One record at a time: 422. Tears For Fears - Rule The World

This compilation is from 2017 and was curated by the band themselves. As is the fashion, this collection of hits also features two new songs in order to drive sales. I bought this double LP at an astonishingly cheap £11 when it was in some sort of online sale. Pressed by MPO in France the sound is adequate without being outstanding. There's very little extraneous noise, but its not the most lively sound reproduction.

Proceedings begin with two of the band's biggest hits "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and "Shout". The first of the new songs comes next in the form of "I Love You But I'm Lost". Written with Bastille's Dan Smith and producer Mark Crew this song has a pretty good hook and earns its place in the back catalogue.

The tracklist rattles through all of the expected big hits including, "Sowing The Seeds Of Love", "Mad World" and "Head Over Heels". Disappointingly, the version of "I Believe" is the album cut and not the live/re-recording that was released as a single - but this is a small quibble.

There are also a couple of tracks culled from the albums "Elemental" and "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" which are effectively solo recordings by Roland. The highlight here is "Break It Down Again" which benefits from adopting the sound of the band in their heyday.

If this was a "Best Of" compilation I could understand the inclusion of the new track "Stay" as it develops from an inauspicious start into a wonderful song. But it seems odd to chose a song that was not even released as a single for a "Greatest Hits" compilation. Equally "Raoul And The Kings Of Spain" didn't exactly set the charts on fire and was included at the expense of  singles that achieved a higher chart position ("Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" and "The Way You Are"). Still, this is a really good record and takes quite a measured view of the band's career. 4/5

One record at a time: 421. Tears For Fears - Sowing The Seeds of Love

As much as I try to be positive about this record, I simply can't sum up enough enthusiasm to say much nice about it. Whilst I know it is revered and was a big hit - I have always found "The Seeds of Love" to be really disappointing. 

To my mind a good chunk of the music presented here is boring, mid-tempo rock intended for genteel middle class Americans. The burning angst and heartfelt sentiment that propelled the duo's first two records is lost along with almost all of the synthesizers and drum machines. I can imagine many of these songs being played by a half sozzled pianist in a cocktail bar to an audience of precisely zero people.

I concede I may have been too harsh in what I just said and in the interests of balance I am happy to state that the title track is brilliant. Whilst "Woman In Chains" was completely and utterly the wrong choice for the opening track, it is a very good song. The single "Advice for the Young at Heart" creeps above the threshold even if it is too long. 

Everything else is skippable. Eight and a half minutes of mid-tempo rock ("Badman's Song")? No thank you. Tuneless piano tinkling and horrific backing vocals ("Standing on the corner of the third world") I can do without. Even the surprisingly schizophrenic final song "Famous Last Words" is boring. Some might say it is too simplistic to say these issues are as a result of replacing Ian Stanley as both keyboard player and songwriter; but it's where my suspicion lies.

After the wonders of "Songs From The Big Chair" I felt completely let down by this album when it was released and that disappointment lingers to this day. Whilst my discontent didn't seem to stop me from buying this modern reissue of the LP back in 2020, it remains sealed. 2/5

One record at a time: 420. Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair

1985's "Songs From The Big Chair" saw Tears For Fears move into the realms of superstardom. Propelled by the singles "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" this record met with commercial success across the globe, most notably in the USA.

I own an original UK pressing of this record along with a completely superfluous repressing from 2022. There's nothing to distinguish the modern version other than the usual poor quality artwork and annoying surface noise. I think I might have bought it as part of a "3 for £50" type deal - but I shouldn’t have done really. Still, if you're going to own duplicates of any Tears For Fears album, it might as well be this one.

"Songs From The Big Chair" can truly claim to be a classic and is a masterclass in both songwriting and production. As the opening track "Shout" uses patches from the Fairlight CMI (probably the greatest ever use of the distinctive ARR1 sample) and Yamaha DX7, it sounds distinctly "eighties". Yet the quality of the production means the song remains set above any of the ephemeral drivel produced by the band's contemporaries. 

The second track "The Working Hour" is not as immediate as "Shout" but it remains an impressive composition. The song is generally good value for its six and a half minutes runtime, but the extended coda is too reliant on the warbling saxophone of Will Gregory for my taste. 

The anthemic "Everybody Wants To The Rule World" must be known to everyone and won't benefit from my evaluation: suffice to say it is a classic. Another single "Mother's Talk" rounds out the first side with its Fairlight samples and superb drum programming. The band have since expressed some disappointment with this track, but it really is much better than their attitude might suggest.

The flip side of this album begins with the piano driven ballad "Believe". Now this song is undoubtedly well crafted and Roland provides a great vocal; but damn that saxophone is irritating. The hit single "Head Over Heels" is sandwiched between two versions of the track "Broken" which is a recycled b-side. This might not sound like the most auspicious description of a track but it really does work in the context of the album. This just leaves the final track "Listen" which I find mesmerising. Ian Stanley's distinctive Roland System 100M patches combine with Fairlight samples and obscure vocals to create an epic aural landscape that lays the listener gently back to terra firma. 4/5

One record at a time: 419. Tears For Fears - The Hurting

I own two copies of "The Hurting". The first is an original UK pressing that I bought eight years ago and the second is a limited edition white vinyl from 2021.

Released in 1983, Tears For Fears debut was a huge success in the UK and spawned four singles. "Pale Shelter", "Mad World", "Suffer The Children" and "Change" are probably known to many as charged expressions of angst set against amazing tunes. These tracks form the backbone of the album with slightly less commercial material strung around them. That's not to say the other tracks aren't good, but they are certainly less immediate. 

The title track that opens the album features the distinctive sound of an Linn LM-1 drum machine and jangling guitars that sound as 'new wave' as it is possible to get. The song contains a great melody, but the stilted rhythms are designed to compliment the lyrics rather than pander to the radio. 

"Ideas as Opiates" is barren save for a Yamaha CP-70 piano and the obligatory eighties sax solo, but it just about manages to hold my attention. Less interesting is "The Prisoner" which sounds like an OMD b-side with drum programming by Depeche Mode. By the time we reach the final song "The Start of the Breakdown" the ideas lack some polish, but everything remains entertaining.

Throughout the album vocal duties are shared between the principal members Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal with all of the songs being written by Roland. To this day I am not sure if Ian Stanley and Manny Elias were 'proper' members of the group or salaried musicians. Whilst their contribution to this record was significant, it is the next entry in the Tears For Fears back catalogue in which Ian Stanley truly emerged as a keyboard genius. 4/5

One record at a time: 418. Sunscreem - O3

I first heard Sunscreem in 1992 when a friend played me the 7" single of "Love U More". I liked the song very much and I decided to buy their current release "Broken English". Whilst the latter single didn't impress me nearly as much, I did elect to buy the album "O3" when it was released the following year.

As with most of my collection, I first bought this album on compact disc and bought these two vinyl versions sometime during the last ten years. Whilst the standard version on the left pretty much mirrors the content of the compact disc, the remix edition on the right is a completely different take on the album. I wasn't too sure if this second version should be considered a separate remix album, but Discogs seems to regard it as a variant of the main title, so I will treat it accordingly. 

Both albums open with a track called "Portal" which is laden with breakbeats, 90s house piano and burbling synths. We then move through various singles which continue the rave vibes with "Pressure", "Perfect Motion" and the afore mentioned "Love U More" being the highlights. The difference between Sunscreem and a lot of dance acts of this era is that their singles were songs with vocals and a traditional verse/chorus structure. Whilst this approach garnered radio play, I always felt their heart lay in heavier dance music and the bugged out remixes they created. This idea was reinforced when I realised a number of tracks on the album are actually uncredited mixes of their singles. "B", "Doved Up" and "Release Me" are deeper cuts that were tweaked for the dance floor and originally put out on 12" singles as remixes.

The "Special DJ Remix Edition" features additional mixes by Farley and Heller, Leftfield, Slam and Dave Valentine. I'm not a fan of most of these tracks, but the Farley and Heller dub of "Perfect Motion" does have a terrific bassline. To accommodate all of these lengthy remixes, the DJ edition ditches "Chasing Dreams" and the slightly disappointing ballad "Idaho" - but it doesn't lose anything in the process. 

In terms of remixes, the most glaring omission is the Farley and Heller "Heavy Club" mix of "Love U More" which is one of the best things either artist ever created. Quite why you would omit this amazing remix from a record designed for DJs is beyond me. Both albums finish with versions of "Psycho" which is an incredibly cheesy 90s house piano track that sounds like The Prodigy doing Country and Western.

I have a lot of memories tied up in this album and it will always remind me of my youth. Yes, it has one or two less interesting tracks and it flip flops between heavier club music and lighter pop tunes, but it is still worthy of attention more than thirty years after it was created. 3/5

One record at a time: 417. Ed Starink - Synthezier Greatest (The Ultimate Collection)

Unless you are an electronic music uber-geek, the name Eduard Starink probably doesn't mean much to you. And who can blame you? Hell, they didn't even bother to put the man’s name on the front of his records, so it is no wonder few people have heard of him.

You see Ed produced a series of 'sound-a-like' compilation albums that were much like the "Synthesizer" records made by Project D. Yet, aside from a performer credit hidden on the inner sleeve, the main producer of the work was never explicitly stated. From what I can tell, Ed was happy with this arrangement and chose to allow the "Synthesizer Greatest" brand take centre stage. 

I first heard about these albums around 1991 when I stumbled across a very cheap cassette of the first compilation in a shop in Wakefield. I knew exactly what I was buying, so it was no surprise to find that these tracks weren't attempts to remix, extrapolate or create variations on the original work; they were just smudged carbon copies. 

As you might expect, Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre compositions are heavily represented in the tracklisting with the usual suspects like Kraftwerk, Art of Noise and Jan Hammer also getting a look in. My musical taste changed quite a bit during the early nineties so the "Synthesizer Greatest" cassette soon began to gather dust and it eventually fell out of my possession.  

Fast forward thirty years and I saw this new compilation released as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl. Whilst nostalgia drove me to purchase this record, it hasn't driven me to play it very often.

Rather than replicating the tracklisting of the original album, this record labels itself as the "Ultimate Collection" and seems to randomly pick tracks from the first few entries in the series. This is a shame as some of Starink's best efforts seem to have slipped through the net. The impressive rendition of Vangelis's "Hymn" is missing along with the pulsating "Chase" which was originally recorded by Giorgio Moroder. Personally I don't think the theme from "Twin Peaks" represents 'synthesizer music' and I have no idea why a seemingly new rendition of the traditional piano piece "Gympnopédie" deserves inclusion. Something of a mixed bag that is only worth investigating if a wave of nostalgia compels you. 2/5 

One record at a time: 416. Dusty Springfield - Reputation

I have always felt rather indifferent about this album and I have to admit, I only own it because of its link to the Pet Shop Boys. Even the involvement of my favourite group wasn't enough to stir me into action when it was released and I didn't buy "Reputation" on compact disc until about ten years after it was first made available. I didn't spring for this LP until as recently as 2022.

Unfortunately, the first side of this record is produced by a series of 'guns for hire' that created tracks of varying quality. I recently learnt that the title song is a cover version that, save for Dusty's voice, doesn't sound very different from the original. The third track, "Arrested By You" is also a cover of a Rupert Hind ballad that is as limp as an old sock. "Time Waits for No One" is just generic rubbish that sounds like 'production by numbers' and, whilst "Born This Way" is fair enough as a statement, the music is pretty uninspiring. No, the action here is definitely reserved for the flip side. 

As soon as the rolling bass and Fairlight strings of "In Private" begin to ring out, things feel much more homely for a Pet Shop Boys fan. Aside from the other magnificent single, "Nothing Has Been Proved" there are more adventurous songs (or 'experimental' as Neil Tennant described them) in the form of "Daydreaming" and "Occupy Your Mind". The latter song in particular has always stuck me as sounding amazing with its rave inspired TR-808 beats and pulsing synth basslines. 

The only duff note for PSB comes in the form of yet another cover version. "I Want To Stay Here" which was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin (who also wrote several songs for Dusty's famous "Dusty In Memphis" album) back in the sixties. The slightly twee melody and poor backing vocal arrangement don't really fit with the more progressive sound featured on the rest of the album and I can't work out why this song was included.  

The album was 'executive produced' by Pet Shop Boys - which essentially means they recommended producers and songwriters to Dusty and tinkered with the finished tracks (such as removing the saxophone solo from "Arrested by you"). Whilst this record boosted Dusty's reputation back in the nineties (see what I did there?) and made yet another stellar entry to the Pet Shop Boys CV, the first side doesn't really stand up to scrutiny today. 2/5