Customer Reviews

Songs From the Big Chair

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This stunning album was the pinnacle of 80's UK invasion pop/rock, and a great album with 4 classic singles. An extremely cool reissue, with all the b-sides and 7" versions included, and the 12" singles section of disc 2 contains Shout (and it's dub), Mothers Talk, and Head Over Heals exactly as they were released on 12" single in America, but the version of Everybody Wants To Rule The World is the Urban Mix released in the UK, not the very different and superior "Extended Version" released on 12" in the USA in March 1985. Almost perfect....

When you look at this deluxe set it seems incredible the amount of material that you get--b-sides single mixes and 12" remixes. Please note that most of the b-sides offered are instrumental early versions of songs that made it on the album. Only the marauders and sea song seem up to par with the album itself. The much touted a-side is from a few years earlier and fits more closely with the hurting album. I liked the 12" remixes as primitive as they sound by todays standards, but I challenge anyone to listen to track 11 which consists of someone repeating "James Brown" close to 100 times, similar to the tom tom clubs genius of love in trying to add credibilty? to the recording. Stars are for the album itself.

Well, I would have given this a full "Five" star review but as a collector of their work with everything from vinyl to CD, I can't understand WHY they put the single version of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" when it's the same as the album version?! Anyway, they could have used the U.S.12" remix of this track instead of wasting time on the same track twice. Other then that, a great addition in which I had all the original sources and all collected together for this double CD set. I also recommend picking up the all there CD's up to "Sowing The Seeds Of Love" & the others if you really get into this band. I am also on the web which you search "Judemac Forever" on msn.

The original album- 8 songs- is a five star album. I can listen to it straight through without any problem. I also don't mind the remastered edition that came out a few years ago that expanded this to 15 tracks. It has most of the same bsides/bonus tracks found here- but you can get it for half the price of this. So what do you get for the extra $15 here? 12 remixes. Big deal. I don't need to hear 4 versions of Shout in one sitting. Do yourself a favor and get the single disc of this for half the price, OR get Chonicles instead: It has the same 15 track remastered and expanded version of this album PLUS you get the expanded and remastered Hurting and Sowing the Seeds of Love CDS- 26 other (great) songs instead of 12 (boring) remixes. That's 3 expanded remastered CDs for the same price as this bloated mess.

Songs from the Big Chair, the original version, is comparable to the Beatles Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. However, the enhanced version of Songs from the Big Chair, just gave the artist something to do to re-release a great great CD. My advise is to buy the original release and forget the trashed disco-ed. hip-hoped inventions of their MASTER PIECE- Songs From the Big Chair.

I enjoyed the original album tracks much more with the cleaner, remastered sound on this Deluxe edition. The individual guitars and keyboards and vocals stand out more, whereas on the original CD release they seemed to blend in together into homogeneous sonic pudding. The remastering lets you hear the complexity and mastery of the mixing. And the soaring vocals are purer and smoother as well. I should add that the original US vinyl (if in prime condition) is more detailed and vivid than the Deluxe Edition CD, though that might not be a practical option for a lot of buyers. The Deluxe CD sounds very good, and if you can reproduce it properly, the original vinyl sounds very, very good.

Few of the Deluxe extras are of much use to me.

Most if not all of the B-sides are available on the earlier release "Saturnine, Martial, and Lunatic," which I already own. I found the B-sides so-so, except for Pharaohs, which is a beautiful keyboard chord progression mixed with a recording of a British weather report and snippets of guitar phrases from Everybody Wants To Rule The World. All in all, it's a fine combination. Unusual, but peaceful and pretty.

Some of the 7" single mixes are nice, and would make nice tracks to transfer to your MP3 player for a bit of variety. The 7" single mix of Everybody Wants to Rule the World seems exactly the same as the album mix, except perhaps the equalization is a little different. I'm not sure, but they are very very close.

I had a hard time getting through the 12" singles. They were elongated, stripped down, and/or weirded-up versions of the originals. They simply didn't sustain my interest, and artistically, I thought they took away from the originals rather than added. Honestly, I think 95% of all song remixes are inferior and not worth the bother. Nothing in this Deluxe Edition has changed my mind on that.

The booklet contains one article/interview about the band and the making of this album. When asked how he feels about the album today, Curt Smith says, "...I just think we're a lot better at what we do now. So it's like looking back at schoolwork you did."

That is my impression of the album as well. There are some brilliant spots, and overall it is a good album, but I think Tears For Fears went on to greater heights artistically following Songs From The Big Chair. The better mastering on this new release helps me appreciate what they achieved, but it still isn't my favorite TFF album, and the Deluxe Edition contains a lot that is only of interest to hardcore fans and completists.

Four solid stars. Although, I really ought to deduct another half star because there is NO LYRICS INCLUDED IN THE BOOKLET. Grrrr. For this price? No lyrics? Hmmph.

I have written a good review before on tears for fears: best of remixes in 2003. i thought the japan release was cool - with remixes and other rarities, including shout (beatchuggers' remix) in 2001.

with the 2006 deluxe edition, the long wait is finally over as this great album from 1985 becomes a greater masterpiece for 2006, with additional tracks ranging from the mundane yet fantastic b-sides, to the hard-to-find 12" remixes and dub versions from 1984-1985. so what you get is the real deal! no remixes or materials beyond 1985.

while i can categorically say that the 1999 uk release (with bonus tracks) actually sound better than this release, this is an essential to any tff fan due to the wealth of materials included. the first disc includes, aside from the original album, b-sides and an unreleased "piano version" of the working hour! for the second disc, this is where it gets better: you get all the single versions PLUS the 12" remixes that were not released on cd before. you get the single versions of shout, everybody... (actually a redundancy), head over heels and mothers talk (the version without the instrumental at the end)!

the remixes also included rarities, such as shout (us dub version) appearing here for the first time plus the urban remix of everybody..., and the beat of the drum mix of mothers talk! broken/head over heels/broken (preacher mix) also debuts in this compilation!


if you have collected (like me) the their first three "expanded and digitially remastered editions" released in 1999 with bonus tracks, plus the b-side compilation "saturnine, martial and lunatic" plus the japan release "best of remixes" you will still miss a lot as i mentioned earlier!

a big bonus is the packaging of the reissue, plus the wealth of information included in the sleeves.

the minus point would be the exclusion of the uk remixes of shout and everybody wants.. and the single version of "everybody wants to RUN the world."

like they said, you just cant have them all!

with the release of the deluxe edition of songs from the big chair, i cant help reminisce my teenage years when this album was so popular. however, i believe this album is still is...

happy listening!

Without a doubt Tears For Fears are a great 80's band and actually one of the 80's greatest bands. Songs from the Big Chair is (supposedly) their best album. So that must be the reason why the Deluxe Edition was released. Most of Tears For Fears best and most memorable songs are all here. Such songs like the classic trademark 'Shout' as the album's first track, the brilliantly contructed 'The Working Hour', the excellent written 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' which is TFF's best song in my opinion, the very catchy 'Mothers Talk', 'Broken' and the superb 80's classic 'Head Over Heels' which is surprisingly recorded live while finishing with the end of 'Broken'. These particular songs are what stand out for me on this album. Ever since I got this Deluxe Edition album, I have been unable to stop listening to it. The songs are just so catchy, so rythmic, they sound great and they still live up to todays standards.
But............ there are just too many repeated, remixed and extended songs on this 2 disc Deluxe Edition album that seems to weigh down the already great tracks on the first CD. However, some and only some of the extended tracks on this album are an actual improvement. They still sound good but overall, the songs DO clash with each other and it all sounds a bit too repetative.

Still, this is a great 80's album with great songs and it won't be long before you get sick of this album from listening to it way too much.

"Songs from the Big Chair" remains one of my top-5 albums from the 80s of all time. And this edition is a MUST-HAVE, as it has all the singles and remixes and album versions of all their big hits... "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Shout", "Head Over Heels" and "Mothers Talk", all of which still sound fresh today, a couple of decades laters. Though the other tracks on the album, including the b-sides, are a bit dated to say the least, this edition is worth it just to have all those various mixes of the singles, some of which are available for the first time ever on CD.

This CD is one of the most gorgeous array of melodies from one of the best 80's groups of all time. I would recommend this CD over and over.