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Review:
The second Tears for Fears album following Curt Smith's departure finds Roland Orzabel treading water (and self-consciously deep water at that). Long removed from the simple, melodic melancholy of the band's early work and abandoning the mid-period Beatles-influenced pop, Raoul and the Kings of Spain often borders on progressive rock. There's some genuinely pretty, if unexciting, music like the piano-driven ballad "Secrets," with it's soaring guitar line, and the gentle "Sketches of Pain." Unfortunately, everything is undone by Orzabel's lyrics (mostly co-written with guitarist/keyboardist Alan Griffiths). There seems to be a lack of ideas that cannot be concealed by the words, which are either inscrutable or embarrassingly silly ("What's the matter with your life/Did someone come and shoot your wife," he asks on "Sorry"). Listeners on both sides of the Atlantic couldn't be bothered and the act's commercial fortunes fell even further.
Track List:
1 Raoul and the Kings of Spain Griffiths, Orzabal 5:15
2 Falling Down Griffiths, Orzabal 4:55
3 Secrets Griffiths, Orzabal 4:41
4 God's Mistake Griffiths, Orzabal 3:47
5 Sketches of Pain Griffiths, Orzabal 4:20
6 Los Reyes Católicos Griffiths, Orzabal 1:44
7 Sorry Griffiths, Orzabal 4:48
8 Humdrum and Humble Griffiths, Orzabal 4:10
9 I Choose You Griffiths, Orzabal 3:25
10 Don't Drink the Water Griffiths, Orzabal 4:51
11 Me and My Big Ideas Griffiths, Orzabal 4:32
12 Los Reyes Católicos (Reprise) Griffiths, Orzabal 3:43
The second Tears for Fears album following Curt Smith's departure finds Roland Orzabel treading water (and self-consciously deep water at that). Long removed from the simple, melodic melancholy of the band's early work and abandoning the mid-period Beatles-influenced pop, Raoul and the Kings of Spain often borders on progressive rock. There's some genuinely pretty, if unexciting, music like the piano-driven ballad "Secrets," with it's soaring guitar line, and the gentle "Sketches of Pain." Unfortunately, everything is undone by Orzabel's lyrics (mostly co-written with guitarist/keyboardist Alan Griffiths). There seems to be a lack of ideas that cannot be concealed by the words, which are either inscrutable or embarrassingly silly ("What's the matter with your life/Did someone come and shoot your wife," he asks on "Sorry"). Listeners on both sides of the Atlantic couldn't be bothered and the act's commercial fortunes fell even further.
Track List:
1 Raoul and the Kings of Spain Griffiths, Orzabal 5:15
2 Falling Down Griffiths, Orzabal 4:55
3 Secrets Griffiths, Orzabal 4:41
4 God's Mistake Griffiths, Orzabal 3:47
5 Sketches of Pain Griffiths, Orzabal 4:20
6 Los Reyes Católicos Griffiths, Orzabal 1:44
7 Sorry Griffiths, Orzabal 4:48
8 Humdrum and Humble Griffiths, Orzabal 4:10
9 I Choose You Griffiths, Orzabal 3:25
10 Don't Drink the Water Griffiths, Orzabal 4:51
11 Me and My Big Ideas Griffiths, Orzabal 4:32
12 Los Reyes Católicos (Reprise) Griffiths, Orzabal 3:43
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| Log: Code: EAC extraction logfile from 28. April 2006, 20:13 for CD Tears For Fears / Raoul And The Kings Of Spain Used drive : SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-248F Adapter: 0 ID: 0 Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache Read offset correction : 97 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Used output format : Internal WAV Routines 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo Other options : Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Installed external ASPI interface Range status and errors Selected range Filename E:\Tears For Fears - Raoul And The Kings Of Spain.by.rat(Emultrix.com).eac-ape\Tears For Fears - Raoul And The Kings Of Spain.wav Peak level 98.8 % Range quality 99.9 % CRC 6E2FBA93 Copy OK No errors occured End of status report |