Tentative Review #42

Tears For Fears
Sowing The Seeds Of Love

(released 1989)

Track:	Rating:
1. Sowing The Seeds Of Love
2. Tears Roll Down
3. Shout (US Remix)

Personnel:

Roland Orzabal: guitar, keyboards, vocals
Curt Smith: bass, vocals
Chris Hughes: drums
Ian Stanley: keyboards, Hammond organ on "Sowing The Seeds Of Love"
Richard Niles and "Raoul's Fairlight": orchestral arrangement on "Sowing The Seeds Of Love"
Sandy McLelland: backing vocals on "Shout"

Credits:

"Sowing The Seeds Of Love" by Orzabal/Smith.
"Tears Roll Down" by Orzabal/Bascombe.
"Shout" by Orzabal/Stanley.

Comments:

This was the first of three singles released from Tears For Fears's The Seeds Of Love album, and was easily the most successful commercially. Despite the criticism which the band was later forced to endure from various established sources (much of it hypocritical -- Rolling Stone gave the album a * * * * rating on its initial release, then wrote off the album in its year-end issue), most critics were willing accept this particular single as a charming mock-Beatles track; the general buying public seemed to agree (perhaps "accept" would be the more appropriate term), and the single returned TFF to the higher rungs of the charts after a four year absence.

"Sowing The Seeds Of Love" is a good track, and was very appropriate as a leadoff single (even if it wasn't quite the best track on the album). The "mock-Beatles" nature of the track may have been somewhat of an indirect tribute; the basic track of the work is nearly identical to track of a Badfinger track from the 1970s (a fact strangely ignored by most critics). Nonetheless, it works as a pastiche of various musical and lyrical references thereof, even if the lyrics do seem a tad overwraught at times. If some of the keyboard-based wizardry that dominated Songs From The Big Chair is lost, the band at least has the dignity to offer a compelling and internally diverse work in its place (the trumpet solo is probably the highlight).

"Tears Roll Down" is an early version of "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" which appeared on the TFF compilation album released a few years later. This version of the piece is dominated by extended lyrical sections, which make use of a rather Caribbean-based percussive showcase. The lyrical section accounts for only a small excerpt of the piece, and is primarily notable for marking a return to the "primal scream" references which were generally abandoned on The Seeds Of Love. One might wonder if the title was also a reference to the impending departure of Curt Smith from the group.

The "US Remix" of "Shout" is generally a worthwhile experiment, though lacking some of the impact of the album version (which would be expected). The only truly notable addition to the piece is the interpolation of a repeated "I remember, I remember" vocal (in pained tones) over an instrumental midsection. A few repeated tones aside, this is thus not a radical departure from the famous version of the work.

Recommended for those TFF fans interested in a curious detour.

The Christopher Currie

(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 14 September 1997)