Customer Reviews

Songs From the Big Chair

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tears For Fears music has endured very well, far better than alot of music from the 1980s. What TFF put in their music was depth and creativity, something alot of other music at the time and especially now lacks.

There were two huge hits off The Big Chair. Shout is one of the angriest and heaviest songs with it's blasting guitars and angry lyrics. Everybody Wants To Rule The World is the other one. EWTRTW is one of the best songs that 1985 offered. There was one lesser hit and that was Head Over Heals.

In my opinion I like the parent album version more than the version on both the Tears Roll Down(Greatest Hits 82-92) & Shout: Very Best Of TFF mainly because the song ends with a live performance of Broken as an attachment for a more incredible listen.

The best song though in my opinion is The Working Hour. This track my favorite song off The Big Chair. It's a very intense song that begins with as an eerie track but then African drums come in and then a huge wash of powerful synthesizers and rock guitars come in.

The other track to point out is the final track(On the 8 song editon of this CD)Listen. Listen is a very apocolyptic song with a cold brooding atmosphere that is more intensified with the industrial mechanical beats and sound effects combined with dark melodies.

The Big Chair was re-issued in 1999 with seven bonus tracks added. The Big Chair(song title), Empire Building, & Marauders are also available on the brilliant B-Sides rarities collection Saturning Martial Lunatic. One track called The Conflict was previously unrealeased. The other three are remixes.

For those who might be turned off by the excessively abstract bonus tracks I wouls say get the older edition but for those want to start their TFF collections get the remastered editions of their first three albums. They're all worth owning.

A great album that was very well handled in it's reissue The Big Chair deserves a place in everyones music collection.

After this TFF would morph into a whole different sound with the artistic pinnacle known as The Seeds Of Love

"Songs From the Big Chair" was the first CD I ever bought, which I did about four months before I actually had a CD player (stockpiling for new technology is a dominant gene). But this was one of the first really hot CDs and it was where I got my infamous "three song rule." This rule states: If you are interested in an album by a new group all you need to justify the purchase is for the album to have three solid songs you would like to have. This one offered up "Shout," "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Head Over Heels." The first two made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and last one topped off at #3. Of course the album went to the top of the charts as well, but more importantly there are other interesting tracks on the album besides the big three. "Heads Over Heels" is actually part of a suite with "Broken," and both "The Working Hour" and "Listen" are above average.

This edition offers up extended mixes of "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" as bonus tracks, but they are hardly necessary to justify having this album in your music collection. I still listen to "Songs From the Big Chair" about once a month and there is always a touch of regret that Tears for Fears self-destructed. The group produced a rather unique blend of synth-pop that made it stand out from most of what was going on in 1985 and the lyrics would have made for nice essay questions on a psychoanalysis exam:

They gave you life

And in return you gave them hell

As cold as ice

I hope we live to tell the tale

Who would have thought that Arthur Janov's primal scream theory would result in deep lyrics? But then the group's name comes from that same source and the whole idea was much more in evidence on their debut album "Hurting" ("Mad World" from that album is reworked to great effect by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules at the end of the cult film "Donnie Darko," which also used "Head Over Heels" to make Tears for Fears the official group of the film). Such ideas are still in evidence on this album, but if "Hurting" is about emotional pain then "Songs From the Big Chair" is moving on to the healing process. This is not exactly a concept album, but the songs do fit together in a way that suggests a definite sense of direction. But then when they start singing about four leaf clovers and do a techno-rap song like "Mother's Talk" you are just going to lose people who are going to go back to the melodies and not bother to figure out the words and dive for deeper meanings.

Looking at the writing credits on these songs you would have said Tears for Fears was clearly Roland Orzabal's group, but by the time Curt Smith bolted they had produced only one more album in three years which had one decent song on it. So Tears of Fears does not exactly come under the heading of a One Hit Wonder, but they certainly only had the solid really great album. However, unlike other groups you might point to in similar circumstances from this same time period (e.g., A-Ha, Mr. Mister), this was the group I really thought had the musical talent to build on. In retrospect, I think it is clear that they did have the talent and Tears for Fears is arguably the most memorable "lost" group of that period.

Some of these tunes I still can't get enough of: the timeless summer-romance quality of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", the powerful "Shout", the subtle "Working Hour", and the angst-ridden "Head Over Heels".

*Sigh*...having to grow up from those grade 8 days...

This review pertains to the original 1990 release, not to the remastered 2001 version with the extra tracks.

"Songs from The Big Chair" is Tears for Fears' (TFF) sophomore release and exhibits some of the group's best music. This CD gets deep into the matter that makes up TFF. From angst to love to a deep understanding of life and the things that make up life, "Big Chair" is a testament to the feelings we as human beings experience throughout our lives. Several different musical styles are exhibited, from pop synth to jazz, to rock, to ambient, and even pop/synth/classical with a little tint of operatic counterpoint in "Listen."

While many listeners concentrate on TFF's hit songs, listening to the music "within" the music brings to the surface many tonal colors and nuances that are clearly not evident in the radio-edit versions of these works. This extra music adds to the flavor of the moment and colors the songs in various shades of light and dark that serve to enhance the emotions stimulated therein. This is especially evident in the songs "Shout," "The Working Hour," "I Believe," "Head Over Heels" and "Listen."

"Songs from The Big Chair" is considered by many to be the album that most defines TFF's music. It is both open and expressive, exhibitionist and extroverted, while at the same time personal and introspective. While other artists have successfully exploited these feelings in their music, Tears for Fears does it in a way that uniquely defines them.

"Songs from the Big Chair" is a great album. Period.

Songs like "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" made it big, but the entire album from beginning to end hooks you and doesn't let go. There's a mystical, haunting thread that runs through the entire thing. "I Believe" is one of the most beautiful songs every produced. While that tune is a world away from the harsh "Mother's Talk" there's still that same haunting background melody going just bellow the surface in both songs.

I could say more, but I think everyone should buy this album, so you can listen for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

You've probably heard most of the "best" songs on this album already, as Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule... were played to death in the 80's. Knowing this, I don't know why I bought this album, let alone the gold enhanced edition, but I soon discovered it was well worth it due to the sheer power of one, slightly more obscure, song in particular, the Working Hour. I love the way the drums build up, it honestly gives me the shivers every time. Plus, the rest of the album isn't bad either.

I was probaly 11 when I first started listening to my brother's Tears For Fears cd. It was great and I've listened to it ever since. I'm a big fan now, and that was only 2 years ago. I love 80s music, and if you do too, this album is a must. It's emotional and has some really great songs on there. Today, with so many empty songs everywhere, it's nice to listen to these guys sing with such meaningful and emotional lyrics.

I got this album on the day my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1987. It helped me get through the next three months until his death. Roland Orzabal sings with such feeling and emotion - he helped me to confront the sadness and anger I felt over the loss of my dad. The song "Shout" is a great release (in both meanings of the word), and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is wonderful during a long drive to think things over. But it is "I Believe" - so sweet and true - that lets you know things will get better. I find it hard to listen to this album now - but every now and then you need to return to a time when you learned about what is really important in your life - and music can take you back.

Head Over Heels. Man, that is a great ballad

I cannot improve on any of the comments that heap praise on this album. It really is an 80's masterpiece.

Back in 2003, I had forgotten the title of my favorite song, "Funny How Time Flies" and had to call a DJ at KBIG 104.3 FM in Los Angeles, California to get the aforementioned title.

Title in hand, I went down to Tower Records on Sunset (in West Hollywood) to pick up the disk. Tower only had the GOLD Master Discs, for $26/US. Expensive, yes! But, I snapped it up anyway.

By the prices I see now for the Gold Master Disc on Amazon ($90/US+), it seems that I made quite the bargain!

Five Stars!