‘Elemental’: Tears For Fears’ Roland Orzabal Goes It Alone
Deserving overdue appraisal, ‘Elemental’ found Roland Orzabal penning some of the most ambitious songs in Tears For Fears’ history.
The first of two albums released under the Tears For Fears banner during Curt Smith’s temporary absence from the band, 1993’s Elemental is often viewed as a Roland Orzabal solo outing in all but name.
Consequently, though it peaked at No.5 in the UK and scooped a gold disc in the US, Elemental has largely remained below the radar. The album does, however, deserve an overdue reappraisal, not least because it contains some of the most affecting songs Orzabal has ever put his name to.
A period of change
In retrospect, Orzabal was undergoing a period of profound change when he set his mind to composing the songs for Elemental. His split with Tears For Fears co-founder Curt Smith, in 1991, had proved painful. Also, his wife was having a baby while Elemental was put together, primarily in Orzabal’s home studio, Neptune. It was a space where he wanted “to head back to my roots and change nappies at the same time as recording,” as he joked in a promotional video that accompanied the album’s release.
The relatively intimate surroundings that birthed Elemental were in stark contrast to the lavish, big-budget sessions that resulted in Tears For Fears’ previous album, the multi-million-selling The Seeds Of Love. However, any assumptions that it would be a low-budget, DIY affair are ill-founded. Orzabal co-wrote the songs with Tears For Fears’ touring guitarist Alan Griffiths, but the man they hired to supervise the sessions was Tim Palmer, a highly-renowned producer known for his big sounds and work behind the console with the likes of Robert Plant and Pearl Jam.
Orzabal and Griffiths may have handled virtually all the instruments, but Elemental was anything but Tears For Fears unplugged. Indeed, while the intention may have been to strip things back, Tim Palmer later admitted that Orzabal’s famous quest for perfection was still very much in evidence during the sessions.
“He likes to keep going ’til it’s perfect”
“I think it’s fair to say [Roland] has a very firm idea in his head about how he sees things,” the producer said. “He’s very critical of himself, which I tried to loosen up a little, because he likes to keep going ’til it’s perfect.”
However, as songs such as the immediate “Goodnight Song,” “Cold” and the UK Top 20 hit “Break It Down Again” proved, Orzabal’s unquenchable ambition had again led him to realize widescreen, state-of-the-art pop songs with a timeless appeal. Indeed, as if acknowledging his aims to go as high as you can go as a songwriter, Elemental also included “Brian Wilson Said”: an irresistible slice of Beach Boys-esque pop which traveled way beyond homage.
Intriguingly, Orzabal’s reflective lyrics often sat at odds with the glorious sunbursts of his melodies. Chiming like an experience-scuffed update of “Mad World,” the album’s dramatic titular song included fatalistic lines such as “All the love in the world won’t stop the rain from falling,” while the title of the brooding “Mr. Pessimist” perhaps reflected its creator’s contemporaneous state of mind.
“Everything in the universe is recyclable”
“The whole thrust of advertising [these days] is to make out everything is just wonderful, but life’s not like that,” Orzabal revealed, offering a little insight into the album’s content. “Elemental is celebrating the fact that things do end. There’s a cycle to life. Everything in the universe is recyclable – even you!”
Such existential angst was, of course, integral to the DNA of Tears For Fears’ signature hits such as “Mad World” and “Shout,” so it’s no surprise the band’s fans responded positively when Elemental first appeared, on June 7, 1993. The album was greeted by well-balanced reviews, such as Rolling Stone’s (“Tears For Fears create a perfect synthesis of form and fancy, combining sublime pop orchestration with genuine insight”), and its universal appeal ensured that it cracked the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic.
Buoyed by Elemental’s reception, Roland Orzabal reconvened with Griffiths and Palmer for 1995’s reflective Raoul And The Kings Of Spain, in which he explored his Spanish heritage, before finally reuniting with Curt Smith and beginning a new chapter in the Tears For Fears story with 2004’s aptly titled Everybody Loves a Happy Ending.
G C
June 7, 2019 at 11:43 am
Absolutely stunning record, it’s all here, the gusto and the grand, definitely a must have
When tears for fears played in New Zealand last time they where support for Spandau ballet
I thought that was rich,a fantastic band , solid tunes, with famous artists lining up to covers there tunes
So great to see they are still creating and also playing all those fantastic tunes we all love to hear
Pam
July 2, 2019 at 9:12 pm
Excellent, still-relevant album. Saw Roland in Columbus touring for this album; one of the best I’ve been to – small theater venue, intimate concert. Wish I could see him again.
Damian
July 5, 2019 at 7:10 am
Beautiful.
Mohsin
August 20, 2019 at 2:08 pm
Let me be blunt. It’s only the zealous fanboys who love his album. And I have their first 3 masterpieces. This ain’t one of them though. It’s as dull as dishwater, the only memorable song being Fish Out Of Water – and that was a dig at his old bandmate.
Otherwise disposable. This is their Atom Heart Mother. Raoul was a notable improvement though.
JDM
August 28, 2019 at 11:09 pm
Bullshit. I got this album when I was a new, still relatively moderate Tears for Fears fan and loved how full it sounded both sonically & songwise. My least favorite song is actually the big single, not often the case with TFF, but “Break It Down Again” did actually fare a lot better as an acoustic song, imo
Scott
February 6, 2020 at 1:05 am
To this day, one of the finest albums I have ever heard. Desert island album for me. It really could use an update, remaster/expanded. When it came out, it was full of gusto and curves. Melodies, grabbing guitars and the vocals—so glorious. I loved this so much more than anything they had previously done. And I enjoy all their records.
Game changer and still relevant.
JulesRules
July 5, 2023 at 5:04 pm
Funnily enough, I’m a zealous fanboy and I rank this album at the bottom of the TFF catalogue. That said, it still has several great songs on it (Fish Out Of Water is not one of them IMHO), particularly the title track (Rick Beato wasn’t raving about it for no reason), Cold, Mr. Pessimist (with that beautiful piano solo by Roland himself), Dog’s a Best Friend’s Dog and Goodnight Song. The rest could’ve been better if they’d put some of the songs on that instead came out as b-sides. Lord of Karma (I know, it’s from 1992, but still fits in with the album’s overall sound), Schrödinger’s Cat, Bloodletting Go and New Star are all fantastic songs.
There’s a mistake in the article BTW, the line “all the love in the world won’t stop the rain from falling” is from Break It Down Again, not the title track. It was very appropriate when TFF played in the rain in Bruchsal in 2019!
Nick T
October 10, 2023 at 11:26 am
Oh, thank you Jules for revealing the piano solo outro pianist on Mr Pessimist!!! I’ve been trying to find out who played that forever!!! I still to this day listen to this track and it gives me goosebumps.
That was the best track on the album, and there were a quite a few.
Derrick G.
May 10, 2024 at 6:01 am
Jules and Nick T bravo!! I too love Mr. Pessimist. Not only is it my favorite song on Elemental, but one of my absolute favorite TFF songs. It’s an incredibly atmospheric track with compelling lyrics. An absolute gem!