Everybody Loves a Happy Ending

Tears For Fears

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 14, 2004)
• Original Release Date: September 14, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: New Door Records
• ASIN: B0002M5T34
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (226 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,990 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Among the benefits of picking up the new Tears for Fears album--the band's first since 1989--maybe the least obvious is looking cool in front of friends. Flick it on over cocktails, say, and brows will furrow: Few would think to match the heaving, synth-heavy boys who lit up the '80s with "Head Over Heels" to this new material. Which is mostly a good thing. The vocals of lead singer Roland Orzabal, powered by some all-cylinders thing, still squash all traces of irony in their path, and there's a moodiness to the music, minus a lot of the old broodiness, that borders on the masterly. Yet the sound has changed completely. Old-school overproduction has fallen away in favor of real guitars, pounding pianos, and a melody-driven, Beatle-y sensibility. It's there on the title track and first single "Call Me Mellow," and only slightly eclipsed by something pleasantly Bacharach-ish on "Secret World." Everybody who loves a happy ending will find one here: Tears for Fears skirts the has-been trap impressively, translating years of experience into play-it-again, sophisticated modern pop worth paying attention to. --Tammy La Gorce

Product Description
UK version of 2004 album contains 2 bonus tracks 'Pullin' A Cloud' & 'Out Of Control'. Chrysalis. 2005. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's been a long time coming, but worth the wait., September 14, 2004

By	Michael Erisman (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is pop music as it was meant to be. If you are tired of over produced and generic pop music like American Idol "stars" or the every growing and all sound the same releases from hip hop artists and young female singers, then check this out.

Tears for Fears first came on the scene in the early 1980's with "The Hurting". They followed that up with the multi-platinum selling "Songs From the Big Chair". After a long gap, they released "Seeds of Love" in 1989 before splitting up. Roland stayed with the name for a while, but it wasn't the same. Now, some 15 years after "Seeds of Love" they are back together again. The addition of Curt gives the sound the balance missing from Roland's solo work.

The CD starts out with a classic ballad in "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending" and then grooves into the best song on the CD, the (original) first single "Closest Thing to Heaven". The sound is again something in between modern pop and the Beatles. It is reminiscent of "Sowing the Seeds of Love", the last big hit, with horns and a chorus that will have you singing along. With the new label, the first single release, "Call Me Mellow" is more organic than their early 80's work, and is catchy enough to garner interest. All the tracks are great, but my other favorite is the closing track, a smooth R&B number called "Last Days on Earth".

They always had lyrics a mile deep, and flew in the face of whatever pop genre was in at the moment. This release is yet another chapter in a string of great music. This one may not get the exposure some of their other music did, which is too bad, as it is some of the best new music out there. Check it out!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Fan, September 15, 2004

By	Aquariusballs - See all my reviews

OK, I'll be honest, I have hated Tears For Fears ever since those whiney guys burst onto the scene with their mullets and pretentious, introverted lyrics. Were they talented? Sure, but to me it was like they were trying WAY too hard. After the '90's when the TFF name fell into complete obscurity, there was no way I would miss them. To me, they were nothing more than a footnote in the 80's hit parade, like Simple Minds or A Flock Of Seagulls. A few years ago, I heard they were getting back together. I remember thinking how sad it was to hear of another used-to-be-famous band trying to cash in and try to make people remember them.
Well, today, I am eating all of my words and feeling very sorry for having such ill feelings towards TFF. A friend of mine purchased the new CD yesterday and was listening to it while we were driving around town. I couldn't believe it! This was some of the most absolute greatest music I have heard in years. The production is incredible, the melodies are unbelievable and the lyrics are some pretty mean poetry. Yeah, I have read a lot of reviews saying how Beatlesque it is. This is true, but yet there is something so fresh about it that it only be done by a band like TFF, whose grasp has always been further than its reach. The were always, to me anyway, overly ambitious. But finally, they have struck the right chords and perfected their sound. This is their best work, without a doubt and, quite possibly, the best work of the year. It's original, yet familiar and optimistic, yet pessimistically reflective. There's beautiful amazing, magical pop ("Secret World," "Closest Thing To Heaven," "Call Me Mellow," ), powerful, but not cheesy, ballads ("Ladybird," "Size Of Sorrow," "Last Days On Earth") and genuine alternative rockers ("Killing with Kindness," "Quiet Ones," "Who Killed Tangerine?"). The title track is like the history of good, important music of the past 40 years, it's all over the map, but it stays here on Earth and doesn't go too far. Perhaps my favorite track, "The Devil," isn't the most exciting song, but it has, in my opinion the greatest lyrics on the album and it is an extremely haunting track.
Take it from me, folks. You NEED to buy this album. As stated before, I hated these guys for the longest time, and now I've been listening to this album non-stop since I purchased the CD at like 11pm last night.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely Baffled, September 14, 2004

By	Michael D. Abernethy (Chapel Hill, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The self-professed, life-long Tears For Fears fan has had doubts these last few months. He has bitten his nails. He has paced the floor. He has become squeamish at the mere mention of "radio single" and "TFF" in the same sentence.

I went into "Everybody Loves A Happy Ending" expecting the worst. Over and over again, I told myself - and forced myself to believe - that there was no way in Hell that Roland and Curt were going to recapture the spirit of what they once had. "Come on, Mike, these are 40-somethings with wives and kids and gray hairs. This is not, cannot be, their time."

So today finally came, and I rushed with bated breath to jam my copy into my car's CD player. I winced at the cymbal roll and shimmering-keyboard fuzz that kicks off the title track. I gritted my teeth. And suddenly something happened...

I loved every single note that was coming from my speakers.

This album is as fresh and vital as anything TFF have ever recorded. It's full of pop hooks ("Call Me Mellow," "Closest Thing to Heaven"), artful genre experiments ("Who Killed Tangerine?," "Secret World"), and lots of what many have called "magic."

There's a sweetness that has crept back into Roland's work here - most notably on "Size of Sorrow" and "Secret World" - but there's also a much more playfully adventurous spirit at work. "Call Me Mellow" and the title track burst with everything good about pop music in the last 40 years. The guys were even willing to throw in some R&B riffs - via David Bowie - on the amazing closer, "Last Days on Earth."

"Everybody Loves A Happy Ending" is my pick for Album of the Year. It's a multi-textural, exuberant pop album in the finest sense of the words.

So, I'm eating my words. And all that worry was for nothing. They've done it again, and time will probably prove that they've done it better than ever. I can't wait to begin peeling back the layers of this magical pop blessing.

A flabberghasted, whole-hearted 5 stars.