Songs from the Big Chair

Originally, the album was to be titled The Working Hour, but Roland Orzabal fought to change it to Songs from the Big Chair,[5] which was derived from the 1976 television film Sybil about a woman with multiple personality disorder who only feels safe when she is sitting in her analyst's "big chair". The title of the album reflects the bands view of being targeted by a hostile English music press at the time.[6]

In an interview for the 2006 deluxe version booklet, Curt Smith noted that "We were very introverted on The Hurting; it was a very dark album. We found the need to be more outgoing on The Big Chair".[7]

The band started to generate new material around the beginning of 1984. The first song written for the album was "Head Over Heels", which the band played live during a tour undertaken between the two albums.[7]

While a mostly-instrumental track called "The Big Chair" (which includes dialogue samples from the film) was released as the B-side of "Shout" in 1984, it was not included on the album (but was available on its "special limited edition" cassette version, released in the UK in 1985).

The album was recorded at The Wool Hall in 1984. Conceptually and musically it was a development of the bands previous album The Hurting, re-introducing guitars to their electronic sound and an overall lighter approach than before. Early songs written for the album included "Head over Heels" and "The Working Hour". "Mothers Talk" was released months before the album as a single. These songs, as well as "We Are Broken", were all performed on Tears for Fears 1983 tour.[8] The song "Shout" became a central work during the recording of the album, and the band and producer Chris Hughes spent months working on that track alone.[9]

The songwriting uses many different styles and influences, particularly has progressive rock been cited as a main influence on the album.[10] "I Believe" was influenced by the songwriting of Robert Wyatt.[11] "Broken", featuring a straightforward rock sound, was a reworking of an earlier song and a live version is repeated at the end of "Head over Heels", while the largely instrumental "Listen" has been described as a symphonic piece.[11]

Near the end of the completion of the album Roland Orzabal played two simple chords on his acoustic guitar that was the foundation of the song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". Initially not very interested to work on it, Orzabal was convinced to write a song based on those two chords and eventually added the chorus line. The most straightforward song on the album, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was completed in about a week and the last track recorded for the album.[9]

Songs from the Big Chair was released on 25 February 1985[1] with a black and white photograph of Orzabal and Smith on the record cover.

The album reached number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and spawned five commercially successful singles "Mothers Talk" (UK #14), "Shout" (UK #4), "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (UK #2),[12] "Head over Heels" (UK #12),[13] and "I Believe" (UK #23).[14]

The radio-friendly "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" marked the bands breakthrough in the US, both the single (followed by a second US number one with "Shout") and the album reached number one on the american charts, and Songs From the Big Chair went on to sell five million copies in the US alone.[1] In the UK the album spent 79 consecutive weeks on the album chart, remaining on the chart for eighteen months until September 1986.[14]

To mark the album's 30th anniversary, Universal Music released the album in five different formats on 10 November 2014, including a 6-disc Super Deluxe Edition which includes four CDs and two DVDs (1 audio, 1 video).[15]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[16]
Consequence	A+[17]
The Guardian	[18]
Mojo	[19]
Pitchfork	8.9/10[11]
Q	[20]
Record Collector	[21]
Record Mirror	[22]
Smash Hits	8/10[23]
The Village Voice	B[24]

Songs from the Big Chair received critical acclaim. Barry McIlheney of Melody Maker wrote that "none of you should really be too surprised that Tears for Fears have made such an excellent album", calling it "an album that fully justifies the rather sneering, told-you-so looks adopted by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal on the sleeve", before concluding, "An awful lot of people will, of course, go on and on about overcoats, The Lotus Eaters and an alleged lack of depth. And an awful lot of people will have to eat an awful lot of words."[25] Ian Cranna of Smash Hits described the album as "looser, more exploratory" than the band's previous work and praised its "unflinching lyrical honesty".[23] Rolling Stone reviewer Don Shewey found Tears for Fears reminiscent of various other acts, noting traces of "U2's social conscience, the Bunnymen's echoing guitars and XTC's contorted pop wit" in the album's music, but commented that Chris Hughes' "sparkling" production "nudges Songs from the Big Chair slightly ahead of the pack".[26]

Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in his review for The Village Voice, observing some substantial lyrics, particularly on "The Working Hour", and musical elements such as an "uncommon command of guitar and piano, Baker Street sax, synthesizers more jagged than is deemed mete by the arbiters of dance-pop accessibility." However, he felt these are all beneath a prevailing "portentous" mood suggesting "a depth and drama English lads have been falling short on since the dawn of progressive rock."[24]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stanton Swihart wrote that Songs from the Big Chair "heralded a dramatic maturation in the band's music, away from the synth-pop brand with which it was (unjustly) seared following the debut, and towards a complex, enveloping pop sophistication", deeming it "one of the finest statements of the decade."[16] Mark Elliott of Record Collector said that the album found Tears for Fears "making it big, coating their consistently interesting material in a high-gloss commercial sheen that captured the mid-80s zeitgeist perfectly",[21] while Q highlighted its "sound of spotlit, spacious sophistication plus anthemic choruses you'd bet your house on."[27] Writing for Stylus Magazine in 2006, Andrew Unterberger concluded that "even today, when all rock musicians seem to be able to do is be emotional and honest, the brutality and power of Songs from the Big Chair's catharsis is still quite shocking."[28] Songs from the Big Chair was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[29] Slant Magazine ranked the record at number 95 on its list of the best albums of the 1980s.[30]

In February 2020, the album was the focus of an episode of the BBC's Classic Albums documentary series. The episode included new interviews with key personnel including Orzabal, Smith, Ian Stanley, producer Chris Hughes, engineer Dave Bascombe, and A&R man David Bates. Additional interviewees included Oleta Adams and John Grant.[5]

Deluxe Edition

Super Deluxe Edition

Tears for Fears

• Roland Orzabal – vocals, keyboards, guitars, synth bass (1), LinnDrum programming (1), grand piano (5)
• Curt Smith – vocals, bass guitar, synth bass (3) [31]
• Ian Stanley – keyboards, LinnDrum programming, arrangements (8)
• Manny Elias – drums (2-7), drum arrangement (2)

Additional personnel

• "Shout": Chris Hughes – drums, Sandy McLelland – backing vocals
• "The Working Hour": Andy Davis – grand piano, Mel Collins – saxophone, Will Gregory – saxophone solos, Jerry Marotta – percussion and saxophone arrangements
• "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": Neil Taylor – second guitar solo, Chris Hughes – LinnDrum and MIDI programming
• "Mothers Talk": Stevie Lange – backing vocals
• "I Believe": Will Gregory – saxophone
• "Broken": Neil Taylor – guitar solo
• "Head Over Heels": Andy Davis – grand piano, Marilyn Davis – backing vocals, Annie McCaig – backing vocals, Sandy McLelland – backing vocals
• "Listen": Marilyn Davis – operatic vocal

• "The Big Chair": samples dialogue from Sybil (1976 film)

• Chris Hughes – producer
• Dave Bascombe – engineer
• Tim O'Sullivan – cover photography
• Paul King – management

• Songs from the Big Chair at Discogs (list of releases)