Dionne WordPress Banner

The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

  • Home
  • News
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Features
    • Release Round-Up
    • The Weekend Stream
    • Giveaways!
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Release Calendar
    • Coming Soon
    • Now Available
  • About
  • Second Disc Records
    • Full Catalog
  • Contact

/ News

Welcome To Your Life: Tears For Fears 'Rule The World' With New Collection and New Tracks

October 13, 2017 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

If you caught them during their recent co-headlining U.S. summer tour with Daryl Hall & John Oates, you know that Tears for Fears have lost none of the power and style that made them a juggernaut of '80s pop. Now, with a new album on the horizon (their first in more than a decade), the duo are reintroducing themselves to audiences with a newly curated single-disc collection.

Rule The World: The Greatest Hits showcases all the most popular songs from the Bath-born duo of singer-songwriter-guitarist Roland Orzabal and singer-songwriter-bassist Curt Smith. After meeting through several local bands, the pair took inspiration from the burgeoning synth/New Wave sound and the writings of psychologist Arthur Janov to create music that was sleek but primal, with emotional lyrics embedded deep into the grooves of each single. "Mad World," "Pale Shelter" and "Change," from debut album The Hurting (1983), placed within the Top 5 of the U.K. charts; "Mad World," of course, got a new lease on life worldwide when a forlorn, piano-driven cover by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules was recorded for the cult sci-fi film Donnie Darko in 2001. (It earned the coveted Christmas No. 1 slot in England two years later.)

Follow-up album Songs From The Big Chair (1985) expanded upon the themes and variations of The Hurting; with the help of Hurting co-producer Chris Hughes and backing members Ian Stanley (keyboards) and Manny Elias (drums), Orzabal and Smith sounded even bigger and broader on Big Chair, with more prominent guitars and more sparkling synth fills. The result was a worldwide success, with singles "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and "Shout" both topping the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching the U.K. Top 5. (A third single, "Head Over Heels," was a U.S. Top 5 smash.)

Fans waited four years for a third album, the intricate The Seeds Of Love (1989). Years in production, the record found TFF turning away from synth-rock and more toward a cohesive, organic band sound. Influenced by prog rock, psychedelia and soul, Seeds featured the delicious Beatles homage "Sowing The Seeds Of Love" (a Top 5 hit on both sides of the Atlantic) and the heartfelt ballad "Woman In Chains" with Oleta Adams. But tensions were starting to mount, and Smith departed the band in the early '90s; Orzabal kept recording under the name for two alt-rock-leaning albums, 1993's Elemental and 1995's Raoul and The Kings of Spain (both of which are represented on Rule The World).

As Smith came into his own as a solo musician in the late '90s, the duo soon reconnected and patched up their differences. Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (2004) was the result of that reunion, and Tears For Fears have actively toured ever since, pausing only to reissue and expand their first two albums. Rule The World represents that body of work over the past 35 years as well as a hint of new things to come: hard at work on an album tentatively titled The Tipping Point, this new collection features two brand-new songs: the just-released single "I Love You But I'm Lost" and "Stay."

Rule The World is available worldwide on CD November 10, just weeks after a London gig at Royal Albert Hall. (A vinyl release is planned for early 2018, ahead of a full U.K. tour.) The full track list and pre-order links are available below!

Rule The World: The Greatest Hits (Virgin EMI (U.K.)/Mercury/UMe (U.S.), 2017)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

  1. Everybody Wants To Rule The World
  2. Shout (Edit)
  3. I Love You But I'm Lost
  4. Mad World
  5. Sowing The Seeds Of Love
  6. Advice For The Young At Heart
  7. Head Over Heels
  8. Woman In Chains
  9. Change
  10. Stay
  11. Pale Shelter
  12. Mothers Talk (U.S. Remix)
  13. Break It Down Again
  14. I Believe
  15. Raoul and The Kings Of Spain
  16. Closest Thing To Heaven

Original versions of Tracks 1-2, 7, 12 and 14 from Songs From The Big Chair (Mercury, 1985)
Tracks 4, 9 and 11 from The Hurting (Mercury, 1983)
Tracks 3 and 10 are new tracks
Tracks 5-6 and 8 from The Seeds Of Love (Fontana, 1989)
Track 13 from Elemental (Mercury, 1993)
Track 15 from Raoul and The Kings Of Spain (Epic, 1995)
Track 16 from Everybody Loves A Happy Ending (Arista (U.K.)/New Door (U.S.), 2004)

Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop, Rock Tags: Tears for Fears

Avatar photo

Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, holding positions at Legacy Recordings and Rhino Records and contributing to Allmusic, Discogs, City Pages, Ultimate Classic Rock and Mondo Records, for whom he penned liner notes for his favorite piece of music: John Williams' Oscar-winning score to 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

Connect With Mike:

You Might Also Like

  • CSNY Live at the Fillmore EastRelease Round-Up: Week of October 25
  • Stream 2024The Weekend Stream: September 14, 2024
  • StreamThe Weekend Stream: September 24, 2022
  • The Left Banke Strangers on a TrainRelease Round-Up: Week of February 25

Comments

  1. Benjamin Adler says

    October 17, 2017 at 8:27 am

    Two new songs... Yay.

    New album soon? Yay.

    That Steven Wilson SuperDeluxeEdition Boxset for The Seeds of Love????
    Should have been out long ago. Where is it????

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Benjamin Adler Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Upcoming Releases

  • Status Quo Live deluxe
    Live! Deluxe Edition
    Status Quo
    May 16, 2025
    US UK
  • Brothers in Arms 40
    Brothers in Arms: 40th Anniversary Edition
    Dire Straits
    May 16, 2025
    US UK
  • Version 1.0.0
    The Bridge
    David Sancious
    May 16, 2025
    US UK
See Full Calendar

Connect

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,674 other subscribers

Popular Posts

  • Most Commented
  • Most Viewed
  • Dionne Warwick Make It Easy on Yourself(Don't) Walk On By: Dionne Warwick's "Make It Easy on Yourself: The Scepter Recordings 1962-1971" Due in June on 12...
  • Tracks II CD packshot no disc artShut Out the Light: Bruce Springsteen Offers Seven Unheard Albums on 'Tracks II'
  • Rod Stewart Ultimate Hits Amazon exclusiveHe Wears It Well: Rod Stewart's 'Ultimate Hits' Due in June
  • RSD 2025 best of restRecord Store Day 2025: The Best of the Rest
  • record store day logoThe Second Disc's Guide to Record Store Day 2025: Our Favorite Picks
  • John Williams Anthology 1Mondo Maestro: New John Williams Box Set Series Announced, Plus 'Star Wars' Re-Recordings on Vinyl

Music Resources

  • Addicted to Vinyl
  • Crap from the Past
  • Discogs
  • Film Score Monthly
  • IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
  • MusicTAP
  • Musoscribe
  • Pause & Play
  • Popdose
  • Slicing Up Eyeballs
  • Steve Hoffman Music Forums
  • Ultimate Classic Rock
  • Vintage Vinyl News
  • Wolfgang's Vault

Labels of Note

  • Ace Records
  • Analog Spark
  • Bear Family
  • BGO Records
  • Big Break Records
  • Blixa Sounds
  • Cherry Red Label Group
  • Craft Recordings
  • Demon Music Group
  • Friday Music
  • Funky Town Grooves
  • Iconoclassic Records
  • Intervention Records
  • Intrada
  • Kritzerland
  • La La Land Records
  • Legacy Recordings
  • Light in the Attic
  • Masterworks Broadway
  • Now Sounds
  • Omnivore Recordings
  • Real Gone Music
  • Rhino Entertainment
  • Rock Candy Records
  • SoulMusic Records
  • Sunset Blvd. Records
  • Supermegabot
  • Varese Sarabande
  • Vinyl Me, Please
  • Wounded Bird
Copyright © 2025 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy