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

"I'm lost in admiration, could I need you this much?"

I must start off by saying that I may seem to have a small partiality toward Tears for Fears being that it is a large representation of fond memories from my childhood. However I should also add that even if I hadn't listened to them as a child I still would find their kind of music alluring. To put it as a fellow reveiwer did "in my mind, there are certain bands or singers who define a decade" and Tears for Fears does just that for the 80's. I couldn't give you a favorite song off of this album but I could tell you that there are only two tracks that I often find myself skipping, those being track 8 and 12. It's interesting to me also the kinds of movies that attract and incorporate songs from this album into their soundtrack, such as Real Genius and Donnie Darko -two of the greatest movies in the world of cinema both taking place in the 1980's. I guess everything that has a connection with Tears for Fears is an awesome product of that era. hah September 29, 2008

Amazingly speechless.

There's just a few albums so emotive they can even tarnish my eyes, as I listen to... and this is one of them.

Just dimm-off the lights, pump up the volume and let it take you out. September 18, 2008

Good Overview.

This Tears For Fears compilation has all of the hits and more. Personally, I'm not a fan of re-mixing songs, but the re-mixed ones in this case are still good, though I guess preferably, I would have wanted the originals, as the fans came to know them. Pretty good compilation, all in all. April 30, 2008

A must-have for fans of 80s music

In my mind, there are certain bands or singers who define a decade, or who might be considered the best musical examples of the time. For me, Tears for Fears is a great example and one of the bigger and more successful acts of the 80s. Tears for Fears, of course, is no longer making new music, but you can't get away from hearing them on the radio or in the mall or at Taco Bell or wherever. This compilation is one of the best the 80s had to offer, although I was always a little surprised at their huge popularity since their music rarely had a danceable beat. But what it did have was a great sound and commercial appeal that still exists today, even if the lyrics were strangely melancholy for pop music. I was never a die-hard fan at the time but I loved most of their hits like "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," "Shout," and "Head Over Heels." I had never heard "Woman In Chains" before buying the CD but it quickly became my favorite. "Sowing the Seeds of Love" gets a little old sometimes for me, and I'm not especially fond of "I Believe," but they're still worth listening to. Personally, I was always partial to their older and more New Wave-ish sound, like "Mad World" and "Pale Shelter," and I'm probably the only person in the world who was disappointed that "The Way You Are" wasn't included (apparently the band hated that song?!?), but I can't find a single song here that I absolutely *don't* like or would regularly skip. My only complaint is that the songs don't appear to be in chronological order which is a bit confusing, but it's not that big of a deal. Overall, a must-have for fans of 80s music. October 11, 2007

Some of the greatest pop from the 80's

"Tears for fears" are a band with a style of music that I really appreciate and I tend to lump them with the like of Australian acts such as Mondo Rock [just put up a review of one of their albums today] and Alex Lloyd. All these acts have one thing in common-either a few pop/rock masterpieces, or the same, but with some forgotten gems. Tears For Fears falls into that latter category.

Before I bought this album, some months ago, I used to list as my favourite Tears' song "Mad world". After I bought the album, I was reminded at how absolutely brilliant the song "Head over heels" was, with its georgeous piano melody, as played by someone with a sledgehammer, and the Beatle-esque and sing-a-long-able chant at the end. "Head over heels" is my idea of a truly great pop song-right up there with Mondo Rock's "Chemistry", Alex Lloyd's "Green" and Coldplay's "Clocks". It's that good. Reading the lyrics for the song, it is surpising to see how weird and slightly disturbing the lyrics are! Not exactly conventional pop! Just by the by, there is a magnificent scene in the great movie "Donnie Darko" where "Head over heels" is used for a sequence in the movie. It's like a video clip, in some ways...but it's a total visual treat. Forgot to mention that the song also has a really cool guitar riff in it too. Might be the same melody as the chant at the end of the song.

"Mad world" is probably my second favourite track. It is poppy and dreamy. Again, it has very unusual lyrics for a perfect pop song: "The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had".

There was a time when I would have counted "Shout" as a great track, but over the years, its charms have diminished for me. Perhaps for someone listening to it for the first time, its chanting, stadium frenzy inducing chorus will entrance.

One song whose charm totally eludes me is "Everybody wants to rule the world". Here in Australia, this is an FM stereo staple. I never listen to this song when it's on the radio, and I can't understand how a pop masterpiece like "Head over heels" gets so relatively little airplay here.

I've pretty much mentioned all the stock standard songs that people list when discussing this band. But, like Mondo Rock, you'll sometimes hear on the radio one of their songs that you'd forgotten about and regret not hearing more often. For instance, the delicate pop of "Change" or the Beatle-esque "Sowing the seeds of love". These are all very good songs.

It has been quite a few months since I've listened to this album. I do remember finding some of the unknown songs to me listenable, but, I should point out that they haven't really left an impression on me-I just kmnow that I found them 'listenable'.

If, like me, you loved "Head over heels", you might want to check out other acts which have songs of a similar calibre which I've reviewe here:
Mondo Rock, The Go Gos, and Alex Lloyd. These are truly great songs of the pop genre. September 21, 2007

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