Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears were as alternative as you could get in 1982. They'd taken the cold synths of the shoegazers and turned them into something warm without ever really trying to cheer you up. Mad World was, and still is, one of the greatest pop singles of all time regardless of it's vintage sound. The album 'The Hurting' isn't a pop record but it stands up against any of the pop albums of that or any other era. It is a true masterpiece. Although Roland Orzabal wrote Mad World, Pale Shelter and Change (the first three hits) he's never been a prolific solo writer, preferring to work with others such as Nicky Holland, Alan Griffiths and Ian Stanley. I'd argue that Ian Stanley is the man specifically responsible for Tears for Fears becoming so successful.

It was he who offered Roland and Curt studio space to record for their first album. It was he who added a lot of the key musical embellishments on the first two albums, iconic synth sounds which raised all the songs to a different sonic level. Manny Elias' drumming on the first two albums is also as important as the songs themselves, especially Memories Fade, Working Hour and Shout.   Third album 'Seeds of Love' whilst epic, wasn't very TFF (Ian and Manny both moved on) and whilst admirable that they moved into new territory, the time it took to write and record and the troubles brewing in the band meant they couldn't carry on as a duo.

Roland rediscovered what had made him such a good songwriter in the first place by keeping it simple. The Elemental album is superb, not according to the single-buying public, although 'Break it Down Again' went top 20, but that didn't really matter to the fans. They had the album they were waiting for since 'Songs from the Big Chair'. Hard to say it but this album and 'Raoul and the Kings of Spain' didn't suffer for the absence of Curt.  Curt had moved to America and released one solo album 'Soul on Board' to exit his recording deal, an album he distances himself from, but the songs 'Deal' and 'No one knows your name' are as good as anything TFF ever did.

They both released more solo stuff (Roland's 'Tomcats screaming outside' had some brilliant songs on it, Curt's 'Mayfield' was brilliant also) until they patched up their differences in 2002 and started writing together. I would say 'again' but they never really wrote together before, this was an entirely new partnership. 'Everybody loves a Happy Ending' was released in 2004 and, whilst not ground breaking, didn't really get the traction they'd hoped for mainly due to record company transitions. However, 17 years later, they got themselves some brilliant management, released 'The Tipping Point' and with it, the most successful period of their careers since 1990.