...

So I bought the re-mastered Big Chair this morning, mostly for the B-sides -- unfortunately that's what they remain, sounding like exercises in Linn drum programming and Fairlight work.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 7 April 2007 20:06 (nineteen years ago)

Alf why you hate the modern world of the 80s. Are you a Luddite y/n/maybe plx reply thank you.

― Dimension 5ive, Saturday, 7 April 2007 21:37 (nineteen years ago)

I only have 100 songs on my seven-month-old iPod.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 7 April 2007 22:24 (nineteen years ago)

"You are absolutely right, my friend. Ocean Rain is the beginning and end of the Bunnymen. "

jesus christ, Crocodiles, people

― akm, Saturday, 7 April 2007 23:16 (nineteen years ago)

Nah, Alfred's right, those b-sides were nothing to write home about.

― Bimble, Sunday, 8 April 2007 01:08 (nineteen years ago)

And considering the rest of the album, you really felt you had a right to expect more...

― Bimble, Sunday, 8 April 2007 01:08 (nineteen years ago)

So I bought the re-mastered Big Chair this morning, mostly for the B-sides -- unfortunately that's what they remain, sounding like exercises in Linn drum programming and Fairlight work.

Sounds great!

― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 9 April 2007 02:48 (nineteen years ago)

The first Tears For Fears album was great. "The Hurting" contains lots of great synthpop timepieces from an era when pop music sounded the way pop music should. "Songs From The Big Chair" contains some nice songs, but is would have benefited lots from a less "organic" sound. "The Seeds Of Love" is a nice CD to test home stereo sets as it may be one of the best-sounding albums ever recorded. But other than "Sowing The Seeds Of Love", the songs just don't hold up, plus they have done the "organic" thing to an even greater extent, drawing them even further from what was great about the debut.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:20 (nineteen years ago)

one time they were on a french talk show and one of the host, paid to be bitchy, asked Curt Smith (name wikipedia'd) in a oddly loud but deadpan way "ARE YOU GAY?" He answered "I'm gay enough!" . I think that owns very much.

― Sébastien, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:39 (nineteen years ago)

three months pass...

"Listen" is classic beyond belief.

― Curt1s Stephens, Sunday, 5 August 2007 19:47 (eighteen years ago)

TFF are one of those bands where I have minimal objectivity - I love it all (except Curt's solo work, arf!). _The Hurting_ and _Songs From The Big Chair_ expressed everything I felt at 17 and were one of the introductory points to a whole world of music beyond Casey Kasum.

The reunion album was genuinely fantastic - and I had pretty low expectations. Roland's solo album is a louder and more aggressive than TFF stuff, good stuff.

Annoying note about the recent deluxe Big Chair - it left off "The Conflict" found only on the 99 remaster!

― Mr. Odd, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:40 (eighteen years ago)

Yes, "Listen" is especially good.

a whole world of music beyond Casey Kasum

I love this phrase, we really do think alike, Mr. Odd.

― Bimble, Sunday, 5 August 2007 21:18 (eighteen years ago)

CLASSIC to the 1 x 10^150th degree.

― Tape Store, Sunday, 5 August 2007 21:19 (eighteen years ago)

The Hurting_ and _Songs From The Big Chair_ expressed everything I felt at 17 and were one of the introductory points to a whole world of music beyond Casey Kasum.

Except: Casey counted down all those Big Chair singles.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 5 August 2007 21:26 (eighteen years ago)

Except: Casey counted down all those Big Chair singles.

Oh, the irony! I was totally stunned the first time I heard "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" in a mall or someplace.

― Mr. Odd, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:35 (eighteen years ago)

Oh I know, man, I never expected any of that album to break in the States. I was pretty certain they were going to stay a British phenomenon! It's just freaky the way some things cross over and some don't.

― Bimble, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:44 (eighteen years ago)

Such an odd album too! Bedsit miserabilism sits comfortably beside arena rockism.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:48 (eighteen years ago)

The only huge album of its era to which I can compare it is So.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:49 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

Playing "The Hurting" now in its entirety, and feeling weird.

― Roasted Ghost (Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You), Monday, 20 October 2008 03:21 (seventeen years ago)

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