Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears are a British pop band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, which emerged after the dissolution of their first band the mod influenced Graduate. They were initially associated with new wave and the New Romantic movements, but quickly branched out into mainstream chart success.

Reconciliation

In 2001, routine paperwork obligations led to Orzabal and Smith's first conversation in over a decade. The two patched up their differences and Orzabal flew to Smith's home in Los Angeles for what they assumed would be a hesitant attempt at songwriting.

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The songwriting sessions, which included Charlton Pettus, went so well that fourteen songs were written and recorded in less than six months (by contrast, the drum track alone for "Badman's Song" on "The Seeds of Love," an eight-song album, took six weeks to record).

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The ensuing album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, is in many ways what "The Seeds of Love" was meant to be. Like their earlier work, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending features Tears for Fears' hallmarks of vibrant Beatlesque melodies, solid songwriting, and turns of phrase, but the album also has a free spirit that Orzabal and Smith would have shunned in their earlier, more serious years. This spirit is largely the work of co-writer and producer Charlton Pettus, who succeeded at the formidable task of melding Orzabal's lush songwriting with the live energy of Smith's Mayfield shows.

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Indeed, one of the highest compliments paid to the album was one reviewer's comment that "John Lennon and Paul McCartney are alive and well." The twelve-track album was scheduled for release on Arista Records in late 2003, but a label switch to New Door, a new offshoot of Universal, delayed the release until September 14, 2004. A successful US tour followed.

Related Topics:
Arista Records - 2003 - New Door

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Everybody Loves a Happy Ending was released in the UK and Europe in February 2005 on Gut Records. The UK release contained all fourteen tracks written and recorded during the ELAHE sessions. A tour of larger UK venues followed in April.

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