The Seeds of Love


The Seeds of Love is the third studio album by the British rock/pop band Tears for Fears, released on 25 September 1989.
The album, which reportedly cost over £1 million to produce, retained the band's epic sound while incorporating influences ranging from jazz and soul to Beatlesque pop, of which the latter is most evident on the hit single "Sowing the Seeds of Love".
The Seeds of Love was an international success, entering the UK Albums Chart at number one and reaching the top ten in numerous other countries including the US. It has been certified Platinum in several territories including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands. Despite its success, it would be the last album that band members Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith would work on together for over a decade.

Production

The first song composed for the album was "Badman's Song", written during the band's 1985 world tour after Orzabal overheard two members of the tour personnel maligning him in a hotel room one night. The song was co-written by Orzabal with keyboardist Nicky Holland, who was touring with the band throughout 1985. Holland would go on to play an integral part in the writing and recording of The Seeds of Love album, much as keyboardist Ian Stanley had on the band's previous album.
Recording sessions for the album began in late 1986 with producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, but Orzabal and Smith were unhappy with the results and so the recordings were scrapped in early 1987. Chris Hughes was then brought back into the fold, but again conflicts arose over the direction of the new material. Orzabal in particular had grown weary of composing and playing music using machines and sequencers, as the majority of Tears For Fears' music had been up to that point, and was striving for something more organic and a different way of working.
The song "Sowing the Seeds of Love" was written in June 1987, the same week as the UK general election in which Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party won a third consecutive term in office. Hughes and longtime TFF keyboardist Ian Stanley both left the project later in 1987 citing "creative differences", though their contributions to the track remained on the final album. After two failed attempts to make the album, the band opted to produce it themselves, assisted by engineer Dave Bascombe. Also in 1987, Orzabal and Smith flew over to the US to track down a hotel lounge pianist/vocalist named Oleta Adams, whom they had seen playing in Kansas City during their 1985 American tour. Hoping she could add to the organic feel by bringing a soulful warmth to their music, they invited Adams to work with them on their new album. Adams would ultimately perform on three tracks, and a solo recording contract was also offered to her by the band's record company Fontana.
Recording recommenced in early 1988 and lasted until the summer of 1989. Featuring an assortment of respected session players including drummers Manu Katché and Simon Phillips, bassist Pino Palladino, and a guest appearance by Phil Collins on drums, much of the album was recorded as jam sessions featuring different performances of the music and then edited down later. Some of the tracks, particularly "Badman's Song", were recorded several times in a variety of musical styles including, according to Holland, versions of the song that were reminiscent of Barry White, Little Feat and Steely Dan before settling on the jazz/gospel version that is on the finished album. Co-producer Dave Bascombe commented that the final version of the song was almost nothing like the original demo because it had gone through so many changes. The track "Swords and Knives" was originally written for the 1986 film Sid and Nancy, but was rejected by the filmmakers for not being "punk" enough.
Due to the starry cast of session players and lengthy production process, including the scrapped earlier recordings, the album reportedly cost £1 million to make. The final mix of the album was completed at London's Mayfair Studios in July 1989. Frustrations during the making of the album had also given rise to tensions between Orzabal and Smith, Orzabal having become something of an intricate perfectionist and Smith preoccupied with living a jet set lifestyle rather than focusing on the album. At one point, Orzabal considered calling the album Famous Last Words, commenting "it may well turn out to be our last album." Indeed, the duo did not make any further recordings together for over a decade.

Release

Now assigned to the newly reactivated Phonogram subsidiary label Fontana, the first single from the album, "Sowing the Seeds of Love", was released in August 1989. It became a worldwide hit, peaking at no.5 in the UK, no.2 in the US, and no.1 in Canada. The album was released in September 1989, entering the UK Album Chart at no.1 and would be certified Platinum by the BPI within three weeks. In the US, the album peaked at no.8, and was also certified Platinum. The album also reached the top ten in various other countries around the world.
Further singles from the album, "Woman in Chains" and "Advice for the Young at Heart", both reached the UK Top 40. "Famous Last Words" was released as a fourth single in mid-1990 by the record company without the band's involvement, though this only peaked at no.83 in the UK. A video compilation, Sowing the Seeds, featuring the promo videos for the first three singles from the album was also released in 1990.
The band embarked on a world tour to promote the album in 1990, featuring Adams both as a support act and as a player with the band. The band's concert at the Santa Barbara County Bowl in May 1990 was filmed and released on home video, titled Going to California.
A 64-page companion book to the album, entitled Tears for Fears – The Seeds of Love, was also released in 1990 by Virgin Books and offers insight into the writing and recording process behind the album as well as the sheet music for each song and rare promotional photographs from the period.
The album was remastered and reissued in 1999 with four bonus tracks which were originally B-sides to the album's first three singles. It does not include the B-side "My Life in the Suicide Ranks" which was an additional B-side to "Woman in Chains" and can be found on the band's 1996 rarities compilation Saturnine Martial & Lunatic.

Track listing

Note
Tears for Fears
Additional personnel

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Canada Top Albums/CDs 58
Dutch Albums 78
European Albums 45
German Albums 61
US Billboard 20066

Certifications