Extras:

16-page foldout with photos and lyrics and extensive description of the recording process of the album

A paper with a code to access the Blu-ray disc digital downloads online

The Hurting - Tears for Fears Track Listing:
1. "The Hurting" – 4:20
2. "Mad World" – 3:35
3. "Pale Shelter" – 4:34
4. "Ideas as Opiates" – 3:46
5. "Memories Fade" – 5:08
6. "Suffer the Children" – 3:53
7. "Watch Me Bleed" – 4:18
8. "Change" – 4:15
9. "The Prisoner" – 2:55
10."Start of the Breakdown" – 5:00

NOTE: The Blu-ray audio does NOT contain tracks 11-14 as found on the 1999 'Remastered and Expanded' CD version:
"Pale Shelter" (Long Version) – 7:09
"The Way You Are" (Extended) – 7:43
"Mad World" (World Remix) – 3:42
"Change" (Extended Version) – 6:00

Nor does it have any of the tracks of the 30th Anniversary reissues that were released on the 21st of October 2013, in both double CD and deluxe 4-disc boxed set editions.

The Hurting would have been a daring debut for a pop-oriented band in any era, but it was an unexpected success in England in 1983, mostly by virtue of its makers' ability to package an unpleasant subject -- the psychologically wretched family histories of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith -- in an attractive and sellable musical format. Not that there weren't a few predecessors, most obviously John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band album -- which was also, not coincidentally, inspired by the work of primal scream pioneer Arthur Janov. (But Lennon had the advantage of being an ex-Beatle when that meant the equivalent to having a box next to God's in the great arena of life, where Tears for Fears were just starting out.) Decades later, "Pale Shelter," "Ideas as Opiates," "Memories Fade," "Suffer the Children," "Watch Me Bleed," "Change," and "Start of the Breakdown" are powerful pieces of music, beautifully executed in an almost minimalist style. "Memories Fade" offers emotional resonances reminiscent of "Working Class Hero," while "Pale Shelter" functions on a wholly different level, an exquisite sonic painting sweeping the listener up in layers of pulsing synthesizers, acoustic guitar arpeggios, and sheets of electronic sound (and anticipating the sonic texture, if not the precise sound of their international breakthrough pop hit "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"). The work is sometimes uncomfortably personal, but musically compelling enough to bring it back across the decades.

Adopters of Blu-ray immediately notice that lossless audio transfer is one of the most valuable benefits of this new format. It is pristinely clean and crisp. Tears for Fears use non-conventional variety of audio effects (see start of Ideas As Opiates) and the deep bass and pure vocals sound very impressive. the album had fabulous production which benefits greatly by these lossless transfer(s).

The reported glitch on Ideas As Opiates, at approximately 2:25 may be duplicated on this Blu-ray Audio. Not having the CD to compare with I can't be positive but there is an odd group of noises at that mark. Whether it was intentional, a mistake or has been corrected is another matter.  

My Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE disc (like CDs) playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras :

BOTTOM LINE:
This is NOT a no-brainer call - we still have disappointment at not fulfilling the potential of this new format and only 41-minutes of music (when the disc could have held hours!) and only 2.0 channel options.  We also lose the tracks 11-14 as found on the 1999 'Remastered and Expanded' CD version or the additional tracks of the 30th Anniversary reissues - of last year, in both double CD and deluxe 4-disc boxed set editions. They are not present on this Blu-ray. When, they could have been. That would have sealed the deal for this release.

I'd consider myself a fan of Tears for Fears although, unbelievably, I never owned this debut album. My favorite was probably Songs From The Big Chair; with Shout, Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Mothers Talk, I Believe, Head Over Heels / Broken etc.  I would sooner hope for a more complete Blu-ray Audio package although this has so much going for it... in just the first three tracks! We've reviewed other BD Audio discs that I would suggest before this (Songs in the Key of Life or Ella + Louis) although both are totally different music. The level of purity is enticing for serious fans - since I didn't own the CD (and there is no SACD) this is the significantly superior option. Let's hope the format advances with more new titles in 24 bit / 96 khz quality, and more content per disc, in the near future.

Gary Tooze

February 3rd, 2014