Tears For Fears established themselves as one of the most thought-provoking and ambitious of the British acts that made a dent on the American music scene in the 80s. They managed to continue their chart-busting ways briefly in the 90s as well.
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By that time, however, they had drastically changed. Their last Top 40 single in the US was also the first without one of their two core members.
World Domination
Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith met in Bath, England, and formed Tears For Fears in 1981 after playing together in different outfits. They immediately latched on to the idea that they would form the nucleus of the group. Beyond that, they’d hire various players to complete their sound.
Initially, they went the synth-pop route that was so popular among English bands at the time. That approach gave them a monster hit in England with their debut album The Hurting in 1983. To their credit, they understood that they needed to expand their sound a bit on their next release, seeking a more widescreen, arena-rattling musical experience.
The result was the 1985 album Songs From The Big Chair. Not only did the LP continue their success in the UK, but it also broke them in the US, thanks to massive singles “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” and “Shout”. But four years passed before their next studio album. During that time, the once-tight duo of Orzabal and Smith started to pull apart.
Two Minus One
The Seeds Of Love, released in 1989, delivered another major success for Tears For Fears. The Beatlesque single “Seeds Of Love” continued their run of pop chart achievements. But the tortured, elongated process of making the record took its toll on Orzabal and Smith.
Smith felt like he was being crowded out of the creative process (he had just one co-writing credit on the record) and that Orzabal’s perfectionism was getting out of hand. Orzabal thought that Smith had largely checked out during the making of the record while dealing with personal problems.
Whatever the cause, Smith left the band in 1991. Orzabal continued under the Tears For Fears moniker as essentially the lone official member of the group. However, he collaborated heavily with co-producers Alan Griffiths and Tim Palmer on the 1993 album Elemental. The first single, written by Orzabal and Griffiths, seemed to slyly comment on what had gone down between Orzabal and Smith.
A Clean “Break”
“Break It Down Again” featured a somewhat more upbeat sound than the typical Tears For Fears effort, even as it still built up into the high-drama music people had come to expect from the band. The lyrics find Orzabal looking realistically at life’s ups and downs. He suggests that sometimes you can’t simply overcome the obstacles. Sometimes, a fresh start is needed.
Considering the line, “Play to the crowd with your big hit sound,” it seems likely that he was referencing his own experience. When he sings, “No more building up/It is time to dissolve,” it seems clear that Orzabal was nodding to Smith’s departure.
“Break It Down Again” managed to make it to No. 25 in the US, the last time ever Tears For Fears made it to the Top 40 in America. Meanwhile, Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal cut off pretty much all communication for almost a decade. But they eventually reunited as Tears For Fears at the beginning of the new millennium.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
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