Raoul and the Kings of Spain

Raoul and the Kings of Spain is the fifth studio album by the British pop-rock band Tears for Fears, released on 10 October 1995. Like the band's previous album, Elemental (1993), it is essentially a solo effort by Roland Orzabal—neither album being made with the involvement of Curt Smith who had left the band at that time.

Raoul and the Kings of Spain
Studio album by
Tears for Fears
Released10 October 1995
Recorded1993–1994 at Neptune's Kitchen (England) and Record Plant (Los Angeles, CA, USA).
GenrePop rock, spanish folk, progressive pop
Length50:16
LabelEpic
Cherry Pop (2009 reissue)
ProducerTim Palmer
Roland Orzabal
Alan Griffiths
Tears for Fears chronology
Elemental
(1993)		 Raoul and the Kings of Spain
(1995)		 Saturnine Martial & Lunatic
(1996)
Singles from Raoul and the Kings of Spain
  1. "Raoul and the Kings of Spain"
    Released: 25 September 1995
  2. "God's Mistake"
    Released: October 1995 (US)/17 June 1996 (UK)
  3. "Secrets"
    Released: January 1996 (US)
  4. "Falling Down"
    Released: February 1996
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyC[2]

Orzabal's primary musical collaborator for Raoul and the Kings of Spain was Alan Griffiths, who acted in the same role for Elemental. Raoul and the Kings of Spain also retained producer Tim Palmer from Elemental. Orzabal and Griffiths would go on to collaborate on Orzabal's nominal debut solo album Tomcats Screaming Outside (2001).

Background

The album, according to Orzabal, has a recurring theme of familial relationships and delves into his own Spanish heritage. The album's title was mooted as far back as the 1980s as a possible contender for the band's third album (which ultimately became The Seeds of Love). Raoul was originally Orzabal's first name given at birth before being anglicized by his parents to Roland (Orzabal later gave the name "Raoul" to his first son, born in 1991).

The album was originally scheduled to be released by Mercury Records but the project was cancelled after Tears for Fears left the label to sign with Sony/Epic Records. The album was eventually released by Sony in October 1995 with a slightly different track listing and new cover art.

The album peaked at #41 in the UK and #79 in the US, but was more successful in continental Europe, reaching #23 in Italy, #13 in Belgium (Wallonia)[3] and #5 in France. It was poorly received by critics, with much of the criticism directed at Orzabal's lyrics, which Tom Demalon of Allmusic described as "either inscrutable or embarrassingly silly". He also described some of the album's musical arrangements as "genuinely pretty, if unexciting".

The album features a reunion with Oleta Adams, who had recorded and toured extensively with the band for The Seeds of Love album, and here duets with Orzabal on the track "Me and My Big Ideas".

The front cover photo titled, Running Them In at Pamplona, is by Jose Galle and is a depiction of the annual "Running of the Bulls" festival held in Pamplona in Spain. Several inner sleeve photographs were by David Tack, taken from his book Impressions of Spain published by Quartet (the Bullfighter on Horseback on page 4 is Rafael Peralta, a renowned Spanish Rejoneador bullfighter). Inner sleeve photos of Roland Orzabal were taken by Pamela Springsteen, shot at the historic Mission Inn in Riverside, California, where the promo video for "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" was filmed.

Subsequent to Raoul and the Kings of Spain, Roland Orzabal dispensed with the Tears for Fears name and released the album Tomcats Screaming Outside (2001) under his own name. After reuniting with Curt Smith in 2000, Orzabal reactivated the band name and Tears for Fears' sixth album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, was released in 2004.

Raoul and the Kings of Spain was re-released in August 2009 by Cherry Pop Records,[4] complete with seven bonus tracks (see below).

Track listing
1994 promotional CD (Mercury[5]
No.TitleWriter(s)NotesLength
1."Raoul and the Kings of Spain"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
 5:17
2."Falling Down"Roland Orzabal 4:55
3."Secrets"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
 4:42
4."God's Mistake"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
 3:47
5."Sketches of Pain"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
Mislabeled on CD back insert as "Sketches of Spain"; the actual title of the track is a play on the Miles Davis album by that name4:21
6."Los Reyes Católicos"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
 1:48
7."Sorry"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
 4:48
8."Queen of Compromise"
 3:52
9."Don't Drink the Water"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
 4:56
10."Me and My Big Ideas"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
 4:33
11."Los Reyes Católicos"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
Mislabeled on CD back insert as "Los Retes Catolicos"3:43
1995 release (Sony/Epic Records)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Raoul and the Kings of Spain"
  • Roland Orzabal
  • Alan Griffiths
5:16
2."Falling Down"Orzabal4:56
3."Secrets"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
4:42
4."God's Mistake"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
3:47
5."Sketches of Pain"Orzabal4:21
6."Los Reyes Católicos"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
1:44
7."Sorry"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
4:48
8."Humdrum and Humble"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
4:11
9."I Choose You"Orzabal3:26
10."Don't Drink the Water"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
4:51
11."Me and My Big Ideas"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
4:33
12."Los Reyes Católicos (Reprise)"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
3:43
Bonus tracks (2009 Cherry Red Records reissue)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."All of the Angels"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
4:31
14."The Madness of Roland"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
5:10
15."Queen of Compromise"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
  • MacLeod
  • Bruni
  • Dorsey
3:57
16."Until I Drown"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
3:23
17."War of Attrition"
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
3:45
18."Raoul and the Kings of Spain" (acoustic)
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
4:29
19."Break It Down Again" (acoustic)
  • Orzabal
  • Griffiths
3:14

Note

  • Due to the band's label switch to Sony in 1994, none of the B-sides from the album's singles (tracks 13–17 on the 2009 reissue) are included on the Tears for Fears B-sides collection Saturnine Martial & Lunatic, which was released in 1996 by Phonogram/Mercury, the band's old record company.

Personnel

Tears for Fears

Additional personnel

Production
  • Producers – Tim Palmer (Tracks 1–7, 10, 11 & 12); Roland Orzabal and Alan Griffiths (Tracks 8 & 9).
  • Engineer – Mark O'Donoughue
  • Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering (Portland, ME).
  • Album Coordinators – Jason Geake and Philippa Sprigg
  • Design – Gail Marowitz
  • Front Cover Photo – Jose Galle
  • Inner Sleeve Photos – David Tack and Pamela Springsteen
  • Management – Debra Baum, Whirlwind Entertainment Group Inc.

Charts
Chart Position
UK 41
BELGIUM (Wallona) 13
CANADA 62
FRANCE 5
GERMANY 88
ITALY 23
NETHERLANDS 70
SWITZERLAND 42
US (Billboard Top 200) 79

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1995 "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" UK Singles Chart 31
1996 "God's Mistake" UK Singles Chart 62

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Entertainment Weekly review
  4. Cherry Pop reissue, August 2009 Archived 2 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Raoul and the Kings of Spain Canadian Promo CD
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