Music of the Moment: Tears for Fears
Man, I have no idea how this kick got started but I’ve spent the afternoon revisiting my Tears for Fears discography. I never would have thought to bring these CDs with me today so once again my iPod pays for itself and rescues my day.
Little known fact: people forget how much I came to like Tears for Fears later in my life. I missed out on most of the ’80s music scene because my parents were afraid secular music would lead me straight to H-E-double L. I did get to hear a couple of the TFF singles when they were big and I definitely liked them but wasn’t really able to investigate them at the time.
Then “Sowing the Seeds of Love” came out in high school and I was definitely hooked. Still, I never broke down and bought any of their CDs until a few years later. I couldn’t bring myself at the time of the Seeds of Love record to buy anything so unapologetically non-metal.
Then Elemental comes out and I was totally drawn in by “Break it Down Again.” I bought that album — I want to say — not too far from my 20th birthday. I know I was working at Blockbuster Video in Decatur at that time. I’m pretty sure that’s the timeline. I like that Curt Smith-less record more than a lot of people do. There is some really great songcraft on that record, even if it doesn’t gibe well with what the band had done to that point.
I also bought the greatest hits record with around then (Laid So Low) so I could have all the Songs From The Big Chair hits as well as “Seeds of Love.” Years would go by and I’d occasionally get in the mood to hear TFF. Days like… well… today!
I’ve been listening to “Head Over Heals” (my favorite Big Chair cut), “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” and “Shout.” I’ve listened to “Seeds of Love” a couple times, but unfortunately the only compilation I still have has the single version, not the full. That is being rectified as we speak.
I’ve also listened to a couple cuts from the reunion album. “Closest Thing To Heaven” and “Call Me Mellow” stand proudly with their best work. Everybody Loves a Happy Ending was far from a great record but those two songs and a couple other remind me of why I loved these guys in the first place. So many memories… I really must revisit the stories that belong to these songs.
Filed under: Magic Tour Chronicles, Music of the Moment
You have pretty much the same TFF story that I do. I was practically embarrassed to buy Elemental when I fell for “Break It Down Again,” this despite a decade of secretly loving “Head Over Heels” and “Shout” and “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” not to mention “Seeds of Love.” I even love a pretty big chunk of Happy Ending, too, it’s just a portion just south of the middle that gets a bit soft.
The deluxe edition of Big Chair is really well done, even if it’s full of remixes and non-album stuff that isn’t that great. It’s the closest thing in sound quality, from what I read, to the very expensive, long out of print MFSL disc. It really is that nice sounding (it’s a unique remaster - not the same as the single disc version that has a handful of bonus tracks.) And it’s kind of odd to hear the “correct” version of “Shout” where the cowbell goes right to left (on disc 2’s remix) rather than the channels-swapped version we’re all used to on the album version.)
I just got The Hurting not too long ago and was surprised how much I like it despite it sounding like their attempt at being Depeche Mode.
wow. i’m not sure i would have pegged either of you two as Tears for Fears fans. not sure why.
i think i have my original vinyl of Big Chair…but never got any of their stuff on cd.
Yeah, I read your story of buying the deluxe… prompting me to follow suit a few weeks later. Damn you two are costing me a fortune.
I have fond memories of Big Chair. I loved the singles as a kid (and I’d probably sing along if I heard one now) and my dad bought the album when it came out on vinyl (In a side note, my dad’s collection of vinyl is huge and we actually still have a working, old, turntable that we sometimes use to play the stuff). It’s funny to read this post because I just talked about how great this album was among some friends a couple of weeks ago.
I have not heard much from Tears From Fears apart from that album, although I have a soft spot for “Sowing The Seeds Of Love.”
Thanks guys, for commenting. We talked about this in the car last night because I have still been listening to TFF.
TWTWIM doesn’t like them and in fact dislikes most ’80s music. I’m not a big fan of the ’80s myself; TFF perhaps being my favorite of the so-called ’80s bands. I know R.E.M. and U2 came up through the ’80s but for whatever reason I don’t hear them in that way. Anyway, TFF is not typically the band I would have gone for and I don’t like everything they’ve done but there are an awful lot of songs sprinkled throughout their career that have been favorites of mine.
I “wore out” my copy of Elemental. I can’t begin to explain what it was about that record I found so addictive but I didn’t go anywhere without it for a very long time.