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'Sowing the Seeds of Love' - Tears for Fears


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A friend loaned me a 'Greatest Hits' with this track on it. It apparently cost a bunch to produce, took something like a year to record, and is, production wise, over the top... BUT it blows me away... especially cranked right up! It sounds something like the Beatles would have done with the same technology if they were doing a Sergeant Peppers 'revisted' 25 years later. The arrangements on it are pretty incredible... anyone out there know it or remember it?
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I had a couple of the albums on vinyl and then picked up the greatest hits CD later. Not the stuff I listen to all the time, but there's some songs I still really enjoy. Caught them live around 88, I think. Excellent concert.

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[quote]Originally posted by Rowan: [b]A friend loaned me a 'Greatest Hits' with this track on it. It apparently cost a bunch to produce, took something like a year to record, and is, production wise, over the top... BUT it blows me away... especially cranked right up! It sounds something like the Beatles would have done with the same technology if they were doing a Sergeant Peppers 'revisted' 25 years later. The arrangements on it are pretty incredible... anyone out there know it or remember it?[/b][/quote]It was the song that pretty much killed the "band" and left Orzabal on his own. I remember reading that Clearmountain mixed it, and there were so many tracks to sort through there were 3 or four multitracks slaved together at one point and two 96 input consoles chained together. Of course this may just be urban myth. The album is uneven but has some stunning moments and is sonically breathtaking IMHO. Frank
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I only have the greatest hits CD. Don't know he whole album. Love that song though. Best re-invention of "I Am The Walrus" ever. I pull the CD out every few months - lots of great stuff. I didn't care for Oranges and Lemons, except for The Mayor Of Simpleton (bass part to die for). Tom

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they pulled that song off 'live' on 'arsenio' back at the time of the record and it worked real good-had oodles of people on stage and hard to tell how much was pre-recorded but the performance was glitch free.i still play the vid. s
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I think the first few songs on The Seeds of Love album are some of Tears for Fears best. Sometimes I'm in the mood for over-the-top production. Something mellow that just sounds great loud! Like the Posies "Dear 23" Some people say it's overproduced, but I love the production on that one.
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That WHOLE album is just fantastic! I love albums where one song seems to lend itself to the next, and this is one of those albums. I'm particularly fond of "Badman's Song". Some fine musicians played as well. Manu Katche, Phil Collins, Stewart Copland, were among the drummers. That album hooked me, I've been a TFF fan ever since. :D

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I also like TFF's "Women In Chains" w/Oleta Adams. Sure, the production on "Sowing" is over the top. It's still stronger than "Elemental", a TFF album that's really an Orzabal solo project. Except for the title track, it's a pretty weak album.
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[quote]Originally posted by mzeger: [b]It's still stronger than "Elemental", Except for the title track, it's a pretty weak album.[/b][/quote]Yeah, Elemental wasn't as good. It did have some bright spots however. If you read the liner notes, the musicianship just wasn't there as it had been on 'Seeds' and 'Big Chair'. I thought that the next album, "Roul and The Kings of Spain" was real strong though.

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I was all geeked up to respond to the Sowing reference, because that song was incredible, and the album good, but then someone went and mentioned Oranges and Lemons by XTC, and my brain stopped...THAT is a masterful...
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[quote]Originally posted by mzeger: [b]I also like TFF's "Women In Chains" w/Oleta Adams. [/b][/quote]Yeah! I really think she added something on that track. TFF got progressively better. The Hurting caught your ear. Songs From The Big Chair had some hits and wider appeal. Sowing The Seeds Of Love was their masterpiece. Once again: [b] Pino, Pino, Pino - from the Bass People Corner! [/b] RobT

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I don't think there was a bad song on the entire Sowing The Seeds album. It was well done despite the overkill. It is till one of my favorite CD's to crank up and listen to. Another one was Felix Cavaliere Dreams In Motion, produced by Don Was. The entire album is just fantastic, but out of production.

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In an interview at the time (could have been in EQ magazine) Orzabel mentioned that they did the "Seeds of Love" arrangement from what they remembered about their impressions of Beatles tunes. They deliberately didn't give a fresh listen to the Beatles before imitating them. In the past few months, both Orzabel and Smith have been quoted online about a forthcoming Tears for Fears reunion. Apparently the band went bankrupt due to industry-standard accounting shenanigans, Orzabel took on both the name and the debt, and Smith laid low for a decade.
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