Tears for Fears Album: “Everybody Loves a Happy Ending”

The self-professed, life-long Tears For Fears fan has had doubts these last few months. He has bitten his nails. He has paced the floor. He has become squeamish at the mere mention of "radio single" and "TFF" in the same sentence.

I went into "Everybody Loves A Happy Ending" expecting the worst. Over and over again, I told myself - and forced myself to believe - that there was no way in Hell that Roland and Curt were going to recapture the spirit of what they once had. "Come on, Mike, these are 40-somethings with wives and kids and gray hairs. This is not, cannot be, their time."

So today finally came, and I rushed with bated breath to jam my copy into my car's CD player. I winced at the cymbal roll and shimmering-keyboard fuzz that kicks off the title track. I gritted my teeth. And suddenly something happened...

I loved every single note that was coming from my speakers.

This album is as fresh and vital as anything TFF have ever recorded. It's full of pop hooks ("Call Me Mellow," "Closest Thing to Heaven"), artful genre experiments ("Who Killed Tangerine?," "Secret World"), and lots of what many have called "magic."

There's a sweetness that has crept back into Roland's work here - most notably on "Size of Sorrow" and "Secret World" - but there's also a much more playfully adventurous spirit at work. "Call Me Mellow" and the title track burst with everything good about pop music in the last 40 years. The guys were even willing to throw in some R&B riffs - via David Bowie - on the amazing closer, "Last Days on Earth."

"Everybody Loves A Happy Ending" is my pick for Album of the Year. It's a multi-textural, exuberant pop album in the finest sense of the words.

So, I'm eating my words. And all that worry was for nothing. They've done it again, and time will probably prove that they've done it better than ever. I can't wait to begin peeling back the layers of this magical pop blessing.

A flabberghasted, whole-hearted 5 stars.

While listening to this album for the final time prior to writing this review (unlike some who don't seem to have listened to it at all...just tossing in words to increase their reviewer rating which to me is obscene), I decided that yes, the Beatles could again be found in Curt and Roland's work, but this time it was the "McCartney Beatles". Not McCartney with Wings, or McCartney solo, but McCartney with the Beatles. The innovative melodies were there, they were just a tad softer - more Paul, less John, for whom I believe was their major inspiration for Sowing the Seeds of Love. So here I come, with what I think is this terrific insight, ready to write a brilliant review, but before I start tapping on my keyboard I stop to take a moment and read the Tears for Fears website. I read the "History" section in particular, to learn a little more about their split, what they did when they stopped making music together and when Orzabal stopped after Raoul and the Kings of Spain, etc. Then I get to the end of the section, and here's what it says:

"Memorable melodies fill the songs of Everybody Loves A Happy Ending, and those who heard the Beatles in Roland and Curt's last work together may again hear them here. It's inescapable. `When we did `Sowing The Seeds Of Love' we were doing Lennon,' says Roland. `And I would say the main influence for this album was McCartney.'"

Well that's just great, I thought. Someone already thought of it - THEY did! So much for my insight.

Melodies are the focus here, not strong music or Roland's shattering vocals, and the result is a winner. The problem is, where does Tears for Fears fit into today's music? Several songs, such as Closest Thing To Heaven, Call Me Mellow, Who Killed Tangerine?, and Killing With Kindness could have been follow-ups to Head Over Heels on Songs from the Big Chair. By that I mean that I think they would have been received favorably back then, any of them charting in the top five as a fourth release. Curt and Roland were young, they had come bursting onto the music scene (even though technically it was their second album), and another mellow song (which leaves out Who Killed Tangerine? I suppose), would have balanced the song selection nicely. However, where do those songs fit today? It's rare that musicians find success - especially today - once their skin loses a youthful glow, and gray hair crowns their head. That's the case with Curt and Roland, and without a steady release of memorable music since Sowing the Seeds of Love, it's virtually impossible to find a place for them today.

Certainly, they are making excellent music. Aside from the songs mentioned above, the title track - while the title of the song itself is perhaps a bit "cheesy" - is terrific. That was the first song I heard, as it's the first song on the album, and I thought to myself: there's the influence of the Beatles again.

With radio waves being warped by hip hop and rap, with the rare group or solo artist NOT hopping or rapping breaking into the charts, it's going to be difficult for an older group to find their way into a youth culture that's not only obsessed with a completely different sound than Tears for Fears produce, but also a culture that is obsessed with whatever the latest fad is. Tears for Fears, while reinvigorating and reestablishing themselves as masters at making music, doesn't fall into the categories that today's youth cling to. Sadly, this CD is no longer on Billboards Top 200. It should be. I just hope that all of this doesn't stop them from making music. I want more.

In addition, to anyone who thinks they're cashing in on earlier success should research the group before they say such things. Artists, whether they be writers or musicians, always have the passion to continue in their soul. It never leaves them. Orzabal released a solo album in 2001 under his own name. Obviously he still wanted to make music. Smith was performing in New York, also producing other artists. Neither of them ever left the business, and neither of them were hard up for cash. They made this CD because the passion was in their soul.

I fail to understand how anyone could have panned this release. I hope Roland and Curt read these reviews because they should know what a majority of their fans think - that this is one of the best releases of the last 10 years in all of the music industry. I don't know how the grammy nominating process works, but I hope that somehow this at least gets nominated for a grammy. Being a musician, I listen for certain qualities in the music I listen to... excellent musicianship and singing, catchy and memorable songwriting, orchestration (not just with an orchestra, but the structure and instrumentation of the piece as well), and production. The musicianship is top notch all the way from the bass line in the intro to Everybody Loves a Happy Ending to the Bowie-inflected vocals of Last Days On Earth. NOBODY in the right mind could ever say that these melodies aren't incredibly memorable. The songs that are written like suites with great orchestral parts and layers of production just simply sound great! It is not overdone, but at the same time it's not a bare-bones recording either. They're not trying to be something they're not!! GREAT STUFF!!! The choices of instrumentation both fit and make the mood of the songs and that's hard to do and the production quality is so good that we clearly hear all of the parts quite well. I don't want to be too long winded here, but this album has me more excited about music than any other album since Seeds of Love. Side note - TFF are not my favorite band... maybe in the top 20, but this album is just simply special!! One last comment regarding the Beatle "quotes." There is NOTHING WRONG with quotes... imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and jazz musicians do it all the time in their solos... quoting one jazz chart in the solo section of another chart. The comarison is VALID and there's nothing wrong with it. It's acknowledging the greatness of the melody being quoted. I hope they continue to write more.

I just had to write a review to counter the previous 1-star review by someone in my state (I'm so ashamed!) who claims that she's been a fan from the beginning. She's such a fan she doesn't realize his name is ROLAND and not RONALD. Perhaps she's spent too much time at McDonald's and not enough time with this album. It's brilliant and deserves repeated listens - it just gets better and better...

Thank God this disc is finally here! These melodies, lyrics and arrangements are nothing short of GLORIOUS!!! I suggest setting aside an hour to just sit and truly listen to the WHOLE CD. Then go for an awesome drive through town or away from town for an hour with this is the player. Then go for a walk and listen to this on headphones. Unbelievable!!! AMAZING!

2004 has been a great year for the return of real true music beginning with Prince's "Musicology", then the Kings of Convenience's "Riot On An Empty Street", Anita Baker's "My Everything"....and this being the truest treasure of 2004. Thanks Roland and Curt! I know what I'm getting EVERYONE for Christmas!!!!