Formed in Bath, UK, in 1981 by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal following the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the synth-pop bands of the 1980s and attained international chart success as part of the Second British Invasion.
The band's debut album, The Hurting (1983), reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, and their first three hit singles, "Mad World", "Change" and "Pale Shelter", all reached the top five in the UK Singles Chart. Their second album, Songs from the Big Chair (1985), reached the top spot on the US Billboard 200, achieving multi-platinum status in both the US and the UK. The album contained two US Billboard Hot 100 number one hits: "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"; both songs reached the top five in the UK. Their follow-up album, The Seeds of Love (1989), entered the UK chart at number one and yielded the transatlantic top five hit "Sowing the Seeds of Love".
After touring The Seeds of Love in 1990, Orzabal and Smith had an acrimonious split. Orzabal retained the Tears for Fears name as a solo project, releasing the albums Elemental (1993) and Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995). Orzabal and Smith reconciled in 2000 and released an album of new material, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, in 2004. The duo have toured on a semi-regular basis since then. After being in development for almost a decade, the band's seventh album, The Tipping Point, was released in 2022, giving the band their sixth UK top five album and their highest chart peak in thirty years, and reaching the top 10 in numerous other countries, including the US.
This triple CD collection features three previously unreleased recordings, from broadcast transmissions of live shows which took place across the band’s career to date.
DISC 1
1 Memories Fade 5:23
2 The Way You Are 5:42
3 Suffer The Children 4:05
4 Pale Shelter 6:42
5 The Prisoner 2:40
6 Ideas As Opiates 4:13
7 The Hurting 4:12
8 Mad World 3:46
9 Watch Me Bleed 4:15
10 Change 4:58
11 Start Of The Breakdown 7:14
12 Mad World (Second Take) 3:43
13 Pale Shelter (Second Take) 4:36
DISC 2
1 Gas Giants 1:09
2 Elemental 5:33
3 Cold 5:06
4 Mr. Pessimist 6:58
5 Head Over Heels 4:04
6 Fish Out Of Water 4:37
7 Sowing The Seeds Of Love 6:10
8 Famous Last Words 3:57
9 Power 5:38
10 Everybody Wants To Rule The World 4:07
11 Break It Down Again 4:52
12 Goodnight Song 3:59
13 Woman In Chains 6:33
14 Shout 6:22
15 Creep 4:48
DISC 3
1 Everybody Wants to Rule The World 4:30
2 Secret World 4:51
3 Sowing The Seeds Of Love 6:44
4 Advice For The Young At Heart 4:27
5 Everybody Loves A Happy Ending 5:08
6 Change 4:41
7 Mad World 3:33
8 Memories Fade 5:20
9 Creep 4:39
10 Pale Shelter 4:41
11 Break It Down Again 4:39
12 Head Over Heels 5:19
13 Shout 6:52