Customer Reviews

Tears for Fears - Tears Roll Down: Greatest Hits 82-92

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When most people think of "Tears for Fears" what likely comes to mind is the song "Shout", or maybe "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", two huge 80's pop hits. While I loved both of those songs, the band was far more diverse than that. This CD is a collection of the bands greatest hits, and every track is worth the price. There is a wide range of music and messages. Their early work, which includes "Pale Shelter", and "Mad World", both contain powerful lyrics at the heart of the duo's attempts at coming to terms with their childhood issues. The songs both still sound fresh today, nearly 20 years after being recorded. "Change", another song from that first album is typical 80s Rock and Roll, new wave style. I especially like their later work including the soulful "Woman in Chains" with Oleta Adams sharing the lead singing, and the Beatles inspired "Sowing the Seeds of Love". Another gem is the deep "I Believe", a beautiful song. Both Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith are talented musicians and have excellent voices, and the band has some other great hidden talent in Nicky Holland, and Oleta Adams, both of whom put out great solo discs. Overall, this CD is a collection of one of the high profile 80's bands best work. Great music, with lyrics about a mile deeper than most of the new wave 80s fluff.

I bought this CD three years age, long after this group's heyday and I became a fan of them instantly. This is the best hits compilation I,ve ever bought. Many people think of Shout or Everybody Wants To Rule The World when they think of TFF. While I love these songs their music spans beyond just these two songs. You'll be surprised at the changes in their sound from their Hurting Days. Pale Shelter, and Mad World are your typical but above average early 80s new wave songs. Change is a standout song from this period. Such a well produced pop song. The fuzz buzz running from 2:38 to 2:57 is amazing. The new single on here is a hard rock edged Laid So Low. This song is a rerecorded version of Tears Roll Down from the brilliant yet underrated Saturnine Martial Lunatic CD. The next surpise is the Beatles sounding Sowing The Seeds Of Love. Rolands songwriting` producing, and Curts voice and musicianship all come together to create a brilliant 6 and a half minute song. This is their most colorful song they,ve ever done with lots of horns and trumpets. The other surprise is the soulful Woman In Chains and Advice For The Young At Heart. Woman In Chains is a beautiful song with Oleta Adams singing backup and emotional well written lyrics. Her voice is breathtaking. The Final Cut on this compilation, Advice For The Young is a great closer to this album. It's very soulful with the Jazzy pianos mixed with guitars and organs it's my favorite on this album. I highly recommend that you get this CD. It will be in your CD player alot. Even if you have the parent albums this CD is still worth getting just for the new single Laid So Low(Tears Roll Down). It's worth the money.

You know the problem with most "greatest hits" albums; some suits at the record company sans clues choose just the "hits" and leave many fan favorites, or some songs that should be automatically included are mysteriously absent. That said, this greatest hits is one of the best I have encountered. Tears for Fears was always so much more than just their singles, and non-hits like "I Believe" and "Advice for the Young at Heart" (a #1 song in a perfect world) make this collection indispensable. The real icing on the cake, however, is the new song included here, "Laid So Low." Whenever a band puts a "new" song on a greatest hits CD, it's usually something they scraped off of the bottom of their trash can at home and threw it on tape. I can probably count the worthy "new" songs on greatest hits packages on one hand, and this inclusion is easily the best I've heard. "Laid So Low," with its dynamite lyrics and propulsive beat is one of the top three songs EVER from TFF, and makes this collection a must-have for anyone who likes literate pop.

If you're looking for a random assortment of songs from one of the best of the 1980s popular groups, this is a five-star album. Compared to much of the hackneyed lyrics and synthesized murk of that era, Tears for Fears offers memorable vocals and first-rate music -- they still sound great, and the recordings were pure digital.

But each of their albums seems to work more effectively in its original sequence, and there was not enough chaff on 'Songs from the Big Chair' to make the usual 'greatest hits' filter necessary or even desirable. 'The Hurting' also stands on its own, and the tracks from the 'Seeds of Love' album really do not complement any of earlier songs. If you enjoy Tears for Fears, buy 'Songs from the Big Chair'. It is probably a modern classic. I cannot say anything terribly negative about the 'Tears Roll Down' CD because I own it and listen to it on occasion. Still, TFF is one of the rare modern musicial teams to produce albums that are especially cohesive, making this greatest hits collection sound like a sort of random arrangement.

Tears For Fears stand out from the other skinny tie wearing,big
hair-having '80s artists obessed with synthizers.Their songs actually had some strong messages in them(i.e. self-assurness;
family;politics,etc.) and they presented a sophiscation that wasn't really prominent in their eighties peers.This greatest hits collection has been getting a lot of play in my house these
days and it STILL sounds relavent in these times.And that's saying a lot!

"Tears Roll Down" features TFF's several hits.Mainly from their
hugely successful 1985 smash "Songs From The Big Chair" and their very impressive followup,1989's "Sowing The Seeds Of Love"
.Among the standouts on this set is(suprise,suprise) "Every
body Wants To Rule The World","Shout","Heads Over Heels"(that
video with the monkey in the library:priceless!),"Mother's Talk"
,and the beautiful "Woman In Chains",which features strong vocals from Oleta Adams who was featured promintely on "Sowing The Seeds" album.And how can I forget that very song,the lush
six minute Beatlesque relic "Sowing The Seeds Of Love".Good stuff.

Too bad TFF split up but this set collects all their well-known,
memorable hits perfectly.'80s synth-pop that actually has
SUBSTANCE and dare I say...timeless appeal.GASP!(LOL)

Tears For Fears is my favorite group, so it is very hard for me to be critical of any effort that they release. As someone who is a deep Tears For Fears fans, the greatest hits compilation "Tears Roll Down" might be overkill for me. With the exception of a new track, this compilation provides a sampling of what are widely considered the "hits" for the band over the first three albums. If you look at this collection as a primer for a new fan of Tears For Fears, this collection is going to do the job. If you are a deeper fan like myself, you may be disappointed. However, I'm going to write this review from the perspective of a new Tears For Fears fan.

Tears For Fears was a band formed by Bath England's Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. Curt and Roland would leave Graduate in 1981. Much of the reason why they left Graduate was that they didn't want to be confined to a band. When they would form Tears For Fears - they would operate in a "project" mode. This would mean that Curt and Roland would form the nucleus and bring in surrounding musicians to help them complete the picture. Tears For Fears would release three albums with Curt and Roland as the core nucleus: "The Hurting" (1982); "Songs From the Big Chair" (1985), and "The Seeds of Love" (1989). The collection "Tears Roll Down" consists of 11 songs from these three albums, plus one new song. For the first two albums, the lineup would also consist of Keyboardist Ian Stanley and Drummer Manny Elias. On the third album, R&B/Gospel singer Oleta Adams would also be a part of the project. There are also many other various and talented musicians that would work with Tears For Fears - including Nicky Holland, who emerge as a key songwriter on "The Seeds of Love". Unfortunately, after "The Seeds of Love", Curt and Roland would go separate ways. Roland would continue to record and perform under the Tears For Fears name. It wasn't until 2004's "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending", where Curt and Roland would reunite as Tears For Fears once again.

Many people associate Tears For Fears as a 1980s "Pop" band. This is partially true. In a lot of ways, their music reflects the 1980s Pop music scene. As many are aware, the early 1980s sound started out as a Synth-Pop song, but by the late 1980s transformed to a more "natural" guitar-laden sound. When Tears For Fears would release "The Hurting", you could generalize it as Synth-Pop, but it really was an album that put a dark and haunting spin on New Wave. As the title indicated, many of the songs dealt with hurt and pain. By the time "Songs From the Big Chair" was released, it could be argued that the band moved more toward a Pop sound. But the sound would incorporate elements of jazz, and even harder-rock. By the time "The Seeds of Love" was released, they would have completely transformed themselves to a natural, guitar-laden sound - some would even term this this sound as "Beatlesque". Overall - innovation is not a problem with Tears For Fears.

As mentioned, this album focuses on the "hits". The distribution of "hits" is as follows: "The Hurting" ("Mad World", Pale Shelter", "Change"); "Songs From the Big Chair" ("Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Shout", "Head Over Heels", "I Believe", "Mothers Talk"); "The Seeds of Love" ("Sowing the Seeds of Love", "Woman in Chains", "Advice for the Young at Heart"). This also contains the new song "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down"). It is worth noting that this song would be later released on the "Saturnine, Martial and Lunatic" CD- a CD devoted to rare and B side songs by Tears For Fears.

Unfortunately "Tears Roll Down" doesn't have its tracks in chronological order. I usually prefer my greatest hits compilations to be in chronological order. This allows me to see how the band has evolved over time. With the case of Tears For Fears, this would have been a most positive thing - because this band not only evolved - but they underwent a transformation during the 1980s.

"Tears Roll Down" was the first of several greatest hits compilations by the band. Here are some of the others:

"Shout: The Very Best of Tears For Fears": This is a more comprehensive collection than "Tears Roll Down". All of the original songs on "Tears Roll Down" are on "Shout". This collection also contains some "B" side songs as well as two songs from "Elemental" (the first post Curt Smith Tears For Fears collection). For the most part, this collection also goes in a chronological order.

"20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tears for Fears": This is a less comprehensive collection than "Tears Roll Down". Only one song from "Shout" is included" ("Change"). It also includes one song from "Elemental" and one B-side song. This collection is not in chronological order.

"Ultimate Collection": This is a three CD import set - and is the most comprehensive set. It includes 37 songs in chronological order. It includes songs through 1995's "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" (the second post Curt Smith album). One of the CDs is devoted to remixes and also contains a rare Curt Smith solo track. If you are looking to go deep, this would be the collection to get.

Overall, I wouldn't put "Tears Roll Down" as the strongest compilation out there. It still is a terrific way for the new fan to get on-board with Tears For Fears. While I would give "Shout" and "Ultimate Collection" 5 stars, this one falls a notch below because it is less complete. But the quality of what is contained on this collection is top-notch. There isn't a bad song on this collection - and that's ultimately what matters. This is still recommended, but mostly for the newbie fan.

Without any hesitation on my part, I have to say that Tears for Fears is a talented and sophisticated band. I enjoy listening to this better-than-good greatest hits collection from time to time. There certainly are some memorable, well-written songs that are included. Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92) contains a total of 12 tracks--I find every one of the songs to be worthwhile and listenable. The tunes are taken from three albums: The Hurting (1983), Songs from the Big Chair (1985), and The Seeds of Love (1989). Almost all of the songs are in a progressive pop musical direction except for two of them--"Mothers Talk" and "Change" are in a straightforward pop vein. Undoubtedly, a lot of work has been put into the material that's featured on this album--the songs are intricate, textured, ambient, and inspired. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith both do well with the vocals. Overall, the songwriting is tight, and the musicianship is proficient. All of the songs feature atmospheric, meaty production. Also, I like the way keyboards are utilized throughout the disc. My favorite tracks are "Advice for the Young at Heart," "Head Over Heels," and "Sowing the Seeds of Love." "Advice for the Young at Heart" is a charming, melodious song that displays notable singing and a good guitar solo. I find the tuneful "Head Over Heels" to be an impressive, well-crafted track--the beginning is very nice. "Sowing the Seeds of Love" is one that's elaborate, layered, ambitious, and engaging; it also sports a serene, smooth chorus. "Shout" is gratifying and memorable, too--I like the urgent-sounding chorus and the catchy guitar solo. The aspect of "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" that I like the most is the ethereal-flavored keyboard playing. The CD booklet includes the song lyrics. I find the lyrics to "Mad World" to be interesting. As for the duration of the CD, it's just under an hour. This compilation of hits from Tears for Fears is consistent, fulfilling, and well worth a listen. I actually give it 3.5 stars.

I just got my TFF CD today. So cool! These guys were one of the the coolest during the 80s decade. Their sound was sultry, hot and smooth like silk. Good thing cds are made to last for a long time, because if they weren't, I would definitely eventually wear this one out. This one is a treasure!

In the 1980's, there were so many guilty pleasures that really meant something to each of us in our communities, and nobody showcased that theory better than Tears For Fears. With their blend of Rock, Pop, and a dash of psychology, they climbed all the way to the top.

The 1992 Greatest Hits Album, Tears Roll Down, was the very first reflection of Tears For Fears classic songs. The songs are strong and enduring as you could ever expect from them. Each song tells a "Freudian" kind of story that still keeps acting like several therapy sessions. From Shout, to Head Over Heels, and their biggest hit, Everybody Wants To Rule The World, each song still as authentic as it was originally released back in the late 80's.

Although Tears For Fears never regained their exposure, every song is truly worth the listen to, and that is still no reason to shout.

What can I can say about Tears for Fears. They have been my favourite band for many many years and I can simply say that they were the best band during the eighties alongside Depeche Mode. I will never forget the first time I heard the songs: "Memories Fade", "Pale Shelter" and "Head over Heals". Original romantism with some great playing of the guitar and tremendous lyrics. Anyway, I think most of the people who listen to Tears for Fears agree that one of the main reasons for listening to them is the great lyrics.

Of course all of their songs that have become "hits" like: "Shout", "Change", "Advice for the young at heart" and "Everybody wants to rule the world" are great songs, but i would suggest to people who are ready to listen to the band for the very first time, to listen to the songs that I mentioned earlier and many more "not so heard" ones. I guarantee they will not lose.

Finally, i would like to say to all those people who are Yound at Heart and still listen to Tears for Fears, to keep the faith and never forget the golden decade of the 80's. Ok, we all know that it will never come back but in our hearts it is always there, still inspiring us in our today's lives.

Take care and never stop listening to great bands.

Hannibalos