Tears for Fears gear up for a big year

Being a fan of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith isn't always the most satisfying thing because this band did not just once consider naming themselves "History of Headaches" before settling with the name of Tears for Fears, but they have caused their fans the odd headache through the years too. Although this particular German fan was happy enough over finally getting to see his favourite band live last year to forget about the promise of a new album and a box set around his favourite TFF album "The Seeds of Love", it's still a sore point for many TFF fans that there has been so little new music by the band since 2004's "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending" (ignoring Curt's solo albums, which aren't distributed well anyway).

The main source of happiness for deprived Tears fans had been two excellent box sets celebrating the first two albums, curated by Paul Sinclair (editor of the wonderful site www.superdeluxeedition.com ) and Steve Hammonds. The good news for those who missed out first time around - they are being repressed! This is still a limited print run, so if you're considering, don't consider too long (it seems that they've actually sold out again, before release date?!). I might examine the good and bad (well… less good) sides of them in separate blog posts, but for the quick data (images courtesy of superdeluxeedition.com):

"The Hurting (30th Anniversary Edition)" was originally released in 2013. It contains 3 CDs and one DVD. The "normal" 2 CD deluxe edition, which is still available, consists of the first two discs.

CD 1: The original 1983 album, remastered by Peter Mew. (It's not clear at this point whether this CD is exactly identical to the original one, which had a short defect/dropout in "Ideas as Opiates" - supposedly a different master was compiled for future releases, such as the Blu-Ray Audio)

CD 2: B-sides & remixes

CD 3: Live recordings & radio sessions

DVD: "In My Mind's Eye" - Live at Hammersmith Odeon

"Songs from the Big Chair (30th Anniversary Edition)" was originally released in 2014. It contains 4 CDs and 2 DVDs. There is also a single CD remaster (simply disc 1) and a 2 CD deluxe edition, which consists of the first two discs. The latter shouldn't be confused with the 2006 deluxe edition, which features different mastering and a different selection of bonus material (which has however been superseded by the box set).

CD 1: The original 1985 album remastered by Andrew Walter, plus all the bonus tracks that appeared on the limited cassette edition and a further three b-sides

CD 2: "Edited Songs from the Big Chair" - mostly single edits, but also some rarer versions and the 7 minute interview with Curt & Roland from the "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" double pack 7" single

CD 3: "Remixed Songs from the Big Chair" - virtually all the contemporary 12" mixes, some of which are quite rare otherwise. Also includes an alternate mix of the 1986 US Re-Recording of "Mothers Talk" that had previously appeared on the 2006 deluxe edition (see above)

CD 4: "Unreleased Songs from the Big Chair" - a radio session, live excerpts from the Massey Hall concert and a few early demos/work-in-progress mixes (a first for TFF!)

DVD 1: The album in hi-res stereo as well as the new Steven Wilson stereo and 5.1 mix (the contents of this disc were also available as a Blu-Ray Audio disc, which is however not going to be repressed)

DVD 2: "Scenes from the Big Chair" - the 1985 documentary featuring video clips, live footage, interviews and other stuff from the tour, plus all video clips and an interview with producer Chris Hughes from 2005

Other things to celebrate 2020's 35th anniversary of "...Big Chair" include a vinyl picture disc and a "keepsake booklet" by Paul Sinclair, who was an invaluable part of the box sets' genesis (as co-compiler, interviewer and writer of liner notes).

But there's more! Roland Orzabal announced that the new album of material, of which we only got to know "I Love You But I'm Lost" and "Stay" through the fairly underwhelming "Rule the World" compilation, should be released soon. Sadly, he spoke of releasing things "track-by-track", which to my mind does sooooo not fit to TFF as an album band, but we'll see. "The Tipping Point", which has long since been known as a possible album title will be the first single to come out in April!

He also talked of working on new material (I suppose he means really new) and then going out on tour again next year (clearly, no concerts in 2020, which has turned out to be a good idea), though we'll see what becomes of that. Possibly, it was decided that the electronic sound of "The Tipping Point" was not good for playing live (the fact that "I Love You But I'm Lost" and "Stay" never got a live airing points to this interpretation), and the new material will be more road-compatible? This is all just conjecture but after just a handful of tracks since 2005, it looks like we'll finally get some new material by His Orzabalness (Curt has released solo albums now and then, although they've been flying under the radar). I would certainly be happy to get something more oriented towards "real instruments" because, to be honest, I haven't been so impressed by their recent attempts at modern electronica and I always felt Roland's a really underrated guitar player. That said, expecting anything along the lines of "Seeds" or "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" is probably unrealistic, given that Curt wasn't too involved with the former and had nothing to do with the latter (except playing two tracks off it live).

And the news we've all been waiting for (although there's still no official announcement) - the third box set, the long-awaited "The Seeds of Love", should definitely be out in 2020! While "Big Chair" was one year early, this will be one year late, although "Seeds" was released late in 1989 and the tour took place in 1990...

Having a bit of an idea of what will be on the set, I think it's an absolute "must" for any self-respecting TFF fan!

In the meantime, you may want to check out the forum I've built up a while ago: http://tearsforfears.boards.net

Status Quo - You gotta have "Backbone"

Status Quo stands for consistency, continuity. Yet all that was at stake in several periods of the eponymous band's career. The 1990s were such a time. Francis Rossi, by then clearly the leader of the band, was disappointed with the performance of the last Quo album "Thirsty Work" (1994). To be clear, it was not a flop like 1989's "Perfect Remedy" had been, and it contained three hit singles, but they weren't big hits like most of Quo's singles up until 1988's "Burning Bridges" had been. To add insult to injury, BBC Radio 1 was adamant about not playing the newest Quo single irrespective of its chart position, because they decided Quo had eventually become too old to be still relevant. Nobody likes to be put in a backwater (pun intended), and Quo took the matter to court. They lost and while it brought them some publicity, arguably it wasn't positive publicity.

Francis Rossi had also finally done his first solo project called "King of the Doghouse", however he didn't write any new songs for it - most of the material was written by Tony Macananey (who'd also co-written some of the "Thirsty Work" era stuff). Rossi's confidence as a writer was shaken. This meant that the door was finally open for a project that manager and clever money-maker David Walker had already tried to force upon the band in the early 90s - a covers album. It made sense; two of Quo's biggest hits (John Fogerty's "Rockin' All Over the World" and the Bolland brothers' "In the Army Now") had been cover versions, and no concert in the classic era would've been complete without The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" and Steamhammer's "Junior's Wailing". Quo's last Top Ten hit and the first "Walker project" was the party medley of rock 'n' roll classics known as "The Anniversary Waltz".

Additionally, 1996 would mark the 30th anniversary of the first recordings as The Spectres (as we've seen before, Quo tend to be very flexible with anniversaries!), so there was a concept to hang the whole thing on. All of this gave the band more exposure than before (TV spots etc.), and led to "Don't Stop - The 30th Anniversary Album" (adorned with the band's most cheap looking album cover ever) being a Number One in Britain. Fans weren't happy, especially not with the strangely sterile production that might have been down to Pip Williams, but could just as well have been a result of the band going through the motions despite some guest stars such as Maddy Prior (of Steeleye Span), Queen's Brian May (himself an outspoken Quo fan) and none other than The Beach Boys. But the band was still great live and starting to work on new ideas. Only now, Universal weren't interested. Absurdly, Quo were now in demand again, but only as a "covers" act. One can only imagine how this must have damaged the band's self-confidence.

It also speaks for the label's incompetence and short-sightedness to not follow up a hugely successful album like this with one of new material, which could've brought the band a lot of new fans at a critical point. Instead, Quo broke away for a short time, making the rather good "Under the Influence" at the smaller Eagle label, but obviously now the budget wasn't there to properly advertise it despite David Walker again throwing a lot of ideas at the band. Ignoring the group's own preference, he forced them to use a pub sign with Francis and Rick as the cover (it has since been reissued with the band's preferred cover), but even the pub tour didn't make the album a big seller, although "The Way It Goes" was another minor hit single.

Eventually Quo caved in and did what was expected of them. The concept this time would be music from the "last century", i.e. the 20th century. How clever. And when the band wanted to do a deal for a new self-penned record, they couldn't get it unless they OK'd to do another album of cover versions... The ridiculous result remains that Status Quo must be one of the few bands to release three cover albums in a timespan of less than a decade.

On the other hand, "Riffs" from 2003 failed to repeat the success of the first two cover albums, and by this time Quo had found their groove again, although it curiously had come about by less than positive circumstances. David Walker suddenly died of a heart attack (and even though this was a shock to the band, they were also somewhat relieved at not having to go down every marketing route anymore). Rick Parfitt also had heart issues, but after his bypass operation things seemed fine again (although Rossi would later complain that he simply looked at this as some mechanical overhaul and didn't change his lifestyle accordingly, something that would come back to haunt him). Jeff Rich fell out with the band because he wanted to do more of his drum classes (which affected his friendship with John "Rhino" Edwards for a while, but eventually they thankfully reconciled), and Bernie Frost "disappeared" as Rossi put it. Thankfully, the classic Rossi/Young writing partnership (and friendship) had returned, and the new drummer Matt Letley gave the band a feel closer to the classic era. There was a lot of positivity surrounding the release of 2002's "Heavy Traffic" and the album remains a fan favourite.

Through the following years, Status Quo enjoyed a period of relative peace, still playing good live shows and making albums more or less on their own terms (thanks also to the formation of their own record label, Fourth Chord Records). 2005's "The Party Ain't Over Yet" and 2007's "In Search of the Fourth Chord" (which is a far more diverse and interesting record than one might expect) weren't big sellers, but reissues of the classic material and live DVDs kept the band afloat. 2011's harder rocking "Quid Pro Quo" even returned the band to relatively high chart territory, and the documentation "Hello Quo!" also attracted a lot of interest.

"Hello Quo!" performed no mean feat by bringing the classic four-piece line-up back together, something that had seemed impossible for many years. The 2013 reunion shows were a huge success with the loyal British fanbase, but that same fanbase was less than pleased when the "regular" band unleashed the new project "Bula Quo!" – a film about organ trafficking on the Fiji islands that earned mixed and negative reviews (making an action film that's also family-friendly is nigh on impossible), although the soundtrack was pretty interesting and contained some very recognizable Quo trademarks alongside more unusual sounds. The negative reaction to the poppy first single, "Bula Bula Quo (Kua Ni Lega)", was likely the reason for the sudden end of the band's official messageboard, leaving a bitter taste in many fan's mouths. Around this time, Matt Letley left the band, and some fans still claim the main reason was the band's more and more static setlist – his replacement, Leon Cave, did not feel like an improvement on his first gigs (but he got better since then!).

Bad blood also arose over the Frantic Four activities. Rossi was right that the 2013 gigs had been under-rehearsed, so it seemed logical to repeat the exercise in 2014. Unfortunately, people slipped back into old habits and old conflicts started breaking up again. One of the reasons had been that Rossi already declared that this would be "it", while Parfitt, who realized he enjoyed playing with Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan much more than he thought, really wanted to continue. And again, the warmly received (and this time musically better) FF gigs were followed up with something that a lot of fans criticized as a publicity stunt – "Aquostic"!

It was better than a Quo musical or a best-of with new duets (two ideas that had also been doing the rumour mill before "Aquostic" was officially announced), but it was also a mixed bag. Opinions on whether the Bryan Adams shots of Rossi and Parfitt posing naked, only wearing an acoustic guitar each (thus illustrating the concept "stripped bare", as per the album's subtitle), were good photographic art or tasteless, were mixed, and the same goes for the music. A lot of the songs were stripped down to the "bare bones" (to quote Adams' own acoustic project), but more in a compositional than in an arrangement sense. A lot of additional musicians (mainly Geraint Watkins on accordion plus a string section) made some songs sound more overcrowded than understated, while a lot of the lead breaks were missing.

The live presentation was a big success because the arrangements sounded better live and because the fans were delighted (as had been the case with the FF reunions) at hearing so many unusual song choices. Still, it was touted as a one-off, and Parfitt said that he preferred playing electrically. All of this was nullified in 2016 when "Aquostic II - That's a Fact!" (originally intended to be called "One More for the Road") was released and the band announced the retirement of the electric guitars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls7grV8gA7w (can't embed, sorry)

Looking back, the explanation that Quo needed to slow down and sit down to protect their health was probably mainly about Rick, but Rick wasn't having any of it. After several health scares, his heart attack in Turkey had damaged him to a point where he really needed to take time out. He went to work on his solo album but Quo were stuck with a "Last Night of the Electrics" tour they couldn't or wouldn't cancel, so they had to get a stand-in. Rhino's son Freddie Edwards had played the role a few times, but eventually the band settled with youngster Richie Malone. A dyed-in-the-wool Parfitt fan, Malone had learned guitar from The Rhythm Machine himself. It turned out to be more problematic to replace Rick's stage presence and voice than his guitar playing. Rick's vocals were divided up between Andy Bown and John "Rhino" Edwards, neither being the singer that Rick was, although they gave their best. Rick announced that he wouldn't return to the band, because he was "a rocker".

A lot of fans were dismayed - how could this still be Status Quo? Nonetheless, Rossi felt reinvigorated by the two new guys, who would clearly not cut him slack like Rick had done in the last few years (and at the same time didn't question his authority), and with Francis now the only founder member, he had to deliver. Already on this 2016 tour, a solo jam piece appeared in front of "Down Down" that would eventually turn into the title track of a new Quo album, although at the time things were looking extremely grim. On Christmas Eve 2016, Rick Parfitt died of an infection that he had caught during a shoulder operation after a fall. It's a bitter turn of events that it wasn't his heart that eventually killed him, although his body had clearly been weakened by the heart problems and one can only speculate whether he had lived longer, had he given up cigarettes and alcohol earlier in his life.

Status Quo soldiered on – a gig at the heavy metal festival in Wacken showed that the band could still do it, and the planned Aquostic tour was turned into an electric one (sadly the German dates, which should've remained "acoustic", were cancelled because Rossi had a cold). Rick's solo album "Over and Out" was released posthumously to much acclaim, and Rossi released the countryish duet album "We Talk Too Much" with Hannah Rickard, tying in nicely with his autobiography "I Talk Too Much".

Shortly afterwards, the news was suddenly out – there would be a new Status Quo album! And while the band had proven their quality live, would they really be capable of delivering a satisfying studio record?

There was one sticky point that Rossi revealed in his book: Parfitt's contributions to the last few Quo albums had not been as big as one would assume. With hindsight, it explains why some of the songs on those albums, although they're technically well played and often have good riffs and ideas, don't really capture the "Quo feeling" of two guitars played at once. Either, Rick's parts were added at a late stage (too late to interact with the other musicians), or he wasn't even on the songs – since Rossi, Rhino and Andy Bown are all capable of playing guitar, it's probably fair to say that clearly not all rhythm guitar was actually played by the rhythm guitarist.

Essentially, fans needn't have worried. "Backbone" turned out to be a concise, consistent and focused record with a lot of Quo trademarks intact and actually more at the front than on the sometimes too "modern" sounding predecessors.

Rossi's realization that Quo's music should breathe more led to a sound that's far less compressed than a lot of current music, and "Backbone" is just a joy to listen to because it's become quite rare to buy a rock album in a digital format (CD or download) that doesn't sound like the end of the world because of the ubiquitious loudness war. It's got punch and depth, and there's no need to turn it down. In fact, you can turn it up to enjoy the full dynamics of the grooves, something that all too often gets forgotten about... but if everything is "loud", there's nothing to mark a rhythm anymore!

The shortness (typical LP length, slightly more on the deluxe) is another point worth talking about. I've got a theory – if you're a band with a rather narrow stylistic spectrum, try to aim for shorter albums. In general, I find the length of an LP pretty ideal for the human attention span, but this is especially true for riff-based rock music. There's just no point in extending it over sixty or seventy minutes, even if a lot of bands started doing that in the CD era. Of course, keeping yourself as brief as possible has its pitfalls: You might end up throwing away good ideas and including the wrong songs. And strangely, what works for one band does not necessarily work for another: Both "Piledriver" by Quo (1972) and "inFinite" by Deep Purple (2017) are around forty minutes long and end with a cover of The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues". In one case, it worked, in the other it didn't. And this despite Ian Gillan actually singing the proper words! Although I'm not sure how many Quo fans back in the day realized that Alan Lancaster was singing a lot of wrong lyrics (that are also printed on the LP), even on the reunion tours 2013/2014…

Quo also return to something they (i.e. Rossi) had vowed to never do again - covers! However, this time it's a really inspired choice. John David had provided a lot of mostly good songs for Quo over the years – starting with 1986's "Red Sky" and "Rollin' Home", across 1988's "Cross That Bridge", 1994's "I Didn't Mean It" up to 2005's "The Party Ain't Over Yet", "All That Counts is Love" and "Kick Me When I'm Down". Rick Parfitt had used two of his compositions for his solo album, "Long Distance Love" and "Everybody Knows How to Fly".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk7teaashW0 (can't embed, sorry)

"Better Take Care" is brilliant both musically as well as lyrically. The lyrics are well worth paying attention to. Sadly, Quo's reputation as music for shaking body parts and having a good time has obscured some good political statements such as the Cold War era comments in "Never Too Late" or "Can't Be Done". One can only hope that this poetic call to action against climate change and environmental pollution has some effect. The topic must be on the band's collective minds as "Running Out of Time" tackles the same issues, although musically less successfully.

Richie Malone, who has already proven that he could sing if you allowed him to, contributes two songs (one is only on the deluxe edition), of which he sings one. "Get Out of My Head" shows that he can channel some of the same atmospheres that Rick could conjure up in songs like "Big Fat Mama", "End of the Line" or "All That Money".

Given that it's Rick's harder-edged and more muscular writing that I personally miss the most on "Backbone", which is still a fine record, I hope Richie gets more chances to add songs like this to the Quo canon. That said, if "Backbone" turns out to be the last album released under the Status Quo name, it would still be a good send-off.

But having seen this line-up in concert a few weeks after the CD release, I can tell you… Quo are not done yet!

And now let's sing it all together: "Cause you gotta have…"