Tears for Fears Everybody Loves a Happy Ending

Well, shut my mouth and call me Slappy.  Who'da thunk it?  You know, alot of older bands are getting back together (ie, Duran Duran).  Doesn't interest me.  And neither did the fact that Tears for Fears (Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith) reformed for a new CD (released 9/14/04), called 'Everybody Loves a Happy Ending'.

I never really cared for Tears For Fears, ever.  Granted, they might have done a good song here and there, but mostly, I'm not interested.  Their albums were just not up to snuff...mostly half-assed filler.  Orzabal did release a couple of discs using the TFF name after Smith split in the '90s, and they had a few good tracks on them, most notably "Sowing the Seeds of Love", but the rest of the tracks, again, were a let down.

Okay.  Cut to Monday night, 11/01/04.  One of those late night shows was a rerun, and the musical guest was Tears For Fears.  Big deal...but, somehow, I happened to catch their part of the show.  I was absolutely blown away!  They did a GREAT pop-rock song that was, most notably, immediately reminiscent of The Beatles.  I made a mental note to check out the CD the next day!  I figured, well, it'll probably contain this one great song and the rest will bite, in keeping with their pattern, but that song was SO good, I was willing to chance it.

Folks, I'll be damned if I didn't, once again, stumble across another of those gold nuggets I sometimes talk about finding.  This is another of those "sleeper of the year" CDs!  'Everybody Loves a Happy Ending' is one of the most awesome discs released this year!  And it's pretty much buried amongst the barrage of weekly issues...what a shame!

If you like Brit-pop, with a side of psychedelia, you're gonna love this disc.  Besides hearing The Beatles influence here, how about some XTC, ELO, Squeeze, Pink Floyd and (another late, underappreciated band) World Party thrown into the mix.  Hell, there's even a touch of Frank Zappa's skewed arrangments here and there!  If that doesn't whet your musical appetite, you might be melodically challenged, anorexic or bulemic...The drumming is so Ringo Starr influenced, and the bass so McCartney influenced, it's sublime.  Arrangements and harmonies are to die for.  The recording quality is so up-front and clean it's in-the-room present.  It seems as though every sound on this disc is somehow "enhanced", better than in the natural world, as if by some osmotic LSD.  Your jaw will hit the floor!

Track one is the title cut, and you will immediately hear almost every one of the above mentioned influences within.  Backwards drum loops and guitar leads.  Synthesized strings and horns...hand claps...tasty little saturated guitar fills.  Vocals up front and in back that mesmerize!  These guys are playing the studio the way The Beatles and Brian Wilson did, as an instrument and an integral part of the sound.  Magical!  Track three, "Call Me Mellow" is the cut the band played the night I saw them on the tube.  Gawd, a perfect pop-rock song - reminiscent of The La's "There She Goes" in the chorus.  You'd be hard-pressed to find a better pop-rock song than this.  It, too, contains all the bits listed above.  I absolutely love it!

"Size of Sorrow" slows it up a bit, a synth and drum machine intro into a beautiful pop-ballad.  George Harrison-like guitar fills in the background.  Every single thing here, and throughout the album, is so first-class, so straight-up great...layer upon layer of sound, yet never "congested", everything clear as a bell.  "Who Killed Tangerine?" literally steals the drum opening to Lennon's "Come Together", then The Beatles and ELO seemingly join forces in pop-rock ecstacy.  Words fail to express how impressive this is!  "Quiet Ones" is XTC reworked to even greater heights.  Vocodered vocals into clean harmony.  "Who You Are" recalls a mix of XTC, ELO and Squeeze.  Beautiful multi-part harmony, nice boppin' mid-tempo, a little Zappa-esque break here and there.  You'd swear Ringo was on the drums. A nice little psychedelic coda.

"The Devil" is the ghost of Pink Floyd in a 4/6 arpeggiated piano driven beauty, perhaps Jeff Lynne on the vocals.  A different, somewhat darker sound than the preceding songs.  Phasing and flanging on machinegun-fast drum rolls.  "Secret World" is a huge wave of sound flowing into more perfect pop regalia - this time recalling Burt Bacharach and Hal David in construction.  Strings and trumpet to a martial drum beat.  (Strings arranged and conducted by none other than the great Paul Buckmaster!)  Beautiful!  "Killing With Kindness" is rather an orchestral/Beatles masterpiece, sounding more like the better bits of old Tears For Fears (perhaps "Sowing the Seeds of Love").  "Last Days on Earth" has an ELO + R&B flavor that caps off the ending perfectly.  These are just some of the highlites that abound throughout this grand, grand disc.  The boys use time-signature changes, dynamics, numerous studio/synth/God-knows-what-else found sounds to color this thing wonderful!  All songs are written or co-written by Orzabal and Smith.  F'in way to go, guys!

Well, my friends, here's another find that I am proud and more than glad to bring to your attention.  There's no reading between the lines, here.  If the above description(s) and/or comparisons interest you, do not hesitate to buy this disc.  You will love me for it!  (Send the love, people, send the love.)  Even the CD cover is grand - reminiscent of certain Jimi Hendrix and Grateful Dead 1960's album covers.  Thank God pop-rock this good is still being made.  Ya gotta look for it, but it is out there.  Support it!  Let 'em know we like it, so they'll keep on makin' it!  'Everybody Loves a Happy Ending" gets my highest recommendation!  It is an absolutley astounding disc!  And a pop-rock lover's wet-dream!

---

---

Release Date: September 14, 2004
Tracks: 12 - Time: 54:55
Produced by: Tears for Fears & Charlton Pettus
Format: CD
Website: www.tearsforfears.net

---

Tears For Fears:

Curt Smith - Multi Instruments
Roland Orzabel - Multi Instruments
w/ more personnel too numerous to mention.