Reissue Theory: Tears for Fears, “Elemental”

One of the hardest parts of being a reissue fan is waiting. Sometimes a project will get announced, then delayed or cancelled outright. Those long gaps between reissues can be irksome, particularly when the delay time fails to lead to any improvement or innovation in the packaging and presentation of a catalogue title.

Other times, though, the reason behind the lack of a reissue is simply that nobody thinks to re-release it. Take, for instance, one of the better bands of the 1980s – Tears for Fears. About a decade ago, Mercury treated the three classic TFF LPs (those fronted by both founding members, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith) to a digital remaster with a host of bonus tracks. Three other studio albums rest in the band’s discography: Elemental (1993) and Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995) were the two TFF albums with only Orzabal at the helm, and latest effort Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (2004) reunited the duo to a receptive audience.

Happy Ending, due to its relative newness, probably won’t be due for a reissue anytime soon, but Raoul got a nice reissue last year from the Cherry Pop label – a reissue that did a good job of reintroducing perhaps the oddest album in the band’s catalogue. That just leaves Elemental as the only TFF LP having never received a reissue of any kind.

It’s a darn solid album – bolstered by some upbeat rockers like “Break It Down Again” and “Cold” – and like all TFF records, it had its fair share of B-side material that would complement a new reissue for sure. Perhaps someday, Cherry Pop (or someone else) will give Elemental the revisiting it deserves; until then, have a look at The Second Disc’s Reissue Theory treatment of the album after the jump.

Boldly Going Back

Man, it’s been a good week for Star Trek music enthusiasts. First Film Score Monthly announces a brand-new deluxe reissue of James Horner’s score to Star Trek III: The Search for Spock last week. And now, Varese Sarabande has jumped ahead on the Trek timeline to give fans another new deluxe set: starting June 14, the label will ship Star Trek: The Deluxe Edition, featuring the complete score to last year’s fantastic reboot of the sci-fi series.

As if the movie wasn’t great enough on its own (and this is coming from a longtime Star Wars fan), it had a delightful score composed by Michael Giacchino, one of the hardest-working composers in the business today. Pixar fans will know his name for his killer scores to The Incredibles, Ratatouille and Up (the latter a deserved Oscar winner earlier this year), but he’s also made a name for himself as a video-game composer (where he earned high praise for his musical score to the Medal of Honor series) and in television (where he’s set the shows of J.J. Abrams – Alias, Fringe and Lost – to his scores).

Now, Giacchino’s score to the new Trek – which deftly added new motifs for Kirk, Spock and company alongside Alexander Courage’s original television theme song – has been given the expansion it deserves. It’s a two-disc affair packaged in a Blu-Ray-sized case with liner notes penned by Kerry Quinn, founder of iconic sci-fi/fantasy magazine Starlog.

Unsurprisingly, this set is limited (5000 copies) and will likely sell fast. Get it here and warp past the jump to preview the track list.

The Second Disc State of the Union

Readers: we need to talk. It’s nothing bad. The Second Disc isn’t going away, isn’t reducing its output, nothing like that. We just need to talk about a few things.

Around five months ago, The Second Disc was started with a list of great reissues that were released in 2009. It was a post copied from a Facebook note written some weeks before. A modest beginning, to be sure. It’s hard to have high expectations about anything you’re just starting out on, particularly a blog. How many blogs must pass through the Internet day after day, never to be updated past a few early bursts of creativity?

It is now five months later, and it is estimated that, within 48 hours, The Second Disc will have accumulated more than 50,000 hits in five months. Again, not a big deal – but in fact, it is. It is a very big deal.