Tears For Fears Interview Disc

A rare, exclusive interview CD that many Tears For Fears fans ought to have in their collections.

Welcome to our very first CD review, featuring a super rare item from the Tears For Fears library that ought to entice music collectors, as well as fans of the band themselves. It's very much an interview with TFF's singer Roland Orzabal and his insights promoting their new album, at the time, Elemental, from his creative process to its development. Elemental was released in June 1993 but not without its friction that occurred behind the scenes, some which Roland quietly unveiled on this interview. Yes, if some of you were old enough to remember, or looked back to read about, Roland's other partner Curt Smith split with the band. (Spoiler alert: Both Roland and Curt reunited roughly 10 years later and are back together working and producing songs again.) However, it seems Roland hasn't changed much after the split, though the songs geared more within his style and tune, yet barely made the charts. If you care to know, the Elemental album overall charted at #5 in the UK and topped at #45 in the US. It was okay, but not as good, and even though I'm a big fan myself, I don't mind as I still enjoy the songs to this day.

Cool, so what's the deal? It's a bizarre realization knowing that there is no interviewer to be heard, nor do we know the questions Roland was being asked! This means you hear Roland providing answers and responses—talking about the album Elemental, working with his bandmates, the current state of his broken partnership with Curt (again, they are back together making songs), and a brief snippet of what the music industry is like. Roland goes on to explain why the name "elemental" was used—something the average person may not have known (I feel modern musicians may snag and use the word today, if they haven't already, sort of like we did). The funniest story has to be when Roland talked about him being in a relationship with a girl he was seeing during his teenage years. Let's just say he suddenly found himself finding big shoes to fill. After that, he scratched on his personal philosophy and his point of view when it comes to science and metaphysics (the interesting part was finding fun in researching such topics, which was the reason I became a fan of TFF after graduating high school). I like how Roland also brought in a bit of insight on the development of their song "Brian Wilson Said," in homage to his favorite artist from The Beach Boys. He mentions his wife and them having a child which was heart-warming (rest in peace, Caroline). The interview closes with Roland's take on postmodernism.

There's a lot you can learn straight from the man himself and how the production came through back in 1993, as the album Elemental hit store shelves. There were some semi-personal takes, and some philosophical points of view, making fans better understand Roland's mindset and creative vision.

Without the aid of an interviewer, this whole CD feels like a podcast that hasn't been completed. In today's [temporary] standards, due to restrictions, it feels like a socially-distanced, virtual interview, as the producer of this audio disc forgot to include the person asking the questions. Had it not been for the pandemic of 2020, my critique would have been similar, though I'd mention as to why questions weren't even included. There is no information who interviewed Roland on this CD, and even online, either. With all those unsolved mysteries that sadly won't get answered in our lifetimes, it's an audio experience with some missing elements. Hopefully, it doesn't ruin nor mystify the listener given all they will hear is Roland talking, but it's enough to suffice. Not that interviews are supposed to be a big budget, blockbuster hit, but we'd like to know what's being asked and who Roland is talking to.

This rare CD is something to be had, but we must critique it as such. While owning this makes it 100% for me, we reviewed the CD using our regular protocol. I do love this exclusive interview CD, but because of stuff missing, we rated it as such. Not saying you shouldn't own it, but because of its scarcity, despite the somewhat incomplete production of this interview, we'd still recommend it. Funny enough, having discovered this CD as early as 2006, it was the source that eventually inspired me to be fully introduced to podcasting. (If you care to know, I tried podcasting in 2007, but didn't fully immerse into production until August 07, 2011. It was a pilot episode I titled The Elemental Hour, inspired by TFF's album and this interview disc.)

For those who can't find or afford this rare CD, you're in luck: A third-party user named SJ uploaded the entire interview CD. Take a listen and enjoy for yourself!

Big thanks to SJ for uploading the full interview!

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he started blogging in late 2005. Currently self-publishing, from essays to poems, Kris enjoys reading and self-studying mathematics, quantum computing, and philosophy; he also enjoys old video/MS-DOS games, writing/journaling, numerology, digital video archiving, listening to sports/public radio and classical music. Earned his BA of Mathematics degree in 2025.

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