Audio CD review:
Tears for Fears - Gold

Tears for Fears - Gold

Band: Tears for Fears Title: Gold Rating: Release Date: 08 August, 2006 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Mad World 2: Pale Shelter 3: Change 4: Way You Are 5: Shout 6: Everybody Wants to Rule the World 7: Mother's Talk [U.S. Remix] 8: Head Over Heels 9: Woman in Chains 10: Sowing the Seeds of Love 11: Advice for the Young at Heart 12: Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down) 13: Elemental 14: Cold 15: Break It Down Again 16: New Star 17: Raoul and the Kings of Spain 18: God's Mistake 19: Closest Thing to Heaven 20: Who Killed Tangerine? 21: Call Me Mellow 22: Secret World 23: Floating Down the River (Once Again) [#] 24: Mad World [Live][#]

Customer Reviews Too Skimpy For A 'Gold' Title! It's one of many and unfortunately, this one doesn't get it right either. Yet another Tears For Fears compilation thrown on the market. Other 'Gold' titles from the Universal catalogue tend to have much more than 24 tracks total. I rarely see fewer than 30 tracks on one of these 'Gold' collections. Then comes this 2006 release from the Hip-O/Mercury division of Universal. While Tears For Fears have only recorded 4 studio albums together, a compilation can be branched out beyond the main single releases. 'Gold' was the perfect opportunity to include rare single versions, rare tracks, and a more comprehensive tracklisting. Unfortunately, this release has me wanting more from these guys in terms of a better 2-CD collection. It seems cut short, especially since so much excellent material remains in the vaults! Instead of re-packaging the same old hits over and over again, how about branching out this one time? Well, for a 2-disc set, pretty much all the hits are included. Ideally, a collection like this would include tracks such as "Suffer The Little Children [7" Remix]", "I Believe [A Soulful Re-Recording]", "Shout [12" Version]" (Not the U. S. Remix! Also, how many more times can we get the regular album version?), "Everybody Wants To Run The World" (For 'Sport Aid', and a U. K. Top Five hit!), "Famous Last Words" (A single in France, Germany and U. K. ), "Year Of The Knife" [7" Remix]", "Johnny Panic And The Bible Of Dreams", "Goodnight Song" (A U. S. single), "Secrets", "Everybody Loves A Happy Ending" (A single in the U. K. b/w "Call Me Mellow"), and so forth. I have to knock this release down a star alone for excluding the "Everybody Loves A Happy Ending" title track, even though the 4 tracks included here, with the exception of that title single, are probably the best on that album. Not only does this release include the '80s hits as a duo, it does manage to reach out and include Roland's solo hits under the Tears For Fears name, such as "God's Mistake" and "Break It Down Again". It's nice having an overview of their material together and apart, ranging from 1982 through 2005, including the '90s material. Now on to the mastering. Compare it to the 1999 'Millennium Collection' and 2001 'The Very Best Of' and it's MUCH, MUCH better. According to the liner notes, this release was 96k/24-bit mastered by Erick Labson @ Universal Mastering Studios West, North Hollywood, CA. Tracks 11 & 12 on Disc Two, on the other hand, were mastered by Stephen Marcussen @ Stephen Marcussen Mastering, Hollywood, CA. Is the mastering really that good? Compare it to the 2003 'Ultimate Collection' with 32-bit mastering from Universal Netherlands, and it's not even close. Compare it to the 1999 album remasters, and it's not close. Still, after the flat, distorted mastering on the 1999 and 2001 collections, it's a joy to hear these recordings with much more punch. Overall, the remastering is very good on the earlier tracks and excellent on the latter tracks, which is to be expected, I suppose. Erick Labson isn't my favorite mastering engineer, but he did a fine job here. Worth noting is that "Head Over Heels" appears in it's 4:15 version, not it's album version, which tags on "Broken [Live]". It's nice having it in it's stand alone single version for once. Otherwise, this release is filled with album versions. "Pale Shelter" appears in a 4:27 version, which is apparently an edit of the album version, since it fades right before it's proper ending. "Closest Thing To Heaven" should have been presented in it's "U. K. Radio Mix" version, in my opinion, since it's not only better but we also have the original version on the album! The bonus tracks of the recently recorded "Floating Down The River (Once Again)" and "Mad World [Live]" are excellent additions to the otherwise lacking collection. They are the main reason why I bothered to add this collection to my own collection. "Floating Down The River" sounds like it comes straight from the 'Everybody Loves A Happy Ending' sessions, while "Mad World [Live]" is a slower, even more mellow, recording on a recent tour. The overall packaging of this release is very nice, despite using the generic 'Gold' format. In addition to the striking cover photo the inside booklet includes 20 pages altogether, highlighting a number of photos of the British duo over the years. An informative, long essay by Scott Schinder is included throughout, leading to the publishing credits which cover the last few pages. For a 2-disc collection, this release does fall quite a bit short, especially for a duo who has so much more rare material in the vaults. Needless to say, if you are looking for a brief, concise overview of mostly hits, then I suppose this 2006 collection will suffice for the time being. If you are a casual fan, this collection may be all you will ever need. Nonetheless, I give this set 3 stars not only for a skimpy tracklisting and a lack of single and remix material but also for still managing to present a fine overview of the Tears For Fears catalogue over just 24 tracks. . Love you guys but stop with the Greatest Hits packages! I own not only vinyls but cds, 45 and cd singles, extended mixes and even some best of, remasters and greatest hits. I've been a big, big fan of Tears For Fears since The Hurting and everything else they've released, together or apart. . . but guys, enough already! First there were cds of their original albums, next came a greatest hits package since they changed record labels, next came the B-sided album "Martial, Saturnine and Lunatic" an album that had songs they didn't put on their other albums. Then later they released all those albums over with the extra songs on them. Since their catalog is spread across a few labels now they have united greatest hits packages. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE Tears For Fears, they're one of my all-time favorite groups; Roland Orzabal to me is up there with Lennon and McCartney and I couldn't be happier to have the pair back together as it ripped my heart out when Curt Smith left the band. But even a huge fan can see that it's pretty obvious what's going on here. I could understand collections with some additional tunes but aren't most albums remastered for digital cds anyway? All Tears For Fears albums are still available in several forms and none offer any real rarities or videos. I say, the best way to add to your greatest hits is record some new ones and stop repackaging what's already been repackaged. Despite this collection being another greatest hits album their music is still great and has aged extremely well which is why I'm still giving it 5-stars. Everybody Wants A Best Of TFF A excellent review of all there major hits as well as a few album tracks thrown in for good measure. I think if your missing any of the albums (which I have all of them including promos etc on CD/vinyl)then you should pick this one up. *Highly Recommended* Buy It! You won't be sorry. ;-) Search Judemac Forever on msn. . You can see a complete list of all Tears for Fears discography, or go back to the Tears for Fears tabs