Sound Advice: CD Reviews - Tears for Fears (Elemental)

CD Review:
I picked this CD up recently. After listening to the previous three albums by Tears for Fears, I was curious how well Orzabal did being alone in the creative process for the band. I stopped listening to the them originally after Curt Smith left (after the release of The Seeds of Love). I figured the band was finished with Smith's departure and since it took Orzabal four years to release the next album, I didn't even notice when it came out.

Elemental was not a success commercially. People started jumping off the bandwagon with the release of The Seeds of Love as it was a mostly Orzabal creation. They thought (wrongly, in my opinion) that the band's talent was finished since the collaboration that made The Hurting and especially Songs from the Big Chair so good was not there anymore. Those that didn't leave after early reviews and criticism of The Seeds of Love album did so before the end of the four years that passed before Orzabal's solo effort.

This album is quite good. It continues to have a highly developed sound that I so enjoyed on The Seeds Of Love. Alan Griffiths was the producer and helped Orzabal write most of the songs. Griffiths would continue producing with Orzabal after and they would work well together.

The best songs on this album are "Elemental," "Cold," "Power," and my favourite "Fish out of Water." The album can be thought of as another introspective release containing the thoughts of Orzabal on various subjects and emotions. "Elemental" is a search for the basics of life. "Cold" reveals Orzabal's feeling of where he sometimes fits into the world. "Power" is an attempt to warn about the downfalls of power seeking. How to achieve relative tranquility is to use the power that you do have to improve the plight of man.

Orzabal was lamenting the split with Smith and he put his thoughts out concerning that divorce on my favourite track on the CD. "Fish out of Water" tells in song the mistake Smith made when leaving both the band and Orzabal's friendship. The lyrics grow razor sharp when Orzabal sings "On the crucifix his mother made, hangs one more martyr to the Hit Parade." Ouch! It hurt just to listen to it.

Orzabal also gives tribute to Brian Wilson with the song "Brian Wilson Said" with an orchestration and vocals that remind me of the '60s Beach Boys.

This album shows that Orzabal can continue to produce beautiful work with or without Smith in tow. I would have liked it more if he released this as a self-titled album rather than try to use the Tears for Fears label. The album sounds like later Tears For Fears so maybe that was the reason. Orzabal puts out another Tears For Fears named album (Raoul and the Kings of Spain) before he gives up on the name and finally in 2001 releases a self-named album called Tomcats Screaming Outside.

Scott D. Brown