Tears For Fears

I just love these pop bands with progressive tendencies. I only know little about Tears for Fears though, so I´ll have to listen to their albums before stating my opinion.

There was a thread in the collabs zone (in October 2006) and they were rejected...

Yes.	1	[5.88%]
No.	16	[94.12%]

They were also discussed here: Tears for Fears, prog at least related?.

Good band but not very prog in my book... One of my favorite songs is the slow version of "Mad World" from the Donnie Darko soundtrack.

I have their first three and love all of them.  Go back and forth between Big Chair and Sowing the Seeds as my favorite.  They were primarily a pop band but had some very strong progressive tendencies which showed in some of their longer tracks.  I think they'd be good for PR anyway.  I have the super duper triple deluxe version of Big Chair and one of the bonus tracks on that is a cover version of Wyatt's Sea Song.    I think they obviously took some influence from some of the 70's prog giants.  Of course, they did their own thing, fitting in nicely with the new wave movement.  But still...very talented band with some definite prog tendencies, while never quite making it to full-blown prog. 

For what little this post is worth....

Tears for Fears have progressive tendencies, but not only would I not think of it as Prog, but I would think of it as more of a related to prog-related band.  Seeds of Love may well be considered Prog-Related (or maybe Crossover), but i don't think it's full-Prog (been a while since I last heard it, it is quite psych and has jazz elements, but also non-prog and prog-related tracks).  I enjoyed the band's latest, but it is rather proto-proggish in sound (the Beatles influence).  Incidentally, didn't Phil Collins guest on Seeds of Love as a drummer (not that that gives it Prog-Related credentials )?  Even this one might count as a related to Prog-Related album (influenced by Prog-Related acts).

As far as being progressive goes, Talking Heads was an influence, and I have thought that group a more progressive (as an adjective) band.  I'd have to re-familairise myself with the music, but I think it's a real stretch to suggest this for a Prog category.  But that's my opinion, and, as I said, I have not listened to it in quite a while.  I really don't think they came up with any full-Prog albums, though they have a related claim (are related to some extent, but as too how much, I'll let other more knowledgeable people decide).

Edited by Logan - October 03 2008 at 13:34

I go as far as saying Tears For Fears are one of the finnest Art-Rock bands to come out of the 80's, and despite being better known for their early works, through time and especially after Kurt Smith's departure they took a greater turn towards full-blown prog. I can definitly see a strong prog leaning on albums like Elemental, Raoul and the Kings of Spain and quite a bit on Smith's comeback album Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. Recently, and especially after Bowie's adition, we have seen a greater opening fro PA towards non-fully prog Art-Rock bands, placing them on Prog-Related - based on this evolution, I believe it would be very unfair not to add TFF to Prog-Related, and absolutely criminal not to at leat give it careful consideration based on recent events, and not old topics.  

,Tears for fears is without any doubt one of the worst bands fom the 80's!I'm not keen on pop but I admit

fusionfreak wrote: ,Tears for fears is without any doubt one of the worst bands fom the 80's!I'm not keen on pop but I admit some pop songs are really crafty,here I don't see the case.Moreover Definitely non prog

Without any doubt, eh? Odd, then, that there's a difference of opinion in this thread.

TFF are a superb band in my opinion, and they took pop/rock in some exciting directions, but I have never seen them as prog. Of course, they are "proggier than (insert band on this site)" and therefore "deserve to be prog-related" but I still don't see them as prog. Remember, prog-related isn't 'nearly prog'.

The eighties generated some interesting work, and much of it is prog-influenced, because these lads grew up listening to the prog classics. Still not prog though.

Let me put it this way. I write a fantasy novel and someone tells me its on the short list for a detective novel award. Well, they say, it's a concept book, with one continuous story from beginning to end, as opposed to a collection of short stories. It has a protagonist who searches for clues to solve a puzzle, a gradually-unfolding plot and a climax with a twist. I'm forced to agree: yes, my story has all of these things. But it's still not a detective novel.

Really awful band, that show the worst aspects of 80's pop music in a not-so-detestable way. What of course doesn't make its music good. TFF was just another 80's pop band with a special feature to ballads and mid-tempo tunes. "Great melodies"? Only the usual sweet-so-sweet formula created by giants in the sixties and presented here again in a very-watered way.

The mention of Dire Straits (a group that I moderately like) as a band to be included in PA should be listed as part of suggestions that leads to imediate exclusion. At least if we don't want to see The Cure, B-52's and even U2 listed as prog-anything.

moodyxadi wrote: Really awful band, that show the worst aspects of 80's pop music in a not-so-detestable way. What of course doesn't make its music good. TFF was just another 80's pop band with a special feature to ballads and mid-tempo tunes. "Great melodies"? Only the usual sweet-so-sweet formula created by giants in the sixties and presented here again in a very-watered way. The mention of Dire Straits (a group that I moderately like) as a band to be included in PA should be listed as part of suggestions that leads to imediate exclusion. At least if we don't want to see The Cure, B-52's and even U2 listed as prog-anything.