Which band can bring back memories of being a teenager better than Tears for Fears? Listening to songs for this album transports me instantly back to places and people. As a teenager I was definitely a singles fan, so put Mad World, Pale Shelter or Change on and I’m there – word perfect. However, I’m less familiar with the remainder of the album, most of which I consider to be typical album tracks, with the exception perhaps of The Way You Are (which is on my extended version).
TFF are one of the bands that had a definite division to their early and late music. Comparing The Hurting to The Seeds of Love, released only six years later and there’s even more focus on production quality and detail, that is initially evident on the first album. Perhaps that’s why I liked them; I’m not a real fan of live music but prefer the consistency of hearing the tiny details in the master version of any music.
Change is definitely at the top for me as a favourite track, with what I guess is the glockenspiel chorus and the constant change of tempo and style throughout the song. As the Wikipedia entry for the album helps to clarify, there are additional tracks from the release/remaster in 1999 (the copy I have).
Favourite Track: Change
- The Hurting
- Mad World
- Pale Shelter
- Ideas as Opiates
- Memories Fade
- Suffer the Children
- Watch me Bleed
- Change
- The Prisoner
- Start of the Breakdown
- Pale Shelter (Long Version)
- The Way You Are (Extended)
- Mad World (World Remix)
- Change (Extended Version)