Tomcats Screaming Outside by Roland Orzabal

Tomcats Screaming Outside is the first (and to date only) 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), Elemental and Raoul and the Kings of Spain, 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 and bass, ambient techno and trip hop textures. Dan Gennoe claimed in 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 Tears for Fears' core fan base.