Monday, March 26, 2001

Roland Orzabal's Tomcats Screaming Outside released

Tomcats Screaming Outside

Roland Orzabal

Released: April 3, 2001

Peak: --

Sales (in millions): --

Genre: new wave

Tracks:

Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks)

Ticket to the World [5:48]
Low Life (Orzabal) [4:36] (4/10/01, --)
Hypnoculture (Orzabal) [3:13]
Bullets for Brains [4:08]
For the Love of Cain (Orzabal) [4:06]
Under Ether [5:51]
Day by Day by Day by Day [4:35]
Dandelion [3:03]
Hey Andy! (Orzabal) [4:25]
Kill Love [5:40]
Snowdrop [4:23]
Maybe Our Days Are Numbered [4:47]

All tracks written by Griffiths/Orzabal unless otherwise noted.

Total Running Time: 54:35

The Players:

Roland Orzabal (vocals, guitar, keyboards, programming)
Alan Griffiths (guitar, keyboards, programming)
David Sutton (bass)
Nick D’Virgilio (drums)

Rating:

3.237 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith formed Tears for Fears in 1981 after working with each other in the short-lived, ska-revival band Graduate. As Tears for Fears, they released three hugely successful albums in the 1980s before they went their separate ways. Orzabal continued to work under the Tears for Fears banner, releasing the albums Elemental in 1993 and Raoul and the Kings of Spain in 1995.

Considering that Orzabal is the only constant through all the Tears for Fears albums, it is curious that Tomcats Screaming Outside is his first official solo album when it could just as easily be considered the third post-Curt Smith Tears for Fears album. In fact, this album and the previous two Tears for Fears’ albums all feature guitarist and keyboardist Alan Griffith, making him the sort of defacto Curt Smith replacement.

Under any name, “Roland Orzabal is a musical actor, an abstract poet, and a music connoisseur. His lush lyrical imagery has provided vivid imagism and an emotion sparked from his own inquisitive nature.” ^AMG This album “illustrates Orzabal’s bright mind with classic philosophical disposition; however, he’s honest and eager, no longer concerned with the past. He refrains from psychologically picking his mind apart; rather, he’s plucking from social indifference and its want for quick desire. His focus on sharp electronics and the uncomplicated nature of songs such as ‘Hypnoculture’ and ‘For the Love of Cain’ present Orzabal’s newfound comfort. He’s still ambitious, yes, but not arrogantly so. ‘Dandelion’ grazes with nasty riffs, leaving Orzabal to twist his large vocals to stretch alongside them. ‘Ticket to the World’ and ‘Maybe Our Days Are Numbered’ ironically capture Orzabal’s fixation with a greater love, another hurt, and a life outside of what everyone already knows.” ^AMG

“Tomcats Screaming Outside aptly defines his burgeoning creative desire as well as his hungry nature to write a song that reaches outside the heart and beyond the mind. The overall composition of this album is tough, a bit young with musical instrumentation, but a decent look at Orzabal’s keen talent as both a singer and a songwriter. He’s still got it.” ^AMG