Tears for Fears made a spectacular return this autumn not only with a new single, I Love You, but I’m Lost, but also a live concert broadcast by BBC Radio 2 and announcing several live dates for 2018, many of which have already sold out.
There’s no better time to be reminded of Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith’s back catalogue and Rule the World: The Greatest Hits pretty much does that. The release cherry picks many of the bands finer moments from their first three albums, 1983s The Hurting, 1985s Songs from The Big Chair and 1989s The Seeds of Love as well as a few tracks from their wilderness period when they weren’t so prominent in the pop charts.
Unlike some tracks from the 80s, much of Tears for Fears material has remained strong, brilliant and timeless. Mad World, Change, Shout! And Everybody Wants to Rule The World still retain the energy of their first airings and the pop/rock brilliance of I Love You, but I’m Lost doesn’t sound out of place alongside the latter pop classics.
There’s a few differences along the way to keep the ardent fan on their toes, including a US remix of Mothers Talk but this remains a good round up and bang up to date collection for anyone just discovering Tears for Fears and a sampler to lead to further investigation into the bands back catalogue.