Best TFF album

Whew, what can you really say about this incredible band? Well, I suppose I could start with a bit about this incredible album.



This was TFF's '93 release, Roland Orzabal's first without bassist/vocalist Curt Smith. From my understanding - though I am a relatively new TFF fanatic - many TFF's fans were wary of Orzabal's ability to continue writing sophisticated, enchanting pop-rock without Smith's adjunct songwriting and classicly rich vocals. But from my understanding - FEAR NOT - this is the BEST TFF's album to date. (Enchant's Ted Leonard concurs, putting "Elemental" in his TOP 5.) Besides, Orzabal just wails.



Alan Griffiths (Seal, Emiliana Torrini) helps Orzabal with the songwriting this time around.



Musically, this is TFF's most progressive effort. It's arguably their darkest too. "Arguably" because a.) "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" and "The Hurting" are both pretty damn dark and b.) the production on "Elemental" is unmistakably warm. Still, Smith's recent departure undoubtedly left Orzabal with some dark ideas, as well as new lyrical potential. The latter is particularly evident on "Fish Out of Water" when Orzabal wails, "We used to sit and talk about Primal Scream / To exorcise our past was our adolescent dream / But now it's sink or swim since your memory fails / Now in Neptune's kitchen you will be food for killer whales."



Basically, this album forfeits the "antics" of "The Seeds of Love," dropping Oleta Adams from the mix, loosing the horns and overt ambition. Instead Orzabal opts for a more passionate, more organic sound, reinstituting his acoustic guitar as the band's celebrity.



Anyway, my personal favs include the title-track "Elemental," "Mr. Pessimist," "Fish Out of Water," and "Power," which showcase Orzabal's uncanny ability to create some of the best pop on earth.

It's just one of those albums...

I bought it for "Break it down Again," and proceeded, of course, to listen to that cut untill my cassette wore itself ragged. Then one day I realized I paid for an entire album and started listening to the rest. I consider it the musical equivalent of comfort food. I wore the rest of the cassette ragged and haven't bought it on CD since.



Every time I think about the fact that I don't own it anymore, I die a little inside. The cassette is still in my old car. Seriously, what a perfect album. Listening to the little snippets on amazon right now has got me bouncing down memory lane. Grows on you like a bad rash. I will buy it today.

Still holds up like new

Roland's first outing after the 'breakup' of Tears For Fears (or, more precisely, Curt Smith's departure due to creative differences) finds him teaming up with Alan Griffiths, who would become the silent 'other half' of what the band would become throughout the 90s. Freed from the confines of his partnership with Smith, Orzabal explores more personal territory with a decidedly more contemporary feel; the production here is outstanding and the lyrics poignant as they are beautiful - just listen to the title track for evidence, which builds into an updated Beatles-esque boullabaise by its climax. No wonder they were all over college radio again when this was released in 93; and, having said that, the album suffers little in its 12 years of aging - I've had to purchase it three times on two different formats, but it has never been far from my stereo in the last decade or so.



While I applaud the much-publicized (yet surprisingly unpopular) reunion album from last year, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (yes, it's great to hear those two voices cover new material again), I'll always hold firm that TFF did its best work sans Smith.