Songs From The Big Chair

Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal’s MTV-era breakthrough is a tour de force of New Wave\'s possibilities. They tip toward prog on the surging \"Broken\" and indulge in piano-led balladry on the spare \"I Believe.\" The album is also a vehicle for some of the \'80s\' most inspired singles: On \"Shout,\" with its indelible hook and vivid digital production, and the open-road anthem \"Everybody Wants to Rule the World,\" they put their big-tent aspirations front and center, while the majestic \"Head Over Heels / Broken\" confirms their place atop the arena-pop throne.

Tears for Fears’ second album is the one sound of pop-rock in the ’80s. Its personal psychology, meticulous compositions, and world-sized choruses evoked the loss of control in an overwhelming era.

If The Hurting was mental anguish, Songs from the Big Chair marks the progression towards emotional healing, a particularly bold sort of catharsis culled from Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith's shared attraction to primal scream therapy.