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Post by Jules on Feb 25, 2022 15:56:21 GMT
Well not a physical copy, since both formats I ordered from SDE are still holed up in some tax hell somewhere. But I was at least able to hear the regular album via Spotify. Standout songs so far are No Small Thing, The Tipping Point, My Demons, Please Be Happy and Master Plan. The rest either need more listens (Long, Long, Long Time, Rivers of Mercy) or are kinda meh to me. End of Night was the big disappointment to me, I find it actually painful to hear. And with two other "sons of EWTRTW" on the album already (Title track and "My Demons"), I really wonder why there had to be a third one...
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Post by iveivan on Feb 25, 2022 20:26:14 GMT
I absolutely love the album. It’s so much better than the sum of its parts. I need to listen to each song individually to pick favourites. I don’t dislike any. The album flows so well.
I thought I would dislike Curt’s rendition of Please Be Happy but I love it.
It’s their best album since SFTBC in my opinion.
The vinyl that I ordered this week arrived but the SDE CD I ordered months ago is still in transit having been sent by second class mail on Wednesday.
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Post by Jules on May 2, 2022 12:45:32 GMT
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Post by iveivan on May 2, 2022 14:05:39 GMT
Great review @jules. I also feel that Break The Man and Stay are weak as isolated tracks but I don’t hate them in the context of the album. From the write up, it seems you were generous with your 7/10 for Long, long, long time. Personally, I love it. I also love End of Night. I agree that Let it all evolve is the best of the bonus tracks. I’d also give it 10/10. I can understand why you suggest it should have replaced Stay as a closer. It feels more like a mid album songs to me. Shame (Cry Heaven) is definitely the weakest he 3 I don’t hate it. That’s the one I’d have used instead of Stay as the closer.
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Post by Jules on May 2, 2022 21:40:10 GMT
Great review @jules. I also feel that Break The Man and Stay are weak as isolated tracks but I don’t hate them in the context of the album. From the write up, it seems you were generous with your 7/10 for Long, long, long time. Personally, I love it. I also love End of Night. I agree that Let it all evolve is the best of the bonus tracks. I’d also give it 10/10. I can understand why you suggest it should have replaced Stay as a closer. It feels more like a mid album songs to me. Shame (Cry Heaven) is definitely the weakest he 3 I don’t hate it. That’s the one I’d have used instead of Stay as the closer. If you want to tag me, you have to write 'admin' after the @ instead My review is already way too long but I wonder if things couldn't have been sequenced so that Curt doesn't have two songs in a row. Yes, it was like that on The Hurting (Mad World/Pale Shelter) but those were still entirely written by Roland, so it's not quite the same thing. "Long, Long, Long Time"... hey, maybe it'll grow on me. Who knows. Some TFF songs did take years to convince me! Aside from that weird vocal jump I don't have any obvious complaints, but it's just a song that kinda leaves me cold. It reminds me of Coldplay, a band who's certainly capable of making far better pop songs than the majority of charts artists out there, but rarely actually make me feel something. I see what you mean about the closer. There isn't really an obvious one on the album and I can understand why they went with "Stay". It's no "Last Days on Earth", I thought that was a perfect closer and the bonus tracks slightly spoiled that. Not so in the case of TTP.
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Post by iveivan on May 3, 2022 18:53:00 GMT
Great review @jules. I also feel that Break The Man and Stay are weak as isolated tracks but I don’t hate them in the context of the album. From the write up, it seems you were generous with your 7/10 for Long, long, long time. Personally, I love it. I also love End of Night. I agree that Let it all evolve is the best of the bonus tracks. I’d also give it 10/10. I can understand why you suggest it should have replaced Stay as a closer. It feels more like a mid album songs to me. Shame (Cry Heaven) is definitely the weakest he 3 I don’t hate it. That’s the one I’d have used instead of Stay as the closer. If you want to tag me, you have to write 'admin' after the @ instead My review is already way too long but I wonder if things couldn't have been sequenced so that Curt doesn't have two songs in a row. Yes, it was like that on The Hurting (Mad World/Pale Shelter) but those were still entirely written by Roland, so it's not quite the same thing. "Long, Long, Long Time"... hey, maybe it'll grow on me. Who knows. Some TFF songs did take years to convince me! Aside from that weird vocal jump I don't have any obvious complaints, but it's just a song that kinda leaves me cold. It reminds me of Coldplay, a band who's certainly capable of making far better pop songs than the majority of charts artists out there, but rarely actually make me feel something. I see what you mean about the closer. There isn't really an obvious one on the album and I can understand why they went with "Stay". It's no "Last Days on Earth", I thought that was a perfect closer and the bonus tracks slightly spoiled that. Not so in the case of TTP. I now remember you says I should use admin to tag you before. I agree with you on Coldplay. They leave me… cold.
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Post by Jules on May 3, 2022 20:28:43 GMT
I now remember you says I should use admin to tag you before. Oops, sorry. Anyway, ProBoards allows users to change their display name, but not the handle, and that is what is needed for tagging. Alternatively, the editor has a symbol that looks like this: You can use that to tag anyone even if you don't know their handle.
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Post by nuraman00 on Jul 28, 2022 23:44:43 GMT
And with two other "sons of EWTRTW" on the album already (Title track and "My Demons"), I really wonder why there had to be a third one... What does this mean?
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Post by nuraman00 on Jul 29, 2022 0:21:16 GMT
Thanks for the write up.
I didn't realize there were bonus tracks. I got my album free with my concert ticket purchase.
It's also disappointing that they didn't even make the bonus track easily accessible. There should be one deluxe version, with all bonus tracks on them.
It dulls my enthusiasm for any album when I see it's hard to get all of the tracks. I should have just a simple choice to make, whether I want the normal version, or the deluxe with all bonus tracks.
I shouldn't have to look for what region gets what bonus tracks.
I'm not sure what makes me like one Tears For Fears album over another. But to me, the only tracks from the new album I really liked were "No Small Thing", "The Tipping Point", and "Please Be Happy".
I think the albums I like the most are The Seeds Of Love; and Everybody Loves A Happy Ending.
You also seemed to agree that those were the higher rated tracks.
You also gave a lot of tracks 5, 6, 7's. Because there were so many of those, I can't say I like this album more than others.
It might be the worst Tears For Fears album I have. I don't have the two albums without Curt Smith.
I might get them at some point.
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Post by Jules on Jul 31, 2022 10:35:53 GMT
And with two other "sons of EWTRTW" on the album already (Title track and "My Demons"), I really wonder why there had to be a third one... What does this mean? All of those songs follow in the footsteps of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" to a degree, mainly due to the shuffle rhythm. It feels a bit like market research gone overboard. It's only been the case in the last couple of years that EWTRTW has become the most popular TFF song (before that, I think it shared that spot with "Shout" and "Mad World"), and so they seem to have taken the suggestion by management (or maybe it was their own idea) to try and replicate what made that song great, ending up with three shuffles on a ten-song album. I don't recall them ever using that shuffle beat on any other song besides EWTRTW. (However, Oleta Adams did write a song like that after performing "Rule the World" every night, it was "Circle of One" and Roland programmed a lot of that track.)
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Post by Jules on Jul 31, 2022 10:48:53 GMT
I didn't realize there were bonus tracks. I got my album free with my concert ticket purchase. I'm glad that worked out well for you! It's also disappointing that they didn't even make the bonus track easily accessible. There should be one deluxe version, with all bonus tracks on them. It dulls my enthusiasm for any album when I see it's hard to get all of the tracks. I should have just a simple choice to make, whether I want the normal version, or the deluxe with all bonus tracks. I shouldn't have to look for what region gets what bonus tracks. Since I was already subscribing to SDE, I got notice of the exclusive version collecting all three bonus tracks very early. But I understand the frustration, and I myself am frustrated that a lot of people are not ever going to hear "Let It All Evolve" or "Secret Location" because both are really good and deserved more exposure. I'm not sure what makes me like one Tears For Fears album over another. But to me, the only tracks from the new album I really liked were "No Small Thing", "The Tipping Point", and "Please Be Happy".
I think the albums I like the most are The Seeds Of Love; and Everybody Loves A Happy Ending. You also seemed to agree that those were the higher rated tracks. Well, those and "Master Plan", which is the closest to ELAHE on this album with its 60s influences and Beatles harmonies. You also gave a lot of tracks 5, 6, 7's. Because there were so many of those, I can't say I like this album more than others. It might be the worst Tears For Fears album I have. I don't have the two albums without Curt Smith. I might get them at some point.
I'm not someone who dishes out maximum ratings lightly. Maybe I should post ratings for all TFF albums at some time, people will be surprised at how low I rate some popular songs! Even the 5/10 tracks are still better than the general average of music, but when I compare TFF to TFF, the stakes are obviously higher. You should definitely check out the albums without Curt - Elemental isn't quite consistent (some b-sides are better than some album tracks) but RATKOS is a big favourite of mine.
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Post by nuraman00 on Jul 31, 2022 18:11:00 GMT
All of those songs follow in the footsteps of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" to a degree, mainly due to the shuffle rhythm. It feels a bit like market research gone overboard. It's only been the case in the last couple of years that EWTRTW has become the most popular TFF song (before that, I think it shared that spot with "Shout" and "Mad World"), and so they seem to have taken the suggestion by management (or maybe it was their own idea) to try and replicate what made that song great, ending up with three shuffles on a ten-song album. I don't recall them ever using that shuffle beat on any other song besides EWTRTW. (However, Oleta Adams did write a song like that after performing "Rule the World" every night, it was "Circle of One" and Roland programmed a lot of that track.) Thanks. So what are the 3 shuffle beat tracks? "The Tipping Point", "My Demons", and what's the 3rd?
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Post by nuraman00 on Jul 31, 2022 18:13:38 GMT
I didn't realize there were bonus tracks. I got my album free with my concert ticket purchase. I'm glad that worked out well for you! It's also disappointing that they didn't even make the bonus track easily accessible. There should be one deluxe version, with all bonus tracks on them. It dulls my enthusiasm for any album when I see it's hard to get all of the tracks. I should have just a simple choice to make, whether I want the normal version, or the deluxe with all bonus tracks. I shouldn't have to look for what region gets what bonus tracks. Since I was already subscribing to SDE, I got notice of the exclusive version collecting all three bonus tracks very early. But I understand the frustration, and I myself am frustrated that a lot of people are not ever going to hear "Let It All Evolve" or "Secret Location" because both are really good and deserved more exposure. I'm not sure what makes me like one Tears For Fears album over another. But to me, the only tracks from the new album I really liked were "No Small Thing", "The Tipping Point", and "Please Be Happy".
I think the albums I like the most are The Seeds Of Love; and Everybody Loves A Happy Ending. You also seemed to agree that those were the higher rated tracks. Well, those and "Master Plan", which is the closest to ELAHE on this album with its 60s influences and Beatles harmonies. You also gave a lot of tracks 5, 6, 7's. Because there were so many of those, I can't say I like this album more than others. It might be the worst Tears For Fears album I have. I don't have the two albums without Curt Smith. I might get them at some point.
I'm not someone who dishes out maximum ratings lightly. Maybe I should post ratings for all TFF albums at some time, people will be surprised at how low I rate some popular songs! Even the 5/10 tracks are still better than the general average of music, but when I compare TFF to TFF, the stakes are obviously higher. You should definitely check out the albums without Curt - Elemental isn't quite consistent (some b-sides are better than some album tracks) but RATKOS is a big favourite of mine. Thanks. Yes, if you do track rankings for the other albums, that would also put things into perspective.
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Post by iveivan on Jul 31, 2022 19:04:26 GMT
The album has been very successful. More than those involved expected, I’m sure. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a rerelease/repack of the album towards the end of the year where the three additional tracks are given a global release together with a couple of new songs/unreleased songs from prior sessions.
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Post by Jules on Aug 1, 2022 11:41:34 GMT
All of those songs follow in the footsteps of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" to a degree, mainly due to the shuffle rhythm. It feels a bit like market research gone overboard. It's only been the case in the last couple of years that EWTRTW has become the most popular TFF song (before that, I think it shared that spot with "Shout" and "Mad World"), and so they seem to have taken the suggestion by management (or maybe it was their own idea) to try and replicate what made that song great, ending up with three shuffles on a ten-song album. I don't recall them ever using that shuffle beat on any other song besides EWTRTW. (However, Oleta Adams did write a song like that after performing "Rule the World" every night, it was "Circle of One" and Roland programmed a lot of that track.) Thanks. So what are the 3 shuffle beat tracks? "The Tipping Point", "My Demons", and what's the 3rd? "End of Night".
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