Tears For Fears - The Tipping Point ⅘
It's difficult to imagine what a 21st century Tears For Fear album would sound like, you may feel you’ve put the wrong record on when opener ‘No Small Thing’ begins. A folk-pop number more closely aligned with the likes of Eddi Reader not the huge synth kings of old, or even the Beatles bating later 80’s version of ‘Sowing the Seeds of Love’,
Don’t be misled though, it sets a false tone for the album soon enough we hear the old magic again particularly on tracks like ‘Break the Man’ or the ‘Woman in Chainsesque’ ‘Rivers of Mercy’. This is a rather mature Tears for Fears. The vocals deeper, less shouting more whispering for this album.
‘The Tipping Point’ is a warm and deeply personal album, ‘Please Be Happy’ feels like a confessional set to stirring music while ‘Master Plan’ is an unfolding biography carried along by an epic wave of orchestral sweeps and chirping keyboards.
If you really need a blast of eighties then ‘End of Night’ is the song for you, sheer synth heaven, this could fit on any of their first two albums yet fits here just as well.
If there’s any criticism to be aimed at the record is that it takes a very serious stance, there’s not a lot of levity in the world of Tears for Fears, which sometimes makes for a sombre listen.
Generally ‘The Tipping Point’ is a solid comeback for the Tears boys, more mature, a lot greyer but still with the understanding of a decent tune, if a bit serious in tone, but hey, everybody wants to rue the world.