Customer Reviews

Hurting

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hi, I am from India.
Words fail to clearly express the sheer beauty and impact of the album, "The Hurting". This album is a must for anyone who really loves music with a lot of substance and adventure. TEARS FOR FEARS is my all-time favourite band. Also, I personally feel, in many respects, TEARS FOR FEARS is the only perfect band in the whole world. If you don't believe me, just listen to this debut album of TEARS FOR FEARS.

Each and every track is a classic in its own way. Here is my review of each and every track:

1) The Hurting: Title track that gives a glimpse of how thoughtful this band actually is. This one track should prove that Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal are people with genuine insight and that by no means are they negative. How about lines such as:
"Get in line with the things you know.
Feel the pain, feel the sorrow
Touch the hurt and don't let go, don't let go
Get in line with the things you know
Lean to cry like a baby
Then the hurting won't come back, they won't come back, won't come back"

The echoing guitars perfectly fit the mood and are a treat for the ears. Both Curt and Roland sing this song.

2) Mad World: Moody and reflective song. The song is not negative. It is about the current situation of people living their lives without any morals or values. It is a call for doing something to improve the terrible situation. The song sounds very much relevant and fresh to this day.

3) Pale Shelter: The song is about the lack of love in the lives of children due to inaccessible parents. Fine blend of acoustics and electronics. The Spanish guitar strumming is amazing!

4) Ideas as Opiates: This song is as good as its title. Slightly difficult to understand when I heard for the first time. From what I perceive, it is about those people who mislead the general public with their opinions and who don't actually care about the good-will of the society. The saxophone work is incredible.

5) Memories Fade: Totally blown off when I heard it for the first time. Incredible keyboard, guitar and saxophone arrangements. You can sense the actual mood from Roland's singing and the lively instrumentation.

6) Suffer the Children: The first song recorded and released by TEARS FOR FEARS. Like Pale Shelter, a very thoughtful song about children who don't get proper attention and love during their growing years. Nice pop song.

7) Watch Me Bleed: According to me, the second most philosophical track of the album. Once again, the song is not negative. Great pop-rock. Wonderful and sensible keyboard/guitar arrangement.

8) Change: Brilliant xylophone playing which goes round and round. Very good song!

9) The Prisoner: The most philosophical song of the entire album. The hammering gothic music perfectly fits the mood. The disturbing sound is a must for this track. It is worth contemplating about this track. How about lines such as:
"Here behind the wall
I feel so small
Feeling and not believing
Here anger is me
Love sets me free
Waiting but not relating"

These are the lines that speak of most of us humans, right? We have so many negative tendencies within us because of which we feel we are in a prison and that we are not really free. Once we realise that, we can try to free ourselves. The song is about all that.

10) Start of the Breakdown: The keyboard and percussion arrangements are simply brilliant because the song perfectly gives rise to the actual feeling of a breakdown situation.

11) The Way You Are: A non-album track, which appears on the remastered CD. Very unusual and up-tempo track. Very odd percussion arrangement, it actually reminds me of a percussion instrument called "Chenda". Artists associated with temples or Kathakali in Kerala, South India, play chendas.

There are also lovely re-mixed versions of "Pale Shelter", "Mad World" and "Change".

That's all, folks. Above all, just as the name suggests, TEARS FOR FEARS is a band with a positive attitude. Their music really cannot be categorised. Most of their records are genuinely good, timeless and relevant. Buy this album, enjoy and feel every moment.

Tears For Fears has the dubious distinction of not realizing their full potential in all musical releases after their debut album. Perhaps nowhere else is there such a flagrant example of a band having amazing genius and intellectual prowess and throwing it out on a second release for catchy commerical tunes. For those of you who put on the headphones and listen to Pale Shelter or Mad World and then listen to Everybody Wants to Rule the World, you know exactly what I mean. This album is like a sacred manual on how to write intelligent songs that touch the emotions deep within. The keyboard arrangements are phenomenal on this CD, the vocals are full of pain and reflection. Buy this and treasure it.

The Hurting is a really deep album that tackles serious topics. Some of the songs are haunting "The Hurting," "Memories Fade," "Mad World" (which includes the lyric "The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I ever had), and "Pale Shelter" to name a few. Yeah, it's heavy stuff but it sounds so darn good, especially the remastered version. Tears for Fears hits a home run with making pop music that stands the test of time because these songs sounds as good as they did twenty years ago. This album also includes the song "Way You Are." I had heard this song in the 80's and saw it appear on several compilation albums in the 90's but couldn't place where the song came from since it did not appear on the original version of "The Hurting" or it's successor "Songs From The Big Chair." The song is here and the mysetery is explained in the included booklet, the song was recorded in between the first and the second album. The extended versions of the songs aren't that different than the original versions but it is a great bonus to hear the biggest hits from the album "Pale Shelter," "Way You Are," "Mad World," and "Change" back to back.

Tears for Fears was not the average 80's pop band, even if they looked like it on the surfice. They used synthsizers, drum machines with a meliodic and hook laden sound. But the music itself was often melancholy and they brought up serious issues like family values like few contemporary bands at the time had the guts to sing about. Tears for Fears got their name from Arthur Janov's primal scream therapy and they band consisted of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, two highschool friends from Bath, England. Roland was the writer of most songs during the career while they both were co-singing. Some of the music may sound a little dated today (this being released in 1983) but the touchy subjects they bring up are still present today.

The opener and title track is a great pop song and at the same time a good introduction to what is coming, it's about children suffering without anyone noticing or caring. Tears for Fears trademark was mixing good pop with serious subjects and they really succeeded with that. "Mad World" was one of the big hits and recently covered by Gary Jules and taken back to the charts again as the sountrack for "Donnie Darko". The moody alternative song brings up the sad reality we're living in, a world without rules or morals and the people suffering from it. Excellent and haunting ballad. "Pale Shelter" was originally released in 1982 but failed to make it big on the charts, so the song was re-recorded, remixed and re-released and the result was a big hit even for "Pale Shelter". The song is slow paced and distinct with guitars, synthesizers and percussion. It brings up the lack of love some children get cause of bad parenthood. "Ideas As Opiates" is almost minimalistic, it basically only feauture percussion and slow piano sound, the lyrics are also sparse. "Memories Fade" is also a stripped and melancholy song, with it's haunting lyrics and saxophone it's one of this album's highlights.

"Suffer Them Children" is a synth laden pop song about children with problems growing up cause they're ignored and not given too much love. Watch Me Bleed" got very strong lyrics "Heaven comes to he who waits/ But I know Im getting nowhere/ And all the deeds of yesterday
/Have really helped to pave my way" and is overall another great pop/rock song. "Change" was one of three big hits on this album, it got a trademark marimba sound and a great hook which paved the way to the charts. The song is focusing on the destructive behavior of a loved one. "The Prisoner" is the darkest of songs with some very strong lyrics and arrangements suited for a horror film, the lyrics are sparse and they're almost whispered. The last song is called "Start of a Breakdown" feautures a catchy synthesizer sound and meliodic percussion. Why this song was not released as single is beyond me, but it's one of the best songs. This remastered version feauture remixed of Pale Shelter", "Mad World" and "Change and the non-album song "The Way You Are" is present. It's another fantastic song by the way. Uptempo with great percussion arrangements. Nice it was added.

Overall, Tears for Fears magnificient debut was one of the most daring and thoughtful albums of the 80's. It's equally intellegent and beautiful full of good lyrics and great arrangements. With this remastered version you get better sound + bonus tracks and the non album song "The Way You Are". Some of the songs may sounds a little dated today, considering all the new equipment used in today's music, but the lyrics and subjects they brought up are just as present in today's society. This album may get a little too personal and the lyrics get frightening when you listen closely to them at times, however if you're a music fan that likes smart lyrics and lyrics that make sense then this is something for you. It's a concept album and it very thoughtful and sincere. One of the greatest debuts of the 80's, let alone albums.

This is creatively and musically the best album by TFF and may very well be one of the best ever albums. It also is one of the best remastered cds that I've ever heard as the sound quality is simply brilliant! Every track seems to have attained a new lease of life and sounds just as fresh as they did decades ago. "The Hurting" ranks among my top 5 ever albums and trust me, I have heard many, many albums.

I was very lucky to have spent my early teens growing up in the early to mid-80's when New Wave was in its pomp and when it seemed that virtually everything coming out of the UK from the Pop Music scene was original and different. TFF competed for the airwaves and for my Walkman against U2, Adam and the Ants, the Human League, Soft Cell, the Eurythmics, Ultravox, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, the Thompson Twins etc and they all had their own unique sound but it was this album by TFF that really hit home for me.

Having had a troubled childhood and upbringing, I felt that finally, someone understood the trauma and turmoil that I went through when I heard the lyrics to the tracks here. Roland's singing was so heartfelt and seemed to be expressing the pain and hurt that I felt in my soul that I couldn't express. Somehow, he was speaking to my soul, telling me it's okay, others have gone through your anguish. I can tell you that singing along with the tracks on this album is a great stress reliever too.

The lyrics to every track are so meaningful and the accompanying music is the perfect complement that helps the album achieve its goal of expressing the most tragic of suffering: the emotional and psychological suffering of children that is so often submerged and repressed by the sufferers who are not mature enough to understand or express them. This is so eloquently expressed in "Suffer the Children" and in my favourite "Start of the Breakdown". "Pale Shelter" is another great track describing how a child who needs love is given the equivalent of 'pale shelter' instead.

The bonus tracks are also a plus as they include the hard to find "The Way You Are" single as well as extended versions of "Pale Shelter", "Mad World" and "Change". Although not the most commercially successful of TFF's works, this is overall in terms of the songwriting as well as the cohesiveness and strength of the material is their best work by far.

Very, very highly recommended.

There are a lot of people who write reviews of this disc because they are tears for fears fans. But I'm not. 'Head Over Heels' and 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World,' are the only songs after this album that even hint at the brilliance of this record for me.

The Hurting is great not just as a time capsule of the '80s - popular psychology's new wave musical moment. Each of these songs is an innovative pop wingding that showers the ears with perfect sound and exhilarating craftsmanship. I don't have the remastered version, but it would be a shame to tamper with these songs, because each of them (I have them on vinyl and on CD) is perfect just the way it is.

More than just a nostalgia piece for those who lived through the era (I heard many of the songs for the first time in 2000), this is one of the great overlooked pop records, sure to be canonized by loquacious music critics in the very near future.

I had the vinyl version of this album and lamented not being able to listen to it (turntable deceased!). One of the most powerful albums ever made. Roland's writing and singing is raw and emotional. Curt brings just as much to the table on the songs that he sings (all songs written by Roland). If you liked "Songs From The Big Chair," you will be more than suprised by "The Hurting" (Tears For Fears' first offering). I liken this debut work to the first LP from U2, "Boy." There is so much unrefined talent that to polish the sound would be to do a disservice to the works. I remember hearing Tears For Fears on "The King Biscuit Flower Hour" just after this LP was released. I was mesmerized by their sound (even live!). It's a shame that they did not produce many more works similar to their first two LPs and eventually broke up (creative differences). At least we have this Gem to remind us how great a "young and hungry" group of musicians can truly be!

Despite their attempt to move away from this style of music, The Hurting really is TFF's most intriguing album, and in my opinion their best. The stark bleakness of this entire project is what drew their core audience to them in the first place. And since this album, they and their audience have "matured". But this album touched a nerve with certain people; people who hear their feelings being spoken about in these memories-evoking compositions.

The original album cover features Roland & Kurt in full black Goth-type attire staring into the blank distance near a tranquil duck pond.

And then you listen to the music: sparse but melodic.

Then you hear the lyrics: deep and troubling.

Even if you never heard of these songs, you only need to read the song titles and you can tell right away that this is not about sunshine and lollipops. This is not about let's party, have sex, and rock n' roll.

This is about individuals who are dealing with disturbing issues, inner conflicts, and uncertainty.

Mad World, Start of the Breakdown, Watch Me Bleed, The Hurting...people have been living these lyrics forever.

TFF, Roland & Curt, these songs, they understand "us".

"The Hurting" is an appropriate title given the tone of each song on this album, but it is pleasure that you will find by listening to it.

This is, song for song, one of the best albums from the '80's.

Perhaps you have heard "Songs From The Big Chair" and have wondered about their earlier work? Forget about a "Greatest Hits" or any Tears For Fears compilation, this is the album you must have in your library.

You want an album that can be played from start to finish without skipping songs? You want this work from Tears From Fears. It is their best.

One of the more introspective and personal albums I've heard, The Hurting did very well for its remastering. I listened to the original CD release recently then replaced it with this one, and it's a welcome change to hear a bit more life in this recording as well as some nuances completely lost on the original CD. I did not notice a change in the speed, as someone else noted, but I have not done an A/B comparison. The additional tracks are interesting and nice to have, but they don't add all that much to the original album. "The Way You Are" is an oddity; it does not belong with this set except for its timeline (pre-"Songs From the Big Chair"). Instead it's what happens when "Tears for Fears" tries to be "WHAM!", which is a real break from the rest of the album's more early 80's synth/guitar pop sound.

But don't let that one track stop you from updating your current CD to this remastered edition if you are someone who finds this album important and meaningful. This album will click with those who grew up in a world where love and acceptance either did not exist or were conditional at best and will be spending the rest of their lives looking for what they lost. Musically and lyrically it is not heavy; it is surprisingly light and listenable despite the message underneath.