Songs from the Big Chair

The title of the album was inspired by the 1976 television film Sibil about a woman with a multiple personality disorder who feels safe when she sits in the “big chair” of her psychoanalyst. In 1984, a mostly “instrumental track” was released under the title “The Big Chair” (which contains excerpts of the dialogue from the film) as a side “B” of “Shout”, but it was not included in the album.

The name was my idea. She is a bit perverted, but you have to understand our sense of humor. The idea of ​​a “big chair” emerged from the beautiful film “Sybil” about a girl with 16 different personalities. She was tortured by her mother as a child, and the only place where she felt protected was her psychoanalyst's chair. She felt protected, was calm and did not use her different personalities as a defense. This is something like "and now it's your turn" to the English music press, which for some time really bore us. And now it's us - she can't annoy us.
—Kurt Smith explains album title, March 1985 ^[1]

Original Text (Eng.)

The title was my idea. It’s our sense of humor. The Big Chair is an idea of ​​a girl with 16 different personalities. It was a rainy day. She felt safe, comfortable and didn't care. It is up to the English music press. This is us now.

The album finished second in the UK album chart and remained in the Top 10 for more than six months. In the USA, he held the first line in the chart for five weeks, while in Canada he remained number one for nine weeks and spent six months in the Top 3. In all three countries, the album repeatedly became platinum. He also ranked first in Germany and the Netherlands and entered the top ten in other countries such as Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Italy.

The accompanying video documentary " Scenes from the Big Chair Was released in late 1985. After the band completed a long tour and album promotion, she began a long break in the music industry. In 1989, the third album, The Seeds of Love, was released.

In his review of Songs from the Big Chair, Barry Makilenne of Melody Maker stated that “none of you should be too surprised that Tears for Fears made such a wonderful album”, calling it “an album that fully justifies rather mocking , I-you-warning views of Kurt Smith and Roland Orzabal ", before concluding:" A lot of people, of course, will continue and continue to talk about " The Lotus Eaters “And the perceived lack of depth. Very many people will have to take back a lot of words ” ^[12] . Ian Kranna from Smash Hits described the album as “freer, more exploratory than before” by nature, and called it “decisive lyrical honesty” ^[10] . Rolling Stone critic Don Shayley wrote that Tears for Fears "sounds the same as many other British bands", found traces of "U2's social responsibility, Bunnymen echo guitars, and distorted XTC pop wits" and said that Chris Hughes' production "allows Songs from the Big Chair to be one step ahead of the competition" ^[13] . Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in his review of The Village Voice , noting some lyrics, especially in The Working Hour, and musical elements such as “the unusual command of the guitar and piano, Baker Street saxophone , synthesizers are more uneven than the referees of general accessibility of dance pops. ” However, he concluded that “the depth and drama are that the English guys are not coping from the very beginning of progressive rock” ^[11] .

In a retrospective review published on AllMusic , Stanton Sweetheart wrote: “Tears for Fears perfectly captured the spirit of the times of the mid-1980s, also creating incredibly timeless pop classics in an incredible way. Songs from the Big Chair is one of the best statements of the decade. ” ^[2] Mark Elliott from the Record Collector agreed, adding that it contains the “most consistently interesting material” of the group ^[9] . Q noted that the album "concentrates on the desire of every teenager to feel like a hero, with a sound of underlined, spacious subtlety and with powerful choruses on which you would put your house" ^[8] . Andrew Anterberger of Stylus Magazine concluded that "even today, when all rock musicians seem to be able to be emotional and honest, the cruelty and power of the catharsis Songs from the Big Chair is still shocking" ^[14] . Songs from the Big Chair were included in the book “ 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ” ^[15] . Slant Magazine has included the album in the list of the best albums of the 1980s under number 95 ^[16] .

In 1998, MFSL Remastered and reissued the album with an extended “Head over Heels” (5:24) and two bonus tracks (extended versions of “Shout” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”).

The album was remastered and reissued on CD in 1999 with bonus tracks, including B songs and remixes. The track list is based on a cassette version of a special edition of the album, in which five songs are presented as bonus tracks from the “B” side, including three tracks (“The Conflict”, “The Marauders” and “Broken Revisited”) from The Hurting . In addition to these tracks, it includes two remixes.

The album was again re-released in Deluxe 2.0 format in 2006 with a full collection of songs from the “B” side and many alternative versions and remixes of the album’s tracks.

In 2014, the album was released by Universal Music Japan on SHM-SACD.

For the 30th anniversary of the album, Universal Music released an album in five different formats on November 10, 2014, including the 6-disc Super Deluxe Edition, which includes four CDs and two DVDs (1 audio, 1 video) ^{[ 17]} . This edition also contains a 30-page copy of the program during the 1985 tour and a 32-page booklet. Additional formats released at the same time include another two-disc Deluxe Edition, a remastered edition, a 180-gram heavyweight vinyl album and the Blu-Ray edition “Pure Radio”. 5.1 surround sound is made by famous remixer and progressive rock musician Stephen Wilson .

Original Edition

Notes

• "I Believe" is dedicated to Robert Wyatt ("if he is listening)" ^[18]
• In some publications in the United States, the live version of Broken was removed, and after Head over Heels, Listen was immediately followed. In these same editions, the full version of “Mothers Talk” 5:09 has been replaced by the short version 3:53.
• In some of the later Canadian editions, Head over Heels and the live version of Broken were split into two separate tracks, bringing the number of tracks to nine; however, the original track list was listed on the booklet.
• The limited cassette version of the album, released in the UK, contains many bonus tracks (“The Big Chair”, “Empire Building”, “The Marauders”, “Broken Revisited”, “The Conflict”), as well as a short version of “Working Hour” ; the configuration was recreated on a CD in honor of the 30th anniversary with the addition of several additional tracks.

Note

• Additional reverb is applied to the “Mothers Talk” (US remix). The 1999 version is the only CD on which you can find it.

Deluxe Edition (2006)

Notes

• Track 4 was supposed to be “ Everybody Wants to Run the World ”, but was mistakenly replaced by repeating the album version (incorrectly designated as “7” version ”, but this version does not exist), which is confirmed by the notes to the album.
• Track 7 is labeled “US Remix” on the packaging, but is actually different from the remix of “Mothers Talk” on original vinyl singles. The original “US Remix” can be found in the collections “The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tears for Fears” and “Shout: The Very Best of Tears for Fears”, as well as being republished for the 30th anniversary.

Super Deluxe Edition (2014)

• Roland Orzabal - vocals, guitar , keyboards , piano on track 5, bass synthesizer and programming LinnDrum by 1, lead vocals on tracks 1-2, 4-7
• Kurt Smith - vocals , bass guitar , lead vocals on tracks 3 and 8
• Ian Stanley - Keyboards, LinnDrum Programming, Listen Arrangement
• Manny Elias - drums (except for 1 track), drum arrangement

Additional staff

• “Shout”: Sandy McLelland - backing vocals , Chris Hughes - drums
• "The Working Hour": Jerry Marotta - percussion and saxophone, Will Gregory - saxophone solo, Mel Collins - saxophone , Andy Davis - piano
• "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": Neil Taylor - second guitar solo , Chris Hughes - MIDI programming
• “Mothers Talk”: Stevie Vann - backing vocal
• “I Believe”: Will Gregory - saxophone
• “Broken”: Neil Taylor - guitar solo
• “Head over Heels”: Sandy McLelland - backing vocals, Andy Davies - piano , Annie McKyigh - backing vocals, Marilyn Davis - backing vocals
• Listen: Marilyn Davis - opera vocals

Production

• Chris Hughes - producer
• Dave Bascombe - sound engineer
• Paul King - Manager
• Tim O'Sullivan - cover

Singles

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