Songs from the Big Chair
| Songs From the Big Chair | ||||
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| Studio album by Tears for Fears | ||||
| Released | 25 February 1985 | |||
| Recorded | 1983–1984 | |||
| Genre | Rock, New Wave | |||
| Length | 41:19 | |||
| Label | Phonogram Records (UK) Mercury Records (U.S.) |
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| Producer | Chris Hughes | |||
| Tears for Fears chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Songs From the Big Chair | ||||
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Songs from the Big Chair is the second album by the British rock band Tears for Fears. It was released in 1985 on Phonogram Records, and remains their highest selling album to date. The album peaked at no.2 in the UK (where it remained in the Top 10 for over six months and in the Top 40 for over a year) and reached no.1 (for five weeks) in the US. It contained a string of international hit singles, including: "Mothers Talk", "Shout", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Head Over Heels".
Contents |
[edit] Background and reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Robert Christgau | (B) [2] |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) [3] |
The album title 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 record remains highly regarded:
In the loping, percolating "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", Tears for Fears perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the mid-'80s while impossibly managing to also create a dreamy, timeless pop classic. Songs From the Big Chair is one of the finest statements of the decade.[4]
Once the band had finished a lengthy touring and promotion schedule for the album, they took an extended hiatus from the music industry. In 1989, their third album, The Seeds of Love, marked their return. A companion video documentary entitled "Scenes from the Big Chair" was released in late 1985.
The album has been included in the book compilation 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
[edit] Re-issues
In 1998, MFSL remastered and re-issued the album with two bonus tracks ("Shout" [Extended Mix] and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" [Extended Mix]).
The album was remastered and re-issued on CD in 1999 with bonus tracks, including b-sides and remixes. Three of the tracks ("The Conflict", "The Marauders" and "Broken Revisited") are actually from the The Hurting period.
The album was re-released again in a Deluxe Edition 2-disc format in 2006 with the full collection of B-sides and many alternate versions and remixes of the album's tracks.
[edit] Track listings
[edit] Original release
- "Shout" (Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley) – 6:33
- "The Working Hour" (Orzabal, Stanley, Manny Elias) – 6:31
- "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Orzabal, Stanley, Chris Hughes) – 4:11
- "Mothers Talk" (Orzabal, Stanley) – 5:06
- "I Believe" (Orzabal) – 4:54
- "Broken" (Orzabal) – 2:38
- "Head over Heels/Broken (live)" (Orzabal, Curt Smith) – 4:32
- "Listen" (Orzabal, Stanley) – 6:54
1999 remastered CD bonus tracks:
- "The Big Chair" (Orzabal, Smith, Stanley, Hughes) – 3:21
- "Empire Building" (Smith, Orzabal, Stanley) – 2:52
- "The Marauders" (Orzabal, Stanley) – 4:16
- "Broken Revisited" (Orzabal) – 5:16
- "The Conflict" (Orzabal, Smith, Stanley) – 4:05
- "Mothers Talk" (U.S. remix) – 4:13
- "Shout" (U.S. remix) – 8:02
- "Head over Heels/Broken (live)" is erroneously listed as "Head over Heals/Broken (Live)" on the remastered CD.
- "Mothers Talk" (U.S. remix) on the remastered CD is the correct version of this remix, but has had additional reverb applied to it. The 1999 remaster is the only CD on which this "extra reverb" version can be found.
[edit] Deluxe edition (2006)
[edit] Disc one
- "Shout" – 6:33
- "The Working Hour" – 6:31
- "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" – 4:11
- "Mothers Talk" – 5:06
- "I Believe" – 4:54
- "Broken" – 2:38
- "Head over Heels/Broken (live)" – 5:02
- "Listen" – 6:54
- "The Working Hour" (piano version) – 2:08
- "The Marauders" – 4:16
- "Empire Building" – 2:52
- "The Big Chair" – 3:21
- "Pharaohs" (single version) (Orzabal, Smith, Stanley, Hughes) – 3:43
- "When in Love with a Blind Man" (Orzabal, Stanley) – 2:22
- "Sea Song" (Robert Wyatt) – 3:51
- "Broken Revisited" – 5:16
[edit] Disc two
- "The Way You Are" (7" version) (Orzabal, Smith, Stanley ,Elias) – 4:49
- "Mothers Talk" (short version) – 3:53
- "Shout" (edit) – 4:03
- "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (7" version) – 4:08
- "Head over Heels" (Dave Bascombe 7" Mix) – 4:15
- "I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording)" – 4:41
- "Mothers Talk" (remix) – 4:13
- "Shout" (U.S. remix) – 8:02
- "Shout" (Dub remix) – 6:49
- "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Urban Mix) – 6:06
- "Mothers Talk" (Beat of the Drum Mix) – 8:54
- "Broken/Head over Heels/Broken" (Preacher Mix) – 8:00
- Track 4 was intended to be "Everybody Wants to Run the World" but was mistakenly replaced by a repetition of the album version (incorrectly labeled as the '7" version', but such a version does not exist); the album's liner notes confirm this.
- Track 7 is labeled "U.S. remix" on the packaging but is in fact a different version from the real "Mothers Talk" (U.S. remix) on the original vinyl singles. On CD, the real "U.S. remix" can be found on the compilations The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tears for Fears and Shout: The Very Best of Tears for Fears.
[edit] Personnel
- Roland Orzabal – guitar, keyboards, vocals, grand piano on 5, vocal styling on 8
- Curt Smith – bass guitar, vocals, lead vocals on 3 and 8
- Ian Stanley – keyboards, vocal arrangements on 8
- Manny Elias – drums
[edit] Additional personnel
- Dave Bascombe – engineer
- "Shout": Sandy McLelland – backing vocals, Chris Hughes – drums
- "The Working Hour": Jerry Marotta – percussion, William Gregory – saxophone solos, Mel Collins – saxophone, Andy Davis – grand piano
- "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": Neil Taylor – second guitar solo
- "Mothers Talk": Stevie Lange – backing vocals
- "I Believe": William Gregory – saxophone
- "Broken": Neil Taylor – guitar solo
- "Head Over Heels": Sandy McLelland – backing vocals, Andy Davis – grand piano, Annie McCaig – backing vocals, Marilyn Davis – backing vocals
- "Listen": Marilyn Davis – operatic vocal
[edit] Charts and certifications
[edit] Album
| Chart | Country | Provider(s) | Peak position |
Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart[5] | United Kingdom | BPI | 2 | 3x Platinum[6] | 900,000+ |
| Austrian Albums Chart[7] | Austria | IFPI Austria | 22 | ||
| Canadian Albums Chart[8] | Canada | CRIA | 1 | 7x Platinum[9] | 700,000+ |
| French Albums Chart[citation needed] | France | SNEP | 12 | ||
| Media Control Charts[citation needed] | Germany | IFPI Germany | 1 | Gold[10] | 250,000+ |
| MegaCharts[citation needed] | Netherlands | NVPI | 2 | Platinum[11] | 50,000+ |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[12] | New Zealand | RIANZ | 2 | ||
| Norwegian Albums Chart[13] | Norway | IFPI Norway | 17 | ||
| Swedish Albums Chart[14] | Sweden | IFPI Sweden | 25 | ||
| Swiss Albums Chart[15] | Switzerland | IFPI Switzerland | 5 | ||
| US Billboard 200[16] | United States | RIAA | 1 | 5x Platinum[17] | 5,000,000+ |
[edit] Singles
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| Preceded by No Jacket Required by Phil Collins "Reckless" by Bryan Adams |
Billboard 200 number-one album 13 July 1985 – 3 August 1985 24 August 1985 |
Succeeded by Reckless by Bryan Adams "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits |
[edit] References
- ^ Swihart, Stanton. "Songs f=From the Big Chair review - Tears for Fears". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r19757. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (28 May 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (Village Voice Media). http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv5-85.php. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ Shewey, Don. "Songs From the Big Chair review - Tears for Fears". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/tearsforfears/albums/album/104567/review/6067723/songs_from_the_big_chair. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
- ^ Swihart, Stanton (17 February 1985). "((( Songs from the Big Chair > Overview )))". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r19757. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
- ^ "British Tears for Fears chart positions". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=520. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "British certificates: searchable database". BPI. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "Austrian Tears for Fears chart positions". austriancharts.at. http://austriancharts.at/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tears+For+Fears. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "Canadian Songs from the Big Chair chart positions". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5&q1=%22Songs+from+the+Big%22&q2=Top++Albums%2FCDs&interval=36&x=53&y=7. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "Canadian certificates: searchable database". CRIA. http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ AT LEAST ONE OF artist or title MUST BE PROVIDED for GERMAN CERTIFICATION.
- ^ "Dutch certificates: searchable database". NVPI. http://www.nvpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=60461. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "New Zealand Tears for Fears chart positions". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tears+For+Fears. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "Norwegian Tears for Fears chart positions". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tears+For+Fears. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "Swedish Tears for Fears chart positions". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tears+For+Fears. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "Swiss Tears for Fears chart positions". hitparade.ch. http://hitparade.ch/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tears+For+Fears. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
- ^ "American Tears for Fears album positions". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/tears-for-fears/chart-history/5826?f=305&g=Albums. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "American certificates: searchable database". RIAA. http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
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