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The English new wave/pop rock band Tears for Fears have released seven studio albums, along with numerous singles, compilations and videos. Formed in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, the duo signed to Phonogram Records in the UK and released their first single the same year. It was not until Tears for Fears' third single, "Mad World" (1982), that they scored their first hit, and their platinum-selling debut album The Hurting (1983) was a UK number one.
| Tears for Fears discography | |
|---|---|
Roland Orzabal (left) and Curt Smith (right) performing in Hanover, 2008 | |
| Studio albums | 7 |
| EPs | 1 |
| Live albums | 3 |
| Compilation albums | 3 |
| Singles | 39 |
| Video albums | 11 |
| Music videos | 30 |
| Box sets | 4 |
| Other compilation albums | 22 |
Their second album, Songs from the Big Chair, was released in 1985 and became a worldwide hit, establishing the band in the US. After a third platinum-selling studio album, The Seeds of Love (1989), Smith and Orzabal parted company. The band's first greatest hits album was released in 1992 and went double platinum in the UK. Subsequent Tears for Fears studio albums Elemental (1993) and Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995) were effectively solo albums by Orzabal. However, the duo reformed in 2000 for a new studio album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, which was released in 2004/05. Although continuing to tour regularly across the world, the band's recording output slowed down for several years. A new compilation album, Rule the World: The Greatest Hits, was released in 2017, giving the band their sixth UK Top 20 album. After a lengthy development, the band's seventh studio album, The Tipping Point, was released in February 2022.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [1] |
AUS [2] |
CAN [3] |
FRA [4] |
GER [5] |
ITA [6][7] |
NL [8] |
NZ [9] |
SWI [10] |
US [11] | |||
| The Hurting | 1 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 15 | — | 30 | 16 | — | 73 | ||
| Songs from the Big Chair |
|
2 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | |
| The Seeds of Love |
|
1 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 8 | |
| Elemental |
|
5 | 56 | 18 | 5 | 26 | 10 | 31 | — | 24 | 45 | |
| Raoul and the Kings of Spain | 41 | — | 62 | 5 | 88 | 23 | 70 | — | 42 | 79 | ||
| Everybody Loves a Happy Ending | 45 | — | — | 28 | 35 | 68 | 86 | — | 48 | 46 | ||
| The Tipping Point |
|
2 [A] | 7 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 5 | — | 4 | 8 [B] | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
Notes
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [1] |
FRA [4] |
ITA [7] |
NL [8] |
US [11] | ||
| Secret World – Live in Paris | — | 106 | — | — | — | |
| Live at Massey Hall Toronto, Canada / 1985 |
|
— | — | — | — | — |
| Songs for a Nervous Planet | 6 | — | 72 [24] | 58 | 104 [25] | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [1] |
AUS [26] |
CAN [3] |
FRA [4] |
GER [5] |
ITA [6] |
NL [8] |
NZ [9] |
SWI [10] |
US [11] | |||
| Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82–92) |
|
2 | 101 | 19 | 2[A] | 7 | 1 | 22 | 9 | 14 | 53 | |
| Saturnine Martial & Lunatic |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Rule the World: The Greatest Hits |
|
12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 87 | — |
|
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
(The following compilations tended to be regional releases, issued without the band's involvement and often on "budget price" labels)
| Title | Details | Certifications |
|---|---|---|
| Everybody Wants to Mix the World |
|
|
| Tears Laid Low (A Tears for Fears Alter Collection) |
|
|
| 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tears for Fears |
|
|
| Media Markt Präsentiert Tears for Fears |
|
|
| Classic Tears for Fears: The Universal Masters Collection |
|
|
| Shout |
|
|
| The Working Hour: An Introduction to Tears for Fears |
|
|
| Shout: The Very Best of Tears for Fears |
|
|
| Gold |
|
|
| The Best of Remixes |
|
|
| The Ultimate Collection |
|
|
| The Collection |
|
|
| Gold |
|
|
| The Collection |
|
|
| Sowing the Seeds of Love: The Best of Tears for Fears |
|
|
| Famous Last Words: The Collection |
|
|
| The Silver Collection |
|
|
| The Essential Collection |
|
|
| Die Grössten Hits |
|
|
| Mad World: The Collection |
|
|
| Everybody Wants to Rule the World: The Collection |
|
|
| Icon |
|
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Collusion |
|
| Songs from the Big Chair / The Hurting |
|
| The Hurting / Sowing the Seeds of Love |
|
| 3 Original CDs |
|
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Ready Boy & Girls? |
|
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [1][28][29] |
AUS [2][26] |
BEL (FL) [30] |
CAN [31] |
FRA [32] |
GER [5] |
IRE [33] |
ITA [6][34] |
NL [8] |
NZ [9] |
US [35] | ||||
| "Suffer the Children" | 1981 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Hurting | |
| "Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love)"[B] | 1982 | — | — | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Mad World" | 3 | 12 | — | — | 73[C] | 21 | 6 | — | — | 25 | — |
| ||
| "Change" | 1983 | 4 | 29 | 30 | 23 | — | — | 8 | 14 | 32 | 36 | 73 |
| |
| "Pale Shelter" (1983 version)[B] | 5 | — | — | — | — | 25 | 5 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "The Way You Are" | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "Mothers Talk" | 1984 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | — | — | 50 | — | Songs from the Big Chair | |
| "Shout" | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1[D] | |||
| "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" | 1985 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 11 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1[D] | ||
| "Head over Heels" | 12 | 21 | 18 | 8 | — | 55 | 5 | — | 29 | 12 | 3 |
| ||
| "Suffer the Children" (reissue) | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Hurting | ||
| "Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love)" (reissue) | 73 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording)" | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | 28 | — | Songs from the Big Chair | ||
| "Mothers Talk" (US remix) | 1986 | — | — | — | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | ||
| "Everybody Wants to Run the World" | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "Sowing the Seeds of Love" | 1989 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | The Seeds of Love | |
| "Woman in Chains" (featuring Oleta Adams) |
26 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 20 | 45 | 21 | 14 | 16 | 34 | 36 | |||
| "Advice for the Young at Heart" | 1990 | 36 | 116 | 34 | 25 | 31 | 51 | 15 | — | 22 | — | 89 | ||
| "Famous Last Words" | 83 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams"[E] | 1991 | 70 | 152 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" | 1992 | 17 | 130 | 49 | 28 | 15 | 40 | — | 6 | 27 | — | —[F] | Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82–92) | |
| "Woman in Chains" (reissue) | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Break It Down Again" | 1993 | 20 | 82 | 49 | 4 | 19 | 66 | — | 10 | 27 | — | 25 | Elemental | |
| "Cold" | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Goodnight Song"[G] | — | — | — | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 125 | |||
| "Elemental"[H] | 1994 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" | 1995 | 31 | — | 39 | — | — | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | Raoul and the Kings of Spain | |
| "God's Mistake" | 61 | — | — | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 102 | |||
| "Secrets"[I] | 1996 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Falling Down"[J] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Call Me Mellow"[K] | 2004 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 45 | — | — | —[L] | Everybody Loves a Happy Ending | |
| "Closest Thing to Heaven" | 2005 | 40 | — | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | 70 | — | — | ||
| "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending" / "Call Me Mellow" | 102[M] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Secret World"[N] | 2006 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Secret World – Live in Paris | |
| "I Love You but I'm Lost" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Rule the World: The Greatest Hits | |
| "The Tipping Point" | 2021 | —[O] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —[P] | The Tipping Point | |
| "No Small Thing" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Break the Man"[44] | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "My Demons"[45] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Long, Long, Long Time"[46] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Rivers of Mercy"[47] | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "The Girl That I Call Home"[48] | 2024 | —[Q] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Songs for a Nervous Planet | |
| "Astronaut"[50] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| The Videosingles |
|
| In My Mind's Eye |
|
| Scenes from the Big Chair |
|
| Sowing the Seeds |
|
| Going to California |
|
| Knebworth '90 |
|
| Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82–92) |
|
| 20th Century Masters: The DVD Collection – The Best of Tears for Fears |
|
| Classic – The Universal Masters DVD Collection |
|
| Gold: The Videos |
|
| Title | Year | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "Mad World" | 1982 | Clive Richardson |
| "Change" | 1983 | |
| "Pale Shelter" | Steve Barron | |
| "The Way You Are" | Unknown | |
| "Mothers Talk" (version 1) | 1984 | Laurie Lewis |
| "Mothers Talk" (version 2) | Nigel Dick | |
| "Shout" | ||
| "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" | 1985 | |
| "Head over Heels" | ||
| "I Believe" | ||
| "Mothers Talk" (US remix) | 1986 | |
| "Sowing the Seeds of Love" | 1989 | Jim Blashfield |
| "Woman in Chains" | Andy Morahan | |
| "Advice for the Young at Heart" | 1990 | |
| "Famous Last Words" | Nigel Dick | |
| "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" | 1992 | Paul Donnellon |
| "Break It Down Again" | 1993 | Dani Jacobs |
| "Cold" | Unknown | |
| "Goodnight Song" | Dani Jacobs | |
| "Elemental" | 1994 | Samuel Bayer |
| "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" | 1995 | Cameron Casey |
| "God's Mistake" | ||
| "Secrets" (version 1) | 1996 | |
| "Secrets" (version 2) | Roland Orzabal | |
| "Falling Down" | ||
| "Closest Thing to Heaven" | 2005 | Michael Palmieri |
| "I Love You but I'm Lost" | 2017 | Morgan Freed[51] |
| "The Tipping Point" | 2021 | Matt Mahurin |
| "No Small Thing" | Vern Moen | |
| "Break the Man" | 2022 | WeWereMonkeys |
| "My Demons" | Heather Gildroy | |
| "Long, Long, Long Time" | Heather Gildroy and Justin Daashuur Hopkins | |
| "The Girl That I Call Home" | 2024 | |
| "Astronaut" |
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