Orzabal and Smith met as teenagers in their home city of Bath, England. The duo joined future TFF drummer Manny Elias on the band called Neonwith Pete Byrne and Rob Fisher who went on to become Naked Eyes. Their professional debut came with the band Graduate, a Mod Revival/New Wave act drawing on the major influences of the time, including The Jam and Elvis Costello. In 1980, Graduate released an album, Acting My Age, and a single "Elvis Should Play Ska" (referring to Elvis Costello, not Presley). The single just missed the Top 100 in the UK, though it performed well in Spain and in the Netherlands.
By 1981, Orzabal and Smith were becoming more influenced by artists such as Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno. They departed from Graduate and formed a band called History of Headaches, a moniker which was then changed to Tears for Fears. The plan was for Orzabal and Smith to form the nucleus of the group and bring in surrounding musicians to help them complete the picture.
Tears for Fears were signed to Phonogram Records, UK in 1981 by A&R manager Dave Bates. Their first single as Tears for Fears, "Suffer the Children" (produced by David Lord), was released on that label in November 1981, followed by the first edition of "Pale Shelter" (produced by Mike Howlett) in March 1982.
The band's name is derived from the primal scream therapy treatment of the same name developed by Arthur Janov, which was made famous after John Lennon became Janov's patient. In a 2004 interview with VH1 UK, Orzabal and Smith said that when they finally met Janov in the mid-80s, they were disillusioned to find that he had become quite "Hollywood" and wanted the band to write a musical.
DiscographyThe Hurting (1983)
The band's third single "Mad World" hit the top 3 in the UK in November 1982. Their first album, The Hurting, was released in March 1983. For this LP (and the next), keyboard player and composer Ian Stanley and drummer Manny Elias were considered full members of the band, though Smith and Orzabal were still essentially the frontmen and public face of the band.
The album, produced by Chris Hughes and Ross Cullum, showcased synthesizer-based songs with lyrics reflecting Orzabal's bitter childhood and upbringing. The Hurting may be considered Tears for Fears' only true concept album, as references to emotional distress and primal scream therapy are found in nearly every song. The album strongly bears the behind-the-scenes influence of Daniel Lichtblau, commonly thought of as the "fifth" TFF member, owing to his premature departure from the group just as they were on the cusp of real fame. Lichtblau, a pianist, was a big proponent of the "double keyboard" effect that characterizes their early sound and is prevalent on this album. The album itself was a big success and had a lengthy chart run (65 weeks) in the UK, where it reached no.1 - also reaching the Top 20 in several countries and yielded the international hit singles "Mad World" (top 5 hit in South Africa), "Change" (top 30 hit in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and South Africa), and a re-recorded version of "Pale Shelter" (all of which were Top Five in the UK).
Towards the end of 1983 the record company released a new, slightly more abstract single, "Way You Are", to keep the band in the public eye while they worked on their second album. The single was a top 30 hit in the UK, but did not come close to matching the success of their three previous hits, despite a national concert tour in December of that year (captured on the "In My Mind's Eye" live video release). The single, which heavily featured sampling and programmed rhythms, led to a departure in Tears for Fears' musical approach. In the liner notes to their B-sides album "Saturnine, Martial and Lunatic" they wrote that "this was the point we realised we had to change direction", although the somewhat experimental style of the single continued to be reflected to some extent in their forthcoming B-sides.
1. "
The Hurting" (Orzabal) – 4:20
2. "
Mad World" (Orzabal) – 3:35
3. "
Pale Shelter" (Orzabal/Smith) – 4:34
4. "
Ideas As Opiates" (Orzabal) – 3:46
5. "
Memories Fade" (Orzabal) – 5:08
6. "
Suffer the Children" (Orzabal) – 3:53
7. "
Watch Me Bleed" (Orzabal) – 4:18
8. "
Change" (Orzabal) – 4:15
9. "
The Prisoner" (Orzabal) – 2:55
10. "
Start of the Breakdown" (Orzabal) – 5:00
http://rapidshare.com/files/69176168/_1983__The_Hurting.rar
Songs from The Big Chair (1985)
A change of direction was initially instigated as they began working with a new producer, Jeremy Green, on their new single "Mothers Talk" in early 1984, but the band were ultimately unhappy with the results and so producer Chris Hughes was brought back into the fold and the "Mothers Talk" single reproduced for release in August 1984. A distinct departure from their earlier works, the single became a top 20 hit in the UK, but it was the follow-up single "Shout" (released in the UK in November 1984) that was the real beginning of the band's international success.
This top 5 hit paved the way for the second album Songs from the Big Chair (released in February 1985), which entered the UK album chart at no.2 and remained in the upper reaches of the chart for the next 12 months. They did away with the predominantly synth-pop feel of the first album, instead expanding into a more sophisticated sound that would become the band's stylistic hallmark. Anchored around the creative hub of producer Hughes, Stanley and Orzabal, the new Tears for Fears sound helped to propel Songs from the Big Chair into becoming one of the year's biggest global sellers and achieve quintuple-platinum sales status in the U.S. (where it remained the no.1 album for five weeks).
The album's success was in conjunction to the array of hit singles it yielded: "Mothers Talk" (the first to be released in the UK, but the last to be released in the US in a completely re-recorded form), "Shout" (#4 UK, #1 in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, etc., and a huge hit in other territories, in fact one of the biggest of the eighties), "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", (their biggest UK and Irish hit at #2 and another #1 in the U.S. and in Canada), "Head over Heels" (UK #12, US #3, Ireland #5, Canada #8) and "I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording)" (UK #23 and Ireland #10). Some territories even saw the release of limited edition 10" singles for these hits, in addition to the regular 7" and 12" formats.
Following the album's release, the band went on a world tour that lasted most of the year. During this tour, Orzabal and Smith discovered an American female singer/pianist, Oleta Adams, who was performing in a Kansas City, Missouri hotel bar, and whom they invited to collaborate on their next album.
The album's title was inspired by the book and television miniseries Sybil, the chronicle of a woman with multiple personality disorder who sought refuge in her analyst's "big chair," Orzabal and Smith stating that they felt each of the album's songs had a distinctive personality of its own. The band had a song entitled "The Big Chair" which they had put on the B-side to "Shout" but decided not to include on the album. They also released a video collection/documentary entitled "Scenes From The Big Chair" the same year, while their first two earliest singles were re-released, both reaching the UK Top 75. In 1986, upon completion of the lengthy and exhausting Big Chair world tour, Manny Elias left the group.
Also in 1986, Orzabal and Stanley collaborated together on a side project named "Mancrab". They released one single, "Fish for Life," which was written for the soundtrack of the film "The Karate Kid, Part II." The track was written and produced by Orzabal and Stanley, and featured vocals by US singer/dancer Eddie Thomas.
1. "
Shout" (Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley) – 6:33
2. "
The Working Hour" (Orzabal, Stanley, Manny Elias) – 6:31
3. "
Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Orzabal, Stanley, Chris Hughes) – 4:11
4. "
Mothers Talk" (Orzabal, Stanley) – 5:06
5. "
I Believe" (Orzabal) – 4:54
6. "
Broken" (Orzabal) – 2:38
7. "
Head over Heels/Broken (Live)" (Orzabal, Curt Smith) – 4:32
8. "
Listen" (Orzabal, Stanley) – 6:54
http://rapidshare.com/files/69211797/_1985__Songs_From_The_Big_Chair.rar
The Seeds Of Love (1989)
It was 1989 before the group released its third album, The Seeds of Love (on which Ian Stanley appeared for the last time as a TFF member), at a reported production cost of over a million pounds. The album was written largely by Orzabal along with keyboardist Nicky Holland, who had toured with the band on their global 1985 "Big Chair" tour. Moving from various studios and using various sets of producers over many months, the band ultimately decided to scrap that previous work and take the reins themselves with assistance from engineer Dave Bascombe. Much of the material was recorded in jam sessions and later edited down. The length of the production left the band with towering debt and a record company eager to cash in on lost earnings. The album retained the band's epic sound while showing increasing influences ranging from jazz and blues to The Beatles, the last of which is evident in the hit single "Sowing the Seeds of Love" - the first record ever played on Atlantic 252, the UK and Ireland Longwave Radio station. Another single was "Woman in Chains" (Top 30 hit in the UK, in France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, etc.), on which Phil Collins played drums and Oleta Adams — whom Orzabal would later guide to a successful solo career — shared vocals. The album was a worldwide success, entering the UK album charts at no.1, making the Top 10 in the US (though charting lower there than its multi-platinum predecessor) and in numerous other countries, eventually going on to sell millions of copies worldwide. The band set out on an extensive "Seeds of Love" tour sponsored by Philips to start recovering the debt incurred. The show would be captured on the "Going to California" video as the singles "Advice For The Young At Heart" and "Famous Last Words" delivered some moderate chart success.
A 64-page companion book, simply titled "Tears for Fears - The Seeds of Love", was released by Virgin Books in 1990 and offered extensive insight from Orzabal, Holland and Adams into the songwriting and production process for the album, as well as the musical scores for each track and rare promotional photographs from the era.
1. "
Woman in Chains" (Roland Orzabal) – 6:30
2. "
Badman's Song" (Orzabal, Nicky Holland) – 8:32
3. "
Sowing the Seeds of Love" (Orzabal, Curt Smith) – 6:19
4. "
Advice for the Young at Heart" (Orzabal, Holland) – 4:55
5. "
Standing on the Corner of the Third World" (Orzabal) – 5:33
6. "
Swords and Knives" (Orzabal, Holland) – 6:20
7. "
Year of the Knife" (Orzabal, Holland) – 6:55
8. "
Famous Last Words" (Orzabal, Holland) – 4:31
http://rapidshare.com/files/69222859/_1989__The_Seeds_Of_Love.rar
In 1993, Orzabal (still under the name Tears for Fears) released the album Elemental together with longtime collaborator Alan Griffiths and co-producer Tim Palmer. It yielded the international hit "Break It Down Again" (Top 20 in the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands, etc.) and was supported with a successful U.S. college tour, where "Break It Down Again" reached #25.
The album was top 5 in the UK and France and top 30 in several other countries. But it charted considerably lower in the US than the previous two studio albums, though was still certified Gold status for sales of over half a million copies there. The singles "Cold", "Elemental" and "Goodnight Song" met with minor chart success in certain territories.
Orzabal, still working with Griffiths and Palmer, released another Tears for Fears album in 1995, Raoul and the Kings of Spain, a more contemplative work that delved into his own Spanish heritage and showed a new Latin musical influence (Raoul was originally the name Orzabal's parents wanted to give him, and is also the name of his own first son). Orzabal stated that it was not a concept album but that there was a theme, namely that of familial relationships. Although it continued Tears for Fears' legacy of outstanding songwriting, big production values, and varied influences, the album was not a commercial success by Tears for Fears standards, though minor chart success came via the single release of the title track (top 40 in the UK) and (to a lesser extent) the single "God's Mistake". Raoul and the Kings of Spain also included a reunion with Oleta Adams who collaborated with Orzabal on the track "Me and My Big Ideas".
A worldwide tour, which included a frenzied welcome in Latin America, had the effect of straining Orzabal's energies rather than supporting them. The release of Raoul was delayed for nearly a year due to a last-minute label switch from Mercury to Epic, and the ensuing confusion (Mercury had already begun promotion) did not help the album's chances either. Although the tracklisting for the album had been changed at the record company's request, Sony did not extend Tears for Fears' contract.
1. "
Elemental" – 5:30
2. "
Cold" (Orzabal) – 5:04
3. "
Break It Down Again" – 4:31
4. "
Mr. Pessimist" – 6:16
5. "
Dog's a Best Friend's Dog" – 3:38
6. "
Fish out of Water" – 5:07
7. "
Gas Giants" – 2:40
8. "
Power" - 5:50
9. "
Brian Wilson Said" – 4:22
10. "
Goodnight Song" – 3:53
http://rapidshare.com/files/69397694/_1993__Elemental.rar
1. "
Raoul and the Kings of Spain" – 5:15
2. "
Falling Down" – 4:55
3. "
Secrets" – 4:41
4. "
God's Mistake" – 3:47
5. "
Sketches of Pain" – 4:20
6. "
Los Reyes Católicos" – 1:44
7. "
Sorry" – 4:48
8. "
Humdrum and Humble" – 4:10
9. "
I Choose You" – 3:25
10. "
Don't Drink the Water" – 4:50
11. "
Me and My Big Ideas" – 4:32
12. "
Los Reyes Católicos" (Reprise) – 3:43
http://rapidshare.com/files/69406827/_1995__Raoul_And_The_Kings_Of_Spain.rar
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