I must first be honest: I am not the biggest Tears for Fears fan from the early hits I had heard of them. I cannot guarantee I will find this great, but I can guarantee objectivity. I always take a listen to this album regardless of what I've felt of other poor releases with optimism, looking for something wonderful. But I always feel it is fair to warn you as the reader when it is more likely than not I may be less inclined.
"No Small Thing" starts the album and it is surprisingly...acoustic. Somewhat raw. It is actually...quite beautiful of a song. It is a bit touching I dare say. It makes me wonder if I clicked something wrong.
...okay something's wrong. Terribly wrong. I think I need coffee or something. I hate coffee but there must be some bizarre reason two songs in and I am so highly impressed. "The Tipping Point" is outstanding. The instrumental enhances the song and the lyrics are impressive as well. This is on caliber with any modern release. What the heck.
Okay, Long Long Time is a bit less impressive. Feels a little bit like filler track in comparison with the first two songs. The production is still outstanding though. Someone give this person a trophy, right now.
"Break the Man" begins falling into territory where I normally lose interest in them. I feel the choices electronically take away from the track a bit as well.
"My Demons" makes it seem they're still being creative and innovative in a time that people tend to try to chase trends. I absolutely love this track. This is how to use effects for enhancement for sure.
"Rivers of Mercy" is stunning, beautiful, and gut-wrenching all the same. The scaled back production enhances it. It literally brings tears to your eyes.
"Please Be Happy" is a sweet, sentimental song. I don't like the instrumentation as much and I think its greatest flaw is it comes after one amazing song.
"Master Plan" lyrically sounds angry, but the delivery does not create the same emotion which causes this track to seem to pretty and perfect to represent.
"End of Night" is almost a comforting track after some of the darkness of certain tracks. It stays a bit more true to them. I do not like some of the style choices again, but not a bad song.
The album closes with "Stay", which many will likely feel a certain connection to from the frustrated vagueness.
Lyrics: 8/10 - This album is solidly written. The story flows well. I am impressed.
Music: 6/10 - A bit of the downfall is the instrumentation choices do not always fit the concepts they were working with or distract.
Overall: 8/10 - What in God's name just happened. I don't know. First it was Vedder and now its this. Did my ear tuning change? No, you can not want something yourself yet know something is done quite well. This album has a gorgeous production to it and the engineer needs rewarded. I highly recommend trying this album if nothing more, for Rivers of Mercy.
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