These 2 i always compare... they both where political, had strong themes in there music. And where both just great musicians..

Some of you my say oh but there so different.. to me not so

TFF as i said had many political & social songs as U2 did, they both got big around the same time, And both had very artsy albums......

Songs Fron The Big Chair i guess could be consedrid there ''Jushua Tree'' It had the number 1's Shout & Everybody Wants To Rule The World, the # 3 Head Over & Heels & Top 30 Mothers Talk. And I Believe was a minor hit as well.

I think if Curt & Roland didn't break it off and stayed focus... they could have had a long carea like U2 had.

Now grant it after SFTBC they didn't like dissapear , Sowing The Seed's Of Love the album had a top 10 hit with the title track and 2 top 40's with Woman In Chains & Advice For The Young At heart.

And many forget after Curt left TFF had a top 40 with Break It Down Again in the arly 90's... which showed they could have gone to the 90's with much success if they where more focused.

Any who what do you fans of the 2 bands think?

I actually prefer Tears for Fears over U2. Why they aren't still big, I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me.

PippiL said:

I actually prefer Tears for Fears over U2. Why they aren't still big, I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me.

I just as much as i ADORE TFF because of the rift between Curt & Roland in the late 80's they feel apart. Rolands's post Curt stuff isn't bad i like Elemental but... that other album i like to keep quiet about haha(;

But Everybody Loves A Happy Ending there reunion album was beautiful.. if those could have stuck through it together they could have been almost as big as U2 i am positive of that.

But it started with the recording of STSOL, Roland was becoming over amitious & Curt was kind like ''fuck it'' pretty much and did less and less

And the album it hink it's great, but it's not as big as it could have been..... and that's when they started to loose focus.

It suck's there is only 4 albums with the 2 of them.

[Edited 8/24/11 9:57am]

[Edited 8/24/11 9:59am]

I am a HUGE TFF fan...

Last summer, I saw them twice in a week. Most people said to me: "They're still around?" or started singing "Shout"... I kind of believe that their sound was "dated", whereas U2 evolved more.

But I believe that the "differences" between Curt & Roland had a lot to do with their lack of continued success.

Gunsnhalen: What is STDOL? Did you mean STSOL? (typos happen ).

Also- their last album was "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending". "Closest Thing to Heaven" was a single from that album.

BTW: Roland's birthday was Monday!

My

Seeds of Love was largely a snoozefest. It had 3 brilliant singles, and the rest of it was unlistenable. I think Roland could have used a dose of self-editing with that record.

I think they were tremendous. The Hurting & Songs from the Big Chair are 2 of the best pop/new wave albums of the era. Some tremendous songwriting and production. But they (or Roland) let ambition get the best of him.

I thought Raoul and the Kings of Spain was a terrific record - very dense sounding, loads of great songs. I actually like it better than their comeback "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending". Roland's solo album (in name, heh) was excellent too.

chocolate1 said:

I am a HUGE TFF fan...

Last summer, I saw them twice in a week. Most people said to me: "They're still around?" or started singing "Shout"... I kind of believe that their sound was "dated", whereas U2 evolved more.

But I believe that the "differences" between Curt & Roland had a lot to do with their lack of continued success.

Gunsnhalen: What is STDOL? Did you mean STSOL? (typos happen ).

Also- their last album was "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending". "Closest Thing to Heaven" was a single from that album.

BTW: Roland's birthday was Monday!

My

I think that's the key. I'll put it another way: Tears For Fears didn't have their Achtung Baby, that is, an album to reorient and therefore save their career.

Think their main problem is their lack of (stage)presence. Like him or not, but Bono is really a charismatic (is that english?) frontman. Curt is cute, but especially Roland always looked really boring to me. Just my opinion.

[Edited 8/24/11 7:01am]

Which songs does Curt actually sing lead on?

Gunsnhalen said:

that other album i like to keep quiet about haha(;

Don't rag on Raoul. That album is much better than critics and some fans gave it. I've always enjoyed it as much as Elemental. IMO, the public who abandoned them in the '90s missed out on some great music. Yeah, it was just Roland, but did anyone ever see Curt as the lead in TFF anyway (other than a few singles from The Hurting, Everybody Wants To Rule The World from SFTBC and Advice from TSOL). Elemental and Raoul are just "headier" than their previous works. It seems like critics dismiss some of Roland's lyrics as too serious or pretentious. I just think he's a lot more intellegent and well read than the average rock star and that's reflected in his lyrics.

As for comparing TFF to U2, I don't really see that at all. Comparing Simple Minds to U2 has always seemed a more viable comparison to me (especially from 1979-88). Do I think TFF should have been as big as U2? Absolutely. But in some ways, I kinda like the fact that they didn't blow up into the beast that is "U2". I like the fact that TFF (Roland) made the college/alt charts with some of Elemental's singles. It seemed like TFF went back underground or more low key (not that Roland wouldn't have wanted more success out of the two 90s albums). Either way, TFF (they or he) shouldn't have been abandoned like they were. Too much great music not heard. Oh, and you can't leave out Roland's solo album Tomcats Screaming Outside... great album from 2001. Another album that should've been heard by a lot more people.

chocolate1 said:

I am a HUGE TFF fan...

Last summer, I saw them twice in a week. Most people said to me: "They're still around?" or started singing "Shout"... I kind of believe that their sound was "dated", whereas U2 evolved more.

But I believe that the "differences" between Curt & Roland had a lot to do with their lack of continued success.

Gunsnhalen: What is STDOL? Did you mean STSOL? (typos happen ).

Also- their last album was "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending". "Closest Thing to Heaven" was a single from that album.

BTW: Roland's birthday was Monday!

My

ahahah yes i fixied that thank you XD

And i fixed the other mistake! i have not listened to the album in awhile and forgot the name:P

sosgemini said:

Which songs does Curt actually sing lead on?

He sang lead on Change, Mad World, Pale Shelter.

Gunsnhalen said:

sosgemini said:

Which songs does Curt actually sing lead on?

He sang lead on Change, Mad World, Pale Shelter.

Don't forget about their biggest hit

pzlyprk said:

Gunsnhalen said:

that other album i like to keep quiet about haha(;

Don't rag on Raoul. That album is much better than critics and some fans gave it. I've always enjoyed it as much as Elemental. IMO, the public who abandoned them in the '90s missed out on some great music. Yeah, it was just Roland, but did anyone ever see Curt as the lead in TFF anyway (other than a few singles from The Hurting, Everybody Wants To Rule The World from SFTBC and Advice from TSOL). Elemental and Raoul are just "headier" than their previous works. It seems like critics dismiss some of Roland's lyrics as too serious or pretentious. I just think he's a lot more intellegent and well read than the average rock star and that's reflected in his lyrics.

As for comparing TFF to U2, I don't really see that at all. Comparing Simple Minds to U2 has always seemed a more viable comparison to me (especially from 1979-88). Do I think TFF should have been as big as U2? Absolutely. But in some ways, I kinda like the fact that they didn't blow up into the beast that is "U2". I like the fact that TFF (Roland) made the college/alt charts with some of Elemental's singles. It seemed like TFF went back underground or more low key (not that Roland wouldn't have wanted more success out of the two 90s albums). Either way, TFF (they or he) shouldn't have been abandoned like they were. Too much great music not heard. Oh, and you can't leave out Roland's solo album Tomcats Screaming Outside... great album from 2001. Another album that should've been heard by a lot more people.

I find it better than Curt's solo work.

It took me a while to get into "Raoul", but now I like it.

Yeah?! What the hell happened to them, u never hear about them now...

No. Didn't like them in the 80's, still don't

They were not, as someone said, as charismatic as an onstage performer as Bono and Curt was no Edge. Plus they had bitterness and ego problems throughout so no I couldn't see them reaching U2 levels. Hell they didn't even reach Hall & Oates levels!

Yeah, their music was better. (IMO. Before anyone throws a chair.)

In a weird random related note this always reminded me of Curt Smith's vocals.

[Edited 8/24/11 11:29am]

Timmy84 said:

They were not, as someone said, as charismatic as an onstage performer as Bono and Curt was no Edge. Plus they had bitterness and ego problems throughout so no I couldn't see them reaching U2 levels. Hell they didn't even reach Hall & Oates levels!

Oh come on Timmy i love U2, But let's not pretend there is not ego problems in that band

Gunsnhalen said:

Timmy84 said:

They were not, as someone said, as charismatic as an onstage performer as Bono and Curt was no Edge. Plus they had bitterness and ego problems throughout so no I couldn't see them reaching U2 levels. Hell they didn't even reach Hall & Oates levels!

Oh come on Timmy i love U2, But let's not pretend there is not ego problems in that band

I had typed something similar, but I thought my obvious bias against Bono (not the band) was showing through.

chocolate1 said:

I find it better than Curt's solo work.

It took me a while to get into "Raoul", but now I like it.

Yeah, as much as I respect Curt nowadays for his communication with fans (embracing social networking, etc.) and his musical talents, I've never been able to take his voice for more than a song or two at a time. His production work on his latest puts his voice a bit too much front and center (i.e.-- it's the equivalent of someone talking right up at your ear -- I don't need to hear every little consonant spittle noise that he makes when over-annunciating/singing). I really like the guy, but I've never thought of him as the "lead" in TFF. It's like saying Garfunkel was the lead in S&G. And yes, I agree that Tomcats is much better than any of Curt's solo work. I will say that I dig Curt's Seven of Sundays (nice production on that song).

pzlyprk said:

chocolate1 said:

I find it better than Curt's solo work.

It took me a while to get into "Raoul", but now I like it.

Yeah, as much as I respect Curt nowadays for his communication with fans (embracing social networking, etc.) and his musical talents, I've never been able to take his voice for more than a song or two at a time. His production work on his latest puts his voice a bit too much front and center (i.e.-- it's the equivalent of someone talking right up at your ear -- I don't need to hear every little consonant spittle noise that he makes when over-annunciating/singing). I really like the guy, but I've never thought of him as the "lead" in TFF. It's like saying Garfunkel was the lead in S&G. And yes, I agree that Tomcats is much better than any of Curt's solo work. I will say that I dig Curt's Seven of Sundays (nice production on that song).

I hate Curt's version of Pale Shelter.

Sadly, Tears For Fears have never gained the recognition they deserve. I don't mean commercially, of course. They weren't alternative enough for many critics. But they were great, three excellent albums.

In the last album, apart from Closest Thing To Heaven, which has already been mentioned in this thread, there was a song called Who Killed Tangerine?, which can even be their best tune ever.

Gunsnhalen said:

Timmy84 said:

They were not, as someone said, as charismatic as an onstage performer as Bono and Curt was no Edge. Plus they had bitterness and ego problems throughout so no I couldn't see them reaching U2 levels. Hell they didn't even reach Hall & Oates levels!

Oh come on Timmy i love U2, But let's not pretend there is not ego problems in that band

I know, I'm just saying.

Timmy84 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Oh come on Timmy i love U2, But let's not pretend there is not ego problems in that band

I know, I'm just saying.

eheh

Javi said:

Sadly, Tears For Fears have never gained the recognition they deserve. I don't mean commercially, of course. They weren't alternative enough for many critics. But they were great, three excellent albums.

In the last album, apart from Closest Thing To Heaven, which has already been mentioned in this thread, there was a song called Who Killed Tangerine?, which can even be their best tune ever.

That is a fantatsic tune!