(2013) Tears For Fears [1983] The Hurting (3CD 30th Anniversary Edition Box Set Mercury Records 2013)



Review:
The Hurting would have been a daring debut for a pop-oriented band in any era, but it was an unexpected success in England in 1983, mostly by virtue of its makers' ability to package an unpleasant subject -- the psychologically wretched family histories of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith -- in an attractive and sellable musical format. Not that there weren't a few predecessors, most obviously John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band album -- which was also, not coincidentally, inspired by the work of primal scream pioneer Arthur Janov. (But Lennon had the advantage of being an ex-Beatle when that meant the equivalent to having a box next to God's in the great arena of life, where Tears for Fears were just starting out.) Decades later, "Pale Shelter," "Ideas as Opiates," "Memories Fade," "Suffer the Children," "Watch Me Bleed," "Change," and "Start of the Breakdown" are powerful pieces of music, beautifully executed in an almost minimalist style. "Memories Fade" offers emotional resonances reminiscent of "Working Class Hero," while "Pale Shelter" functions on a wholly different level, an exquisite sonic painting sweeping the listener up in layers of pulsing synthesizers, acoustic guitar arpeggios, and sheets of electronic sound (and anticipating the sonic texture, if not the precise sound of their international breakthrough pop hit "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"). The work is sometimes uncomfortably personal, but musically compelling enough to bring it back across the decades.
Review by Bruce Eder
Rate 4.5 Stars

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Album List:

Disc One: Original Album
01. The Hurting 04:19
02. Mad World 03:35
03. Pale Shelter 04:34
04. Ideas As Opiates 03:45
05. Memories Fade 05:05
06. Suffer The Children 03:53
07. Watch Me Bleed 04:18
08. Change 04:14
09. The Prisoner 02:55
10. Start Of The Breakdown 04:58

Disc Two: B-Sides And Remixes
01. Suffer The Children (7" Version) 03:44
02. Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love) 04:03
03. The Prisoner (B-Side) 02:44
04. Ideas As Opiates (B-Side) 03:56
05. Change (New Version) 04:39
06. Suffer The Children (Remix) 04:20
07. Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love) (Extended Version) 07:06
08. Mad World (World Remix) 03:42
09. Change (Extended Version) 06;00
10. Pale Shelter (Extended Version) 07:09
11. Suffer The Children (Instrumental) 04:27
12. Change (7" Edit) 03:57
13. Wino (B-Side) 02:25
14. The Conflict (B-Side) 04:03
15. We Are Broken (B-Side) 05:16
16. Suffer The Children (Promo CD Version) 03:58

Disc Three: Live Sessions
Peel Session 01.09.1982:
01. Ideas As Opiates 03:52
02. Suffer The Children 04:04
03. The Prisoner 02:52
04. The Hurting 03:49
Jensen Session 20.10.1982:
05. Memories Fade 04:53
06. The Prisoner 02:47
07. Start Of The Breakdown 03:59
08. The Hurting 03:50
From "The Way You Are" Single:
09. Start Of The Breakdown 05:54
10. Change 04:58


Summary:
Country: England
Genre: New wave, pop rock, synthpop
Styles:


Media Report:
Source : CD
Format : FLAC
Format/Info : Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : ~831-905 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits