Tears for Fears: C or D?

Yeah, I'm not a fan of Smith's solo stuff either, even though I've always preferred his voice to Orzabal's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dihNZjhWCIE

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5k293MR--EE

🎵 And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The times at which I'm online
Are the most I'm ever mad 🎶

— Jacob Hunsburger | Abolish ICE (@jacobhunsburger) December 12, 2016

Elemental is a jam tbh, if some consider it their worst i should check out their subsequent releases i guess. it's a pretty good listen the whole way thru imo. Break it Down Again, love it!

altho:

"No sleep for dreaming" say the architects of life
Big bouncing babies, bread and butter - can I have a slice?

ok

Hated them at the time as a kid, hate them now.

I always think of 1982 as the big fabulous party of New Pop, with ABC and the Associates and Adam & The Ants and Soft Cell and Madness and Haircut 100 and a pre-shitness Simple Minds et al . . . and then 1983 was its horrible stinking hangover with the likes of this lot, Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, Nik Kershaw, Kajagoogoo and all that drivel.

Elemental is a really good record. It's their fourth best after the first big three.

jon123's 0-2 in the last hour :)

I'll soldier on . . .

Don't know Kajagoogoo's catalog at all but I like the other 1983 artists you mentioned. They share a love of atmosphere and mood that I associate strongly with the 80s

Elemental is their 4th best record but it's still a bit patchy. First three tracks are great, but I don't need to think about "Dog's a Best Friend's Dog" again. It's certainly better than Raoul though, which is a shockingly bland album. 2004 album is similar to Elemental in having strong peaks, but the other tracks are even worse. That said, I am still waiting patiently for a new TFF album - I liked the single they released a few years ago

Was Things Can Only Get Better a big hit in the US for Howard Jones? Think it's cropped up in a about 3 or 4 US shows recently

Yes. Out of the handful he had, "Things" was easily his biggest hit here. Probably the only HoJo song you're likely to hear in the states these days.

Maybe "No One is to Blame" came close?

It was a hit here but I think "What Is Love?" is the one most people would remember.

I think "What is Love" was a big video on MTV in that early era, but didn't see the same success in terms of nationwide mainstream radio play/sales of the single itself.
It definitely was enough to break him into the US market in the first place though and probably his second most recognizable to most people.

"No One is to Blame" was big at the time (thanks in no small part to Phil Collins' touch giving it a nice "adult contemporary" sheen) but probably more for the 30+ crowd than the youth - I don't think it's aged very well.

"New Song" is also a very underrated, mostly forgotten single these days...

And back to TFF really quick, but am I the only one who's never really gotten the love for "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (the song, that is). The video was cool and all and I get the whole Beatles homage thing, but for the lead single to the followup to "Big Chair" it always struck me as somewhat... lacking. I absolutely love the verse melody, but the chorus starts to grate by the third go-around... and it's long for a pop single. Never understood why it was as big as it was at the time.

There's such an overbearing slickness with this band's sound. Everything is perfect to the point of deadness, like Jude Law's face in the movie AI.

I think the fact that TFF invariably came across as po-faced gimps in their interviews (especially Orzabal) didn't help.

Smash Hits used to rip the piss out of them all the time, and they really really didn't like it.

"No One is to Blame" is HoJo's biggest American hit: #4.

Don't know Kajagoogoo's catalog at all but I like the other 1983 artists you mentioned. They share a love of atmosphere and mood that I associate strongly with the 80s

Imho each of them managed one decent song before falling into abeyance.

HJ - What Is Love
Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now
Nik K - Wouldn't It Be Good
Kajagoogoo - Too Shy (which is not even a decent song, more a terrific intro and verse before one of the lamest choruses of the decade)

hush hush!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgHAMvkSAqY

There's such an overbearing slickness with this band's sound. Everything is perfect to the point of deadness, like Jude Law's face in the movie AI.

I don't think this accurately describes The Hurting at all

and the band was often gawky and crass in the best sense later

it's also not an accurate description of jude law's face in the movie ai

Jude Law in AI is like a mini-horror movie

ai IS a horror movie

lmao at that video

It’s my own design

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEpfvTdR5-U

When Pale Shelter (long version) turns up on Spotify shuffle when you’re out your morning run/trundle. What a band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUp-ujO979U

pretty good comeback single

Roland's been living in a shack in the woods?

New album in February

1 No Small Thing
2 The Tipping Point
3 Long, Long, Long Time
4 Break the Man
5 My Demons
6 Rivers of Mercy
7 Please Be Happy
8 Master Plan
9 End of Night
10 Stay
11 Let It All Evolve [deluxe edition]
12 Secret Location [deluxe edition]
13 Shame (Cry Heaven) [deluxe edition]

cringe headline but good interview: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/oct/08/tears-for-fears-reunion-interview

Really impressed by the single. Looking forward to this (in February!)

Deluxe edition only available via Super Deluxe Edition shop.

The standard 10-track version of The Tipping Point is available on CD, black vinyl LP and limited indie green vinyl (now sold out via the SDE shop). The retail deluxe CD features one bonus song, the Target (USA) and Japanese editions will have two bonus songs but only the SDE deluxe CD offers all three bonus songs on one physical package! Viva la CD!

Additionally, the SDE deluxe CD offers enhanced packaging (8-panel digi-sleeve) and a 32-page booklet (the standard has 24 pages) which exclusively features a new interview with Roland and Curt by SDE editor Paul Sinclair.

Be aware that the SDE deluxe CD is a limited edition. There are just 2,000 units available for the UK and the Rest of the World and this is a one-time pressing. Once they are gone, that’s it!

Well, crap. Should have scrolled farther down. Sold out already.

oh a bunch of different limited editions with different track listings, what a good strategy to instantly kill my interest in buying the new album

"enhanced packaging"

it's like new order and tears for fears are converging on the same sound

“Sowing” sucks but “head” fucking rules. “Everybody” good too

That 10" of covers they did is pretty darn good. I've played that thing a bunch of times. The video linked above does sound a fair bit like current New Order, but the drumming isn't nearly as interesting. Kind of looking forward to the album now.

yeah that run of covers was excellent

oh a bunch of different limited editions with different track listings, what a good strategy to instantly kill my interest in buying the new album

― Jaime Pressly and America (f. hazel), Friday, October 8, 2021 9:58 AM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

first 2 releases classic then went lame!

disagree, I didn't like Seeds of Love when it came out but now it's a stone classic

Early reviews for the new album bode very well

Great interview in the latest Tape Op. There's a funny story about "Sowing the Seeds of Love," where they struggled to get a good mix of it, and when they finally settled on one the the label or their manager told them to keep working. So they slaved over that song for another six months, at great expense, and at the end of the process the same manager came across the original mix and suggested "how about this one?" It reminds me of a story I read from Dan Wilson of Semisonic about "Closing Time," how the record label wanted them to re-record it but their manager (smartly, in this case) told them to refuse, figuring that if the record label is spending thousands to re-record something, then the re-recorded version is going to be the one they pick, whether or not it's any better, so better to just stand your ground, save the time and money, and give them the one you like. Which they did, and which was a hit.

I love all three songs that were released so far, particularly the title track. I thought the novelty of 'new tears for fears' would wear off but it hasn't, and I appreciate that they don't necessarily sound like earlier albums.