Saturnine Martial & Lunatic

Tears For Fears

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 13, 1996)
• Original Release Date: August 13, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001EFW
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #120,413 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best B-Sides, rarities collection I ever owned., September 17, 2001

By	Distant Voyageur "Nicholas Computer" (Io) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Tears For Fears are a great band. Their talent wasn't just on their regular records. This CD shows an even broader perspective of the great music they,ve made over the years. Some of the songs contain synth, guitar samples from their hit songs.There are others that did not make it onto their albums. Some are quirky instrumentals that only devoted fans of TFF like me will enjoy. Her's how I grade the songs.

JOHNNY PANIC AND THE BIBLE OF DREAMS B+ This songs as I said earlier sample the chord structure of Shout. It's a trippy dance song with the lyrics of Sowing The Seeds Of Love sung in a rap chorus. I usually hate rap but whoever sung the lyrics did a good job.

THE BIG CHAIR B+ This song is strange. It has a light beat with sword sound effects and a distraught woman talking in the background. There is a pause in the middle of the track with a ambient humming sound almost like the sound of an airplane propellor along with dripping sounds. The man screaming is kind of disturbing. This song is good.

SCHRODINGERS CAT A+ This is a great song. The song pauses in the middle with just the piano playing. It then srats back up and fades out. The rock guitars are fun to listen to.

MY LIFE IN THE SUICIDE RANKS A+ This is one of my favorites on this CD. It's a very underproduced, simple song. Roland is a genius on here. Rolands creaming on here is funny as well as his high pitch singing.

WHEN IN LOVE WITH A BLIND MAN A+ This song is the primitive version of The Working Hour from the Big Chair LP. It far less intense and more laid with pan flutes and different lyrics. Gotta give this song a listen.

PHARAOHS A+ Absolutely stunning! This is the most beautiful song TFF have ever written. It's haunting, ambient almost new agey. It has the drum loop of Everybody Wants To Rule The World. It also has the synth guitar licks from it as well. This song is a must hear. I still get chills listening to it even now three years after first hearing it. A+

DEJA VU AND THE SINS OF SCIENCE A+ Man do I love this song. It's a trippy` ambient masterpiece kinda like Pharaohs but more danceable. This is another one of my favorites.

THE MAURAUDERS B- This is porbably my least favorite song on this CD but I still like it. It's a rather mellow song with some quirky keyboards. The keyboards toward the ending sound way ahead of its time sounding almost like those you'd hear in Peter Gabriel's Red Rain. A nice instrumental.

TEARS ROLL DOWN A+ This is probably my second favorite of this CD. It's the primitive version of Laid So Low from their Greatest Hit compilation. It's dark and a bit scary. It builds up over the first two minutes with discordant chants and blows up into an ambient rock time with the chorus of Laid So Low. This album gets a five just for this song alone.

NEW STAR A+ AAAAWWWWW RRRRRRYYYYYTTTTEEEE!!!! This is the winner on this album. Some real rock and roll. This is the best song TFF have made during the 1990s. The guitar playing is great. This song rocks. This should have been a number one hit. This song is the best song on this CD. This album gets a five star just for this song alone as well.

THE BODY WAH A+ This song is an Orb like instrumental. It's kind of a stormy track accompanied with the sounds of jets flying. It also has the sound of someone saying "Because she has power" repeatedly in parts of this song along with chain sound effects for a few seconds. I love this song. Give this song a listen.

LORD OF KARMA A+ This song is an underrated gem. It similar to New Star but more pop sounding. This is another favorite

BLOODLETTING GO A This is a strange but pop sounding song. It's a bit hard to explain how it sounds like but I at least can say it's a great song.

ALWAYS IN THE PAST A+ A very well done track. Fast paced, complex, this song is great. The heavy rock in the middle is paradise to my ears. There are also hornis playing throughout this song.

SEA SONG A+ This is a beautiful song. It is a piano song at the beginning but it's becomes a new age pop song. The last minute is breathtaking with the voices chanting.

ASHES TO ASHES B- This is a cover of the original David Bowie classic. I haven't heard the original but I,ve heard that this version almost sound exactly like the original. This version is good though.

EMPIRE BUILDING A+ LOL! I though this was The Art Of Noise. It's mainly a bunch of sound effects with a metallic beat. It's almost like something you'd hear in some action movie. The guitar bell at 0:42 gives me the chills. This is the weirdest track TFF have ever written. Roland must have been listen to too much Art Of Noise.

THE WAY YOU ARE A- This is a nice early 80s new wave song. A little repetative but great. A nice closer to this masterpiece CD.

As a whole there is not one bad track on this CD. It's so rare that I have 70+ minute CDs that have no weak tracks. Theres a lot more great things to say about this marvelous CD. I highly recommend that you get this CD. In fact even the 78 plus minutes doesn't contain all of their rare tracks. Music For Tables is a jazzy instrumental that couldn't fit on here. The Conflict is another that couldn't make it on here. But that doesn't make this CD less than perfect. Go out and buy this CD. It will be an excellent CD in your collection. Well I,m now out of words. Good Bye.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Orzaball Never Disappoints!, January 11, 2000

By	R. J. Marques "saintricardo" (Scottsdale, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a GREAT cd for all Tears For Fears fans. One thing to remember is that this is an entire album of B-sides to singles and outtakes from other projects. Even so, while some tunes are very abstract, and some are re-writes or remixes of others that have appeared on other albums, the project as a whole is well executed. Containing material from both Orzabal as a solo TFF, or with Curt Smith, this is a valuable addition to your collection. Also, there are 18 cuts and Orzabal gives liner notes on each cut, along with history, and flashbacks about how each came to be - that's invaluable information for fans.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It takes a while to grow on you, but then you LOVE it., August 1, 1998

By A Customer

This album is a collection of B-sides and rarities spanning most of Tears for Fears' career, including Roland's solo years. It begins with the fun dance-pop-ish treatment of "Sowing the Seeds of Love" entitled "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams." TFF fans should recognize some synth licks in "Pharaohs" as being straight from "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Other great tracks here include "Tears Roll Down", a modified version of which appears on the Greatest Hits album. There's also a worthwhile cover of David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" as well as the rocking "New Star" and the repetitive but catchy "The Way You Are." Overall, this may be one mostly for TFF's devoted fan base, but anyone can really enjoy these good songs.