Tears Roll Down: Greatest Hits 1982-1992

Producers: Tears For Fears, David Bascombe, Chris Hughes, Ross Cullum, Tim Palmer.
This handsome triple-disc package from England has turned up as a slightly pricey but rather attractive import at better stores in the United States. In addition to offering a fresh remastering on the original 12 songs off of Tears Roll Down, the audio portion goes to a second disc covering a much vaster part of Tears for Fears' catalog, not only additional tracks off of their four Fontana/Universal albums, such as "Start of the Breakdown" from The Hurting and "Standing on the Corner of the Third World," from Seeds of Love, but also outtakes from the later reissues, including "Johnny Panic & the Bible of Dreams," which appeared as a bonus track on the 1999 reissue of Seeds of Love. The result is a much more comprehensive look at the group's output in its prime years. The 57-minute DVD is in PAL format but regionally uncoded, meaning that it can be played on any computer that handles DVDs without making a switch out of Region 1 or whatever region you're set up for already -- it looks very good, and for those who care about the group's videos it's a great showcase; although some may prefer the languid imagery of "Sowing the Seeds of Love" to the more rapid-fire and in-your-face content of much of the rest of their work, though Oleta Adams' contribution on "Women in Chains" is not to be passed over, nor is the soul element of "Advice for the Young at Heart." The audio has been mastered at a healthy volume, if not quite so loud as the CD versions of the same songs, but it is close to the same level. Curiously, the U.S. version of the Tears Roll Down DVD, released as a separate disc, costs nearly as much as this triple-disc box import on Tears Roll Down, so those who only plan on using the video disc on their computer (some of the images would make great screen-savers) or have a region-free player may find this box especially attractive. ~ Bruce Eder