Tears for Fears - Shout: The Very Best of Tears for Fears

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Free Music Notes for Shout: The Very Best of Tears for Fears

Free Music Review: 79 minutes of classics crunched on one CD!
Hit: 5 Stars

Their first hit single was the primitive but highly addictive "The Way You Are" which fits more into the typical 1981-84 music trends of that time but still a very good song and the blueprint of what they would do later on. Their debut album "The Hurting" stands out amongst the extremely dated music that came out around that time, incorporating musically light but yet lyrically dark and apocalyptic music to create one of 1983's greatest albums. It was this album that TFF had their first hit single although much of their success was in Europe at this point but this CD was a major success and yielded the minor hits "Mad World", and "Pale Shelter". This album in my opinion stands out among the endless river of the synth-pop music of the early 1980s.

It was late in 1984, that Tears For Fears saw their breakthrough success in the United State with the ominous single "Shout" which is their best song that they did during this period in their career. It begins with deep, angry lyrics and a mechanical beat against a menacing keyboard backdrop and ultimately blasting into a hard-edged rock number that still remains a popular classic today nearly 2 full decades later. The other number one song was their highly danceable and mysterious "Everybody Wants To Rule The World". I have very faint memories of hearing this song when I was just a toddler but have enjoyed this song for almost my whole life. This is another song that remains highly popular today on the radio. "Songs From The Big Chair" saw it's sales deserved bolstered up through the roof from these two songs and also from a third major hit called "Head Over Heals" which is a very passionate mid-tempo number with haunting synthesizers and a slightly eerie melody. These three songs are their biggest hits to date and made 1985 a year to never forget. "I Believe" and "Mother's Talk" were minor hits.

However, their third album, 1989's "The Seeds Of Love" is the greatest artistic endeavor that any band has ever taken, must I say even greater than what U2 did on "Achtung Baby" two years later. This album saw this amazing band go through a radical change in sound from an ominous synth-pop into a rock/soul band and the synthesizers would make way for a more natural, soulful sound in their music. The main hit off that album was the colorful "Sowing The Seeds of Love" which is just beyond amazing. The song has a very Beatle-esqe sound. Unfortunately, while the album is perfect, it was the album that caused the Orzabal/Smith duo to eventually break up due to the excessive strain from the making of the album and Smith's limited role on the album. Out of the ashes of that tumultuous era in the bands history came the greatest album of all time which was "The Seeds of Love". Quite frankly, I don't think any other group I know of has ever made such a rich, complex, and creative album on such a scale as this one. If you were to choose one of Tears For Fears `proper' studio albums, it's this one. Sure the Big Chair may be their highest selling album but "The Seeds of Love" is by far their best album without a doubt. "Advice For The Young At Heart" is a mix of happiness and sadness all in one song. The song has a very jazzy but rich pop/soul spice to it and moving lyrics. Even now, I still wonder why this wasn't a top 40 hit. I will always adore this album as long as I live and this album doesn't sound a bit dated.

Their 1992 compilation, which "Shout: The Very Best of" replaces, has in my opinion, been rendered irrevelent and/or obsolete. That album at least had one `new' (at the time) song called "Tears Roll Down" which is a very intense yet rich song with a mix of the styles of "The Big Chair" and "Seeds of Love" sounds. That album also is marred because the minor hits "Mother's Talk" and "I Believe" were different from the versions on that compilation. The hit version of "Mother's Talk" has a lighter, slightly jazzier sound than the album version. The version of "I Believe" is different too in a way I can't explain. The 2001 collection improves the mistakes on the 1992 collection.

Their first album without Smith "Elemental" was a big endeavor in a lot of major ways. While not on the greatness of "The Seeds of Love" this album proved that Tears For Fears could survive the departure of Smith and the result was a fabulous and bleak album. The sole hit on that album was "Break It Down Again" which is an excellent song. The closing song on that album "Goodnight Song" is also the closing track on this collection and with good merits. This is TFF's best `closing track'. A very bittersweet classic.

Sadly, this album completely ignores "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" which is very underrated. This album on the other hand, has a non-album track called "New Star" which is a very high-energy rocking number with a very rich mix of grunge rock and some trance elements too.

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