Tears for Fears - New Greatest hits with 2 new songs

I think the spring UK tour will coincide with new album and it will contain the two new songs from greatest hits. Both albums will be promoted.

Hopefully US dates follow in summer.

 

I wouldn’t even call his vocal on “Sowing” a co-lead really... yeah he’s singing the title hook but it feels more like a backing vocal kind of part, especially once Roland starts singing over him.

I sometimes listen to this album and Big Chair and think, surely for the sake of harmony and fellowship Roland could have let him sing some of the softer parts in these songs... but I don’t think it would have made them better particularly. I think the problem for Curt was he didn’t really offer anything different from what Roland could do himself. When Oleta came along Roland was happy to share the vocals because it offered contrast, but Curt’s voice was basically just a lighter version of his so there wasn’t anything to be gained by switching back and forth.

 

I imagine it put the final nail in the coffin. He went from being the lead singer on their first three hit singles on The Hurting to one song on SOL and hearing more of Oleta sprinkled throughout the album than Curt.

Roland had to know that Curt would be and was unhappy by being knocked down in his role as far as singing on the albums . Curt has said they both bring something to the songs different from the other. I think I remember him saying Roland was more of a shouty singer and fit those types of songs. LOL Curt also made the point that he was on their first three hit singles. He wasn't really a songwriter for TFF. And once Roland stopped writing songs for him, it was the beginning of the end. It was the Roland show, with Curt on the periphery. He has said he was a singer, but wasn't really singing much anymore for the group on albums and that it was frustrating as a singer not to be singing. But he never blamed the split completely on Roland. He wanted out anyway.

Roland said in the early '90s, when reflecting back on the SOL album, that he wasn't really interested in writing for Curt but was for Oleta. And between that and Curt not really making any money off of the SOL album Roland said Curt wasn't getting any creative nor financial satisfaction being in the band.

And in fairness to Roland, Curt checked out during the SOL recording at some point, bored with how long it was going on. There was a lot of resentment going on back then between them. I am a Roland fan and enjoyed his post-Curt output, and never have been a fan of Curt as a solo artist. But Curt does bring something sweeter to a song like Advice for the Young at Heart in tone as far as the lead vocal. Roland made a jab at Curt once while promoting I think it was Elemental saying he had to teach Curt how to sing the songs he wrote. Ouch. But Roland forgot that Curt had a lot of fans back in the day who wanted to hear him also. But Roland is just a phenomenal live singer, even at this age, with so much versatility as a vocalist.

Roland - Everybody Wants to Rule the World live in 1996 on the Live Kings Tour. He sounded amazing. But as far as a studio recording, Curt's voice suited EWTRTW better for the lead vocal.

 

Roland could sing in that lighter style if he wanted to — like at the top of I Believe or Standing on the Corner of the Third World, where he sounds similar to Curt. Ultimately he didn’t really need a singer with a thinner voice alongside him musically — the point of Curt was more that a duo was more marketable, especially since Curt was very good looking. Plus they were friends, to start with anyway.

It would have been a more functional situation if it had been Roland who had the lightweight voice and he had needed Curt to sing the more powerful stuff. Depeche Mode is a perfect example of this working (or in classic rock terms, the Who).

 

Interesting viewpoints here.

I guess for me, when you have a situation where you have two singers and only one of them does the writing (by and large), instead of the writer feeling like he has to write a song from the other guy to sing, it seems like it would make more sense to just let the writing flow naturally and then figure out later whose voice is better suited to sing the lead vocal on each particular song.

 

...and I think this is exactly what happened. Curt's voice fit the early electronic stuff better. He has more of a pop voice. Roland doesn't fully convince me on The Hurting, though the live versions are an improvement. But once Roland had developed his strong voice and the music moved into a rockier direction, there was simply less space for Curt. And ELAHE doesn't have many leads by him either.

In fact, is that Roland singing "you're dreaming your life away" on "Fish Out of Water"? Sounds exactly like Curt, but is obviously not him...

 

Funny you mention that, because I think the exact same thing every time I listen to that song.

 

Haha yeah that was clearly a sig at Curt (ie. I don't need you). However, despite Roland's chameleon ability, Curt has something he doesn't. If I was interviewing the two, this would be my first question. Since Roland sounds a lot like Curt when he sings softly, why don't they do more back and forth? A large portion of their biggest hits were sung by Curt, it's not like he's not much of a singer.

 

Looks like Rule The World is getting an LP issue but not until early Dec based on Bull Moose listing.

 

Only played live during the mid 90's tour without Curt.

 

Tears For Fears: Stars have finally written their own happy ending

 

I imagine how long it took to our beloved perfectionist Roly to record those vocals in order to sound EX-ACT-LY like Curt

 

Ding dong: Tears for Fears Official Online Store

Though I've read that Elemental was completed fairly quickly by TFF standards...

 

"Rule The World" is out today, been listening to it on Spotify. Some interesting mastering (mixing?) choices there. I'm still adjusting my ears to some of these "new" old songs.

"Mothers Talk (US Version)" never sounded so dry and the previously overwhelming IMAX production of "I Love But I'm Lost" is now buried in the soundscape, as Roland's vocal track is more prominent.

The other new song "Stay" is an acoustic ballad sung by Curt. Very different from "I Love But I'm Lost" and more like the latest Curt's solo material.

Edit: I'm now listening the same album form a different source and "I Love You But I'm Lost" sounds like it was before. Weird.

 

I can't stomach Curt on Stay. His voice is grating the way he drags out the lyrics starting out. It does sound like his newer solo material. I wonder if he wrote it. I didn't finish listening to it, though. Maybe it got better halfway through, or maybe not.

 

Sounds to me like the way it was wifh Wham. GM did everything it seemed while Andrew Ridgely was just there for photo ops and album covers

 

Curt did sing sometimes and play bass most of the time. I’m not sure what Andrew did!

 

I never saw Wham in concert but the few music videos I remember, Andrew had a Telecaster but not sure if it was plugged in

 

It wasn't. I can see where you are going with the comparison, but it's a bit unfair to Curt. Curt was the bass player, occasional songwriter and (quoting Roland) the A&R man. Andrew was George's moral support and he needed it big time. After he lost Andrew, George lost it to drugs, insecurities and whatnot.

 

Bought the CD. It's underwhelming to say the least. Terrible booklet printed on cheaper paper than some budget TFF comps. It's comprised of a totally blank page followed by a couple "old guy" photos of Roland and Curt (strange choice for a comp largely celebrating the past), and then songwriting credits. Super boring and cheap.

As others have said, Stay is basically a Curt solo track, and not a good one. So the two new songs are basically solo Roland and Curt songs respectively. Not a good sign.

And Mothers Talk does sound awful for some reason.

 

Here's a good commentary on what it could have been:
Tears For Fears / Rule The World: A track-by-track guide + what’s missing? | superdeluxeedition

Here's stay for those that haven't heard it. ( I don't care for it either):



I'm still getting the compilation anyways, probably won't listen to it or play it though.

later
-1

 

Thanks Morgan for the info. I really haven't gone past Raoul for TFT so I've had no expectations for these new songs so they seem completely alien to me.
Stay is pretty interesting, something I could almost hear on the Armada trance/electronic music label.

 

I'm not crazy about either of the new songs. Very modern Europop, with Stay sounding like some warmed over Coldplay, IMO.

Having said that, the bridge in "I Love But You I'm Lost" is the best U2 song I've heard in over a decade.

 

Mostly agree with Paul, but I think I could opt for "Cold" over "Elemental" and for "God's Mistake" over "Falling Down."