Tears for Fears Emotional Overload Alice Jones-Rodgers reviews ‘The Tipping Point’.
Eighteen years ago, Tears for Fears’ sixth album, ‘Everybody Loves a Happy Ending’ may have seen Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith reunited for the first time since 1989’s chart-topping, Platinumselling ‘The Seeds of Love’, but the further inactivity that followed led many to feel that the title of the album had been prophetic. In 2013, however, the duo reconvened to make a follow up with, at the behest of their management, an array of contemporary co-writers and producers. A full album was recorded, but by 2016, it had been jettisoned, with Orzabal and Smith feeling that it wasn’t representative of who they were. A wise choice, we feel, because even back in the ‘80s, the decade in which they ruled the world with three massive albums (‘The Hurting’, 1983, UK#1 / US#73; ‘Songs from the Big Chair’, 1985, UK#2 / US#1 and ‘The Seeds of Love’, 1989, UK#1 / US#8) and thirteen UK top 40 singles, as well as six US Billboard Hot 100 singles (including two consecutive number ones with ‘Shout’ and ‘Everybody
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Wants to Rule the World’ in 1985), Tears for Fears were a band who never seemed particularly comfortable with playing the Pop star game in the quite the same way as their contemporaries, ploughing a much deeper furrow than most with their often dark and always densely produced explorations of the world and human psyche. Ditching the first draft of their seventh album proved to be a pivotal point for Tears for Fears, with Orzabal and Smith going back to basics, severing ties with their management and sitting down in a room together with acoustic guitars to rediscover the joy of just writing songs without any outside interference. However, nothing in the world of Tears for Fears is straightforward and the second attempt at recording what would eventually become known as ‘The Tipping Point’, was far from plainsailing either. Five songs from the first attempt, many of which were co-written by producer Sacha Skarbek, who the band were impressed enough with to keep on for part of this version of the album, were heavily reworked, whilst over the next few years, five new songs were added. Inspiration for many of the new songs came from Orzabal dealing with the tragic death of his wife of 25 years, Caroline, from alcohol-related dementia in 2017, whilst others commented on either the current state of the world or the duo’s annoyance at their former management. Opening track ‘No Small thing’ sets the
