Rocktrospectiva: The Masterpiece "The Seeds Of Love" Turns 35

 

Released on 25 September 1989, "The Seeds Of Love" was the third studio album by English pop rock band Tears For Fears, the album retained the band's epic sound while incorporating influences ranging from jazz and soul to Beatlesque pop. The album spawned the title hit single "Sowing the Seeds of Love", as well as "Woman in Chains", and "Advice for the Young at Heart", both of which reached the top 40 in several countries, and finally "Famous Last Words". 

 

The album became an international success, entering the UK Albums Chart at number one, and top ten in other countries including the United States, France, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands. Despite its success, personal tensions during recording led to band members Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal splitting up at the conclusion of their 1990 world tour, with Orzabal remaining as the band's sole official member until the two reunited in the early 2000s. 

 

Created during a profound period of catharsis, in which Curt Smith was going through a divorce while Roland Orzabal was in primal therapy. Musically, it's their most sophisticated outing record, it took four years, four producers, and over a million pounds to complete. The duo sought to distance themselves from the synth pop of their earlier records in favor of a more organic approach using live musicians. Included their very own band Kate St. John, Jon Hassell, Robbie Macintosh, and Ian Stanley. The album's Muse is American vocalist/pianist Oleta Adams. Orzabal caught her set in a hotel bar in 1985 and asked her two years later to duet on the transcendent album-opener "Woman in Chains." It set the tone for the entire proceeding with the glorious drumming on the cut is by Phil Collins. 

 

Adams also contributed gospel vocals to "Bad Man's Song," which features a Holland piano intro strongly suggestive of Weather Report's "Birdland." The production chart-topper for "Sowing the Seeds of Love" borrows heavily from the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus," but ends up as a spiritual, sociopolitical anthem in its own sonic universe. On "Advice for the Young at Heart," Smith's and Holland's vocals entwine in a melody grounded in blue-eyed soul, jazz, and elegant pop that recalls the Style Council.  "Standing on the Corner of the Third World," clearing the way for a melody that melds Bacharach-esque pop to folk, rock, and chamber jazz, with riveting singing from Smith and Orzabal. "Swords and Knives" melds squalling prog rock guitar to Afro-Latin polyrhythms and orchestral arrangements woven through psych-pop overtones. The rave-up rocker "Year of the Knife" is loaded with effects. Its siren-like strings provide ballast for ripping, multi-tracked guitars, samples, atmospherics, punchy drums, and a soul revue chorus and the closer "Famous Last Words" opens with ambient sounds and a lone piano as Orzabal delivers a love song about mortality. 

 

For all these reasons, The Seeds of Love has dated better than either of its predecessors and is inarguably Tears for Fears' masterpiece. The first single from the album, "Sowing the Seeds of Love", was released in August 1989. It became a worldwide hit, peaking at number 5 in the UK, number 2 in the US, and number 1 in Canada. Two other singles from the album, "Woman in Chains" (recorded as a duet with Adams) and "Advice for the Young at Heart" (the only track featuring Smith on lead vocals) reached the Top 40 in UK and internationally. "Famous Last Words" was released as fourth single in mid-1990 by the record company without the band's involvement, though this only peaked at number 83 in the UK. 

 

Critics loved and praised the album considered a radical departure from their earlier productions, astonishing record with a heavy production, a more adult and mature effort that turned the joyful pop simplicity to a rich complexity

 

The Seeds Of Love Track List:

 

1. Woman In Chains

2. Badman's Song

3. Sowing The Seeds Of Love

4. Advice For The Young At Heart

5. Standing On The Corner Of The Third World

6. Swords And Knives

7. Year Of The Knife

8. Famous Last Words