Tears For Fears - POLLing The Seeds of Love (1989)

i like that. feels like you’re getting lost in it immediately

how would you switch it up? i might switch advice and third world, but that's it

I have no idea what "Third World" is trying to say beyond experimenting with sumptuousness and hanging it on imperialist tropes that may or may not be ironic; it's hard to tell from the singing.

Good discussion here: Tears for Fears: C or D?

i could vote for any of these:

woman in chains
advice for the young at heart
swords and knives
year of the knife
famous last words

Honestly the sequencing feels so random that you could probably just shuffle it up and it would work as well. I mean, "Woman in Chains" to "Badman's Song" is as radically oddball a contrast to start a hotly anticipated follow up to a blockbuster as anything since "Over and Over" to "The Ledge." So I don't know what would help the flow.

I've mentioned before my epiphany that Tears For Fears is one of the few bands (or at least Big Chair one of the few albums) clearly influenced by '80s Genesis, which is why I find it so ironic that the album that finds them totally breaking from that is the one that features Phil Collins.

Brad otm those are the key tracks

I don't think the sequencing is very weird and it flows great, Woman in Chains to Badman's Song is the only transition that feels weird at all and I don't know how else you'd sequence it

The track order is perfect and not strange at all. It's also not a great idea to compare this record to Songs From the Big Chair because it's a very different record.

I also don't hear any direct influence from Genesis in Tears For Fears - perhaps indirectly on the production since having a big drum sound was the "in thing" production-wise in 1985, but absolutely not in the songwriting.

Invisible Touch has a bit of a Big Chair vibe about it in places, but it was released afterwards.

Yup otm

and we will carry war
no more

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the sun and the moon

will not accept
the greatness of man

I still can’t get into this album. The songs just go on forever.

“Woman in Chains” is pretty enough.

it's impressive how great this album is despite it being a 'putting down the synthesizers in order to make something real' album where most of the tracks are 6+ minutes

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

daaaaaaaaaamn!

I agree

Yup ^

wooo

https://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/tears-for-fears-the-seeds-of-love-reissue-coming-in-october/

Love this album but I'd still rather have a new album from them!

live-in-the-studio sessions

This is the most enticing bit. I'd totally listen to an album of Pino and Manu messing around.

Nice! I look forward to assembling an alternate tracklisting for this album, parts of which I love, parts of which I can't stand.

Can't stand seems a bit harsh.

Interested to know which ones they are

"Year of the Knife" does grate.

Well, it's really just the title track that I can't stand. It seemed like a goofy pastiche when it was first released and then it was horribly overplayed during a summer job when all I had for music was a radio. I generally skip the first three tracks. Woman In Chains was also overplayed and while Badman's Song should've worked, I never warmed to it.

I love everything from Advice onwards, even Year Of The Knife. Wish the more percussive Tears Roll Down was about twice as long. It would've made a great opener (although maybe it wasn't recorded during the album sessions?)

"Year of the Knife" does grate.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 19 August 2020 14:34 (two hours ago) link

*great

I wish "Woman in Chains" had been overplayed in the States.

i don't think it would be possible for a song as good as "woman in chains" to be overplayed

unreleased demo version of "rhythm of life," which they eventually gave to oleta adams for her album: https://youtu.be/1Asyb8IY2hw

My intro to her. VH-1 loved it.

i know the tff version is just a demo, but i think they made the right call in letting her have it.

A....lot of music on this box set. The interesting stuff consists of jams that loosen the shackles from "Badman's Song" and "Standing on the Corner..."

if you feel like polling the seeds once more, consider pulling the trigger for roland and oleta

Match E4!

1 Tears For Fears/Oleta Adams! https://t.co/ZBLvBkddXt
2 David Bowie/Pet Shop Boys! https://t.co/rHzr43VrOb
3 Womack And Womack! https://t.co/rGYaMETfOF
4 Positive K! https://t.co/Hu3O6BhX8H

— World Cup Of Duets (@peoples_pop) October 13, 2020

"Love Wars," man.

ha yes, that song is also excellent. so is positive k. a shame that name recognition is pushing the pet shop bowies ahead

The super deluxe reissue of "Seeds Of Love" arrived the other day, haven't spun it yet but the preview tracks have been intriguing. I'm most interested in the Townhouse jams and demos.

They're worth a listen.

The original CD issue sounds so incredible, don't think I could remotely handle the new version

'Advice' just came up on shuffle, and...huh. Wow. They never really did much for me in my youth but anytime I hear the singles these days I'm a little taken aback. Think I might be ready to give the albums a go.

it's a world gone crazy, old lunch in chaaains

For a band whose records seemed freighted with so much "significance" in the 80s, they've kind of vaporized since. If they didn't deserve the hype then, they don't deserve the indifference now.

every time I play this album I like it more

(at the time I vividly remember being appalled by the Seeds of Love single/video and wouldn't go anywhere near the album)

My brothers and I used to sing it as 'sewing machines of love'.

Who am I kidding, 'used to', we did this as recently as our xmas zoom call.

SEWING MA-CHINES (yup, works for me)

new curt smith interview where he intimated that a major inspiration for “woman in chains” was alice cooper’s “only women bleed”: https://www.spin.com/2021/11/curt-smith-tears-for-fears-5-albums-i-cant-live-without/

also reveals other things lol, but i can’t say i expected that

lol wow

Time

To eat all your wooooords

New live album coming out for what it's worth...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ2P9r-jOwI

nice song, sounds like a San Jacinto sample at the beginning (and intermittently through the song). Disappointing AI looking art on the album though, just generic.

Now they have two of the worst front covers ever

New single is good though

pleasant song if not very distinctive. there's supposed to be four new studio tracks on the live album, including this one

His voice is so beautiful, another new one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyerIpcCoQw

the four new tracks are all fine, not really as striking as the best stuff on The Tipping Point. "Emily Said" reminds me a lot of XTC, but the two bands have always had some shared Beatles DNA. Of the live tracks, "Woman in Chains" was a standout, wish I could have seen it live