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deluxe edition, which features different mastering and a different selection of bonus material (which has however been superseded by the box set).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