Tears For Fears
Elemental

THE REVIEW

I can't even remember what prompted me to purchase this album. It was many years ago, during a peculiar period among other things. I got it on cassette, tucked inside one of the many holders they were displayed in, which consisted of metal "pages" attached to the wall. You would flip through them noisily, making them clatter against each other. If you decided to purchase, you'd call the owner who, with his trusty bunch of keys, would retrieve your choice. All this to say it was 14 years ago. A lifetime. And yet, I still listen to "Elemental" a lot, with the same pleasure as back then.

It's a pop album with splendid samples, each track endowed with its originality and beauty, Orzabal's voice (in my opinion of excellent quality) that enhances each piece, giving it pathos and depth.
On this note, I have to say that the band's subsequent work (like this one signed Tears for Fears but without the co-founder Smith, so, in fact, in my view, Orzabal's solo albums), namely "Raul and the Kings of Spain," confirmed to me how much passion this Anglo-French-Basque musician puts into his works. His voice, very powerful, versatile and full of emotion, allows him to.

The work opens with the title track, beautiful guitar in the background and light singing, the melody is captivating and the choirs are also beautiful. With the next track, "Cold" (one of the three singles), the tempo increases, Orzabal's voice drives the piece while the bass rhythm ties the moments between choruses where the guitar backs up the beautiful singing, accompanied by excellent backing vocals. "Break it Down Again" (another single) is gorgeous with its rhythm changes and the theme that sticks in your head. "Mr. Pessimist" is slow, cradling, and proves that the singer's voice stands up well to all tones. In my opinion, one of the best pieces. It starts almost whispered then opens into a sort of obsessive repetition of the chorus, ending again with an instrumental piano tail that brings calm and fades out.
"Dog's a Best Friend's Dog" has an almost rock guitar, very lively. Orzabal is extraordinary. "Fish Out of Water" is the least original piece, but the chorus with backing vocals accompanying the singer is beautiful. "Gas Giants" is almost instrumental, full of atmosphere, Orzabal's voice appearing softly among a cloud of pleasantly mixed sounds. Short, beautiful. Almost as if it were the continuation, "Power" starts, with guitar and bass followed by the voice that enchants with its calm tone, increasing and exploding on the chorus.
"Brian Wilson Said" is a tribute to the former Beach Boys leader and perfectly evokes both the image of a Californian beach and some atmospheres typical of that group's music. Another beautiful episode.
"Goodnight Song" closes the album. And it closes it superbly.
It's the third single. A dreamy, melancholic piece. Even today, listening to it, its sweet progression soothes me. It simply moves me so much, no matter when I listen to it, it would enhance the emotion of THAT moment, whatever it may be. But using a review parameter, personally, I find it to be the most beautiful song among the ten.

In conclusion, I consider "Elemental" a valuable album, something to be considered, like three or four other works, an amplifier of positive emotions, something destined to strike deep, in that part most sensitive to what good music can give. Each of us, I suppose, has those three, four (five, six, seven, one) albums/songs, don't we?