Search - Tears for Fears :: The Hurting [UK Bonus Tracks]

The best debut album and the greatest album of all-time!

Ajit Menon | Bombay, India | 10/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hi, I am from India.
Words fail to clearly express the sheer beauty and impact of the album, "The Hurting". This album is a must for anyone who really loves music with a lot of substance and adventure. TEARS FOR FEARS is my all-time favourite band. Also, I personally feel, in many respects, TEARS FOR FEARS is the only perfect band in the whole world. If you don't believe me, just listen to this debut album of TEARS FOR FEARS. Each and every track is a classic in its own way. Here is my review of each and every track:1) The Hurting: Title track that gives a glimpse of how thoughtful this band actually is. This one track should prove that Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal are people with genuine insight and that by no means are they negative. How about lines such as:
"Get in line with the things you know.
Feel the pain, feel the sorrow
Touch the hurt and don't let go, don't let go
Get in line with the things you know
Lean to cry like a baby
Then the hurting won't come back, they won't come back, won't come back"The echoing guitars perfectly fit the mood and are a treat for the ears. Both Curt and Roland sing this song.2) Mad World: Moody and reflective song. The song is not negative. It is about the current situation of people living their lives without any morals or values. It is a call for doing something to improve the terrible situation. The song sounds very much relevant and fresh to this day. 3) Pale Shelter: The song is about the lack of love in the lives of children due to inaccessible parents. Fine blend of acoustics and electronics. The Spanish guitar strumming is amazing!4) Ideas as Opiates: This song is as good as its title. Slightly difficult to understand when I heard for the first time. From what I perceive, it is about those people who mislead the general public with their opinions and who don't actually care about the good-will of the society. The saxophone work is incredible.5) Memories Fade: Totally blown off when I heard it for the first time. Incredible keyboard, guitar and saxophone arrangements. You can sense the actual mood from Roland's singing and the lively instrumentation.6) Suffer the Children: The first song recorded and released by TEARS FOR FEARS. Like Pale Shelter, a very thoughtful song about children who don't get proper attention and love during their growing years. Nice pop song.7) Watch Me Bleed: According to me, the second most philosophical track of the album. Once again, the song is not negative. Great pop-rock. Wonderful and sensible keyboard/guitar arrangement.8) Change: Brilliant xylophone playing which goes round and round. Very good song!9) The Prisoner: The most philosophical song of the entire album. The hammering gothic music perfectly fits the mood. The disturbing sound is a must for this track. It is worth contemplating about this track. How about lines such as:
"Here behind the wall
I feel so small
Feeling and not believing
Here anger is me
Love sets me free
Waiting but not relating"These are the lines that speak of most of us humans, right? We have so many negative tendencies within us because of which we feel we are in a prison and that we are not really free. Once we realise that, we can try to free ourselves. The song is about all that.10) Start of the Breakdown: The keyboard and percussion arrangements are simply brilliant because the song perfectly gives rise to the actual feeling of a breakdown situation.11) The Way You Are: A non-album track, which appears on the remastered CD. Very unusual and up-tempo track. Very odd percussion arrangement, it actually reminds me of a percussion instrument called "Chenda". Artists associated with temples or Kathakali in Kerala, South India, play chendas. There are also lovely re-mixed versions of "Pale Shelter", "Mad World" and "Change".That's all, folks. Above all, just as the name suggests, TEARS FOR FEARS is a band with a positive attitude. Their music really cannot be categorised. Most of their records are genuinely good, timeless and relevant. Buy this album, enjoy and feel every moment."

Sounds Awesome Remastered Includes Way You Are

Dorrie Wheeler | 11/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Hurting is a really deep album that tackles serious topics. Some of the songs are haunting "The Hurting," "Memories Fade," "Mad World" (which includes the lyric "The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I ever had), and "Pale Shelter" to name a few. Yeah, it's heavy stuff but it sounds so darn good, especially the remastered version. Tears for Fears hits a home run with making pop music that stands the test of time because these songs sounds as good as they did twenty years ago. This album also includes the song "Way You Are." I had heard this song in the 80's and saw it appear on several compilation albums in the 90's but couldn't place where the song came from since it did not appear on the original version of "The Hurting" or it's successor "Songs From The Big Chair." The song is here and the mysetery is explained in the included booklet, the song was recorded in between the first and the second album. The extended versions of the songs aren't that different than the original versions but it is a great bonus to hear the biggest hits from the album "Pale Shelter," "Way You Are," "Mad World," and "Change" back to back.



"

By Far Their Best Ever Album Has Just Gotten Even Better!

Frederick Baptist | Singapore | 04/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is creatively and musically the best album by TFF and may very well be one of the best ever albums. It also is one of the best remastered cds that I've ever heard as the sound quality is simply brilliant! Every track seems to have attained a new lease of life and sounds just as fresh as they did decades ago. "The Hurting" ranks among my top 5 ever albums and trust me, I have heard many, many albums.



I was very lucky to have spent my early teens growing up in the early to mid-80's when New Wave was in its pomp and when it seemed that virtually everything coming out of the UK from the Pop Music scene was original and different. TFF competed for the airwaves and for my Walkman against U2, Adam and the Ants, the Human League, Soft Cell, the Eurythmics, Ultravox, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, the Thompson Twins etc and they all had their own unique sound but it was this album by TFF that really hit home for me.



Having had a troubled childhood and upbringing, I felt that finally, someone understood the trauma and turmoil that I went through when I heard the lyrics to the tracks here. Roland's singing was so heartfelt and seemed to be expressing the pain and hurt that I felt in my soul that I couldn't express. Somehow, he was speaking to my soul, telling me it's okay, others have gone through your anguish. I can tell you that singing along with the tracks on this album is a great stress reliever too.



The lyrics to every track are so meaningful and the accompanying music is the perfect complement that helps the album achieve its goal of expressing the most tragic of suffering: the emotional and psychological suffering of children that is so often submerged and repressed by the sufferers who are not mature enough to understand or express them. This is so eloquently expressed in "Suffer the Children" and in my favourite "Start of the Breakdown". "Pale Shelter" is another great track describing how a child who needs love is given the equivalent of 'pale shelter' instead.



The bonus tracks are also a plus as they include the hard to find "The Way You Are" single as well as extended versions of "Pale Shelter", "Mad World" and "Change". Although not the most commercially successful of TFF's works, this is overall in terms of the songwriting as well as the cohesiveness and strength of the material is their best work by far.



Very, very highly recommended."