Efter de båda fina och framgångsrika skivorna The Hurting (1983) och Songs from the Big Chair (1985) bestämde sig Tears For Fears för att vidga sina musikaliska vyer ytterligare.
På sitt tredje album, The Seeds of Love (1989), satsade de på ett större, djupare och mer organiskt sound. Sångaren Curt Smith beskrev utvecklingen enligt följande:
“As a band, we came from the programmed pop era of the early ’80s and we had inherited a sense of structure that permeated almost all our music. The way we were working was becoming too sterile. We wanted to do something more colourful, something that sounded big and warm. You cannot get that from machines. You only get that with real musicians and real players.”
Den utökade ljudbilden och de höga ambitionerna komplicerade dock inspelningsprocessen. Det skulle ta Tears For Fears hela fyra år att färdigställa The Seeds of Love. Plattan ska enligt uppgifter ha kostat en miljon pund att göra och man ska ha spelat in i många olika studior och använt ett halvdussin olika producenter.
Men så blev resultatet också perfekt. The Seeds of Love är ett mäktigt album, som lyckas med bedriften att låta mer eller mindre tidlöst. Roland Orzabal betraktar det som en karriärhöjdpunkt:
”Out of all our albums, I’d probably rank it highest. I think it surprised a lot of people, a lot of our peers as well, people who maybe we were being compared to in the mid-Eighties’.
Curt Smith är inne på samma linje:
”The tracks I liked then, I still like now. ”Woman in Chains”, ”Badman’s Song”, ”Sowing the Seeds of Love”, and ”Advice for the Young at Heart” have all stuck around. We still play those live.”
The Seeds Of Love släpps nu som deluxe-box, bestående av fyra cd-skivor och en Blu-Ray. I den expanderade och remastrade utgåvan från Virgin Records bjuds det på mängder med b-sidor, demolåtar, remixer och liveversioner. Allt snyggt förpackat och kompletterat med låttexter, bakgrundshistorier och unikt bildmaterial.
Bland höjdpunkterna kan nämnas en demo av ”Advice for the Young at Heart” med Orzabal bakom mikrofonen och Tears For Fears version av ”Rhythm of Life”, som skrevs under samma period men istället gavs till Oleta Adams för hennes album Circle of One.
Super deluxe-boxen släpps den 9 oktober.
CD 1 – ORIGINAL ALBUM (NEW REMASTER)
1)Woman In Chains
2) Badman’s Song
3) Sowing The Seeds Of Love
4) Advice For The Young At Heart
5) Standing On The Corner Of The Third World
6) Swords And Knives
7) Year Of The Knife
8) Famous Last Words
CD 2 – THE SUN (45’s AND B-SIDES)
1) Sowing The Seeds Of Love – 7″ Version
2) Tears Roll Down
3) Woman In Chains – 7”
4) Always In The Past
5) My Life In The Suicide Ranks
6) Woman In Chains – Instrumental
7) Advice For The Young At Heart – 7” Version
8) Johnny Panic And The Bible Of Dreams Instrumental
9) Music For Tables
10) Johnny Panic And The Bible Of Dreams Mix One
11) Johnny Panic And The Bible Of Dreams Mix Two
12) Sowing The Seeds Of Love – US Radio Edit
13) Woman In Chains – US Radio Edit 1
14) Advice For The Young At Heart – Italian Radio Edit
15) Year Of The Knife – Canadian Single Version
16) Johnny Panic And The Bible Of Dreams
CD 3 – THE MOON (RADIO EDITS AND EARLY MIXES)
1) Year Of The Knife – Overture
2) Year Of The Knife – Early Mix – Instrumental
3) Sowing The Seeds Of Love – Alternate Mix
4) Tears Roll Down – Alternate Mix
5) Year Of The Knife – Steve Chase 7″ Remix
6) Badman’s Song – Early Mix
7) Advice For The Young At Heart – Instrumental
8) Year Of The Knife – The Mix
9) Johnny Panic And The Bible Of Dreams – Mix One Edit
10) Sowing The Seeds Of Love – Early Mix – Instrumental
11) Woman In Chains – US Radio Edit 2
12) Year Of The Knife – Canadian Single Version – Instrumental
13) Famous Last Words – French Radio Edit
14) Woman In Chains – Reprise
CD 4 – THE WIND (DEMOS, DIVERSIONS AND JAMS)
1) Rhythm Of Life – Demo
2) Advice For The Young At Heart – Demo
3) Swords And Knives – Demo
4) Famous Last Words – Demo
5) Sowing The Seeds Of Love – Demo – Instrumental
6) Badman’s Song – Langer / Winstanley Version – Instrumental
7) Woman In Chains – Townhouse Jam
8) Broken – Townhouse Jam
9) Rhythm Of Life – Townhouse Jam
10) Badman’s Song – Townhouse Jam
11) Badman’s Song – Reprise – Townhouse Jam
12) Standing On The Corner Of The Third World – Townhouse Jam
BLU RAY – THE RAIN
ORIGINAL ALBUM MIX, NEW REMASTER & STEVEN WILSON 5.1 MIX
Woman In Chains: (Original album master)
Badman’s Song: (Original album master)
Sowing The Seeds Of Love: (Original album master)
Advice For The Young At Heart: (Original album master)
Standing On The Corner Of The Third World: (Original album master)
Swords And Knives: (Original album master)
Year Of The Knife: (Original album master)
Famous Last Words: (Original album master)
Woman In Chains: (New remaster)
Badman’s Song: (New remaster)
Sowing The Seeds Of Love: (New remaster)
Advice For The Young At Heart: (New remaster)
Standing On The Corner Of The Third World: (New remaster)
Swords And Knives: (New remaster)
Year Of The Knife: (New remaster)
Famous Last Words: (New remaster)
STEVEN WILSON 5.1 MIX
Woman In Chains
Badman’s Song
Sowing The Seeds Of Love
Advice For The Young At Heart
Standing On The Corner Of The Third World
Swords And Knives
Year Of The Knife
Famous Last Words