Tomcats Screaming Outside

Biography

Tomcats Screaming Outside is the first solo album from British musician Roland Orzabal of the group Tears for Fears, and was released on 2 April 2001. Although Orzabal had effectively made two solo albums under the Tears for Fears moniker in the 1990s (following the departure of bandmate Curt Smith), this was the first recording to be released under his own name. This album was Orzabal's last to feature contributions from Alan Griffiths, who co-wrote most of the tracks on this album as well as t...

Tomcats Screaming Outside is the first solo album from British musician Roland Orzabal of the group Tears for Fears, and was released on 2 April 2001. Although Orzabal had effectively made two solo albums under the Tears for Fears moniker in the 1990s (following the departure of bandmate Curt Smith), this was the first recording to be released under his own name. This album was Orzabal's last to feature contributions from Alan Griffiths, who co-wrote most of the tracks on this album as well as the previous two Tears for Fears albums. The album was given a low-key release and did not chart, but earned some critical acclaim for its clever melding of pop songwriting and drum 'n bass, ambient techno and trip hop textures. Dan Gennoe claimed in the Amazon.com's editorial review: "Solo album or not, Tomcats Screaming Outside is the best Tears for Fears album in a decade." In a 2000 interview Orzabal commented on his influences for the album: "I started out with an absolute concrete vision of where I wanted to go so I started with a very different rhythm approach, with drum and bass/jungle...and I ended up with something that wasn't the original plan." The US release of the album (on Gold Circle Records) had the unfortunate coincidence to be released on September 11, 2001 the same day the United States experienced its worst-ever terrorist attack, and drew little notice outside TFF's core fan base. "Low Life" was the first single from the album. Plans to release the single in the UK were scrapped at the last minute, although it did see a commercial release in mainland Europe. "Low Life" was also played in the US on adult alternative radio. "For the Love of Cain" was planned as the second single release from the album, but it was cancelled since the first single had no chart success in Germany. Only a limited amount of copies were sold through Orzabal's official website. Roland Orzabal - guitar, keyboards, programming, vocals Alan Griffiths - guitar, keyboards, programming David Sutton - bass, guitar (bass) Nick D'Virgilio - drums Mark O'Donoughue - engineer, mixing Curtis Evans - design Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.