







Tears For Fears – Songs From The Big Chair (Ultra Analog, Numéro 3426)
RARITY - SEALED
Tears For Fears [click here to see more vinyl featuring Tears for Fears]
- Roland Orzabal – vocals, keyboards, guitars, synth bass (A1), LinnDrum programming (A1), grand piano (B1)
- Curt Smith – vocals, bass guitar (A2, A4 to B3), synth bass (A3)
- Ian Stanley – keyboards, LinnDrum programming
- Manny Elias – drums (A2 to B3)
Sandy McLelland – backing vocals (A1, B4)
Stevie Lange – backing vocals (A4)
Marilyn Davis – backing vocals (B4), operatic vocal (B5)
Annie McCaig – backing vocals (B4)
Chris Hughes – drums (A1), LinnDrum and MIDI programming (A3)
Andy Davis – grand piano (A2, B3)
Mel Collins – saxophone (A2)
Will Gregory – saxophone (A2, B1)
Jerry Marotta – percussion (A2)
Neil Taylor – second guitar solo (A3, B2)
Written by Roland OrzabalIan (all tracks), Ian Stanley (A1-4, B4), Manny Elias (A2), Chris Hughes (A3), Curt Smith (B3)
1 LP, gatefold jacket
Limited numbered edition (Number 3426)
Original analog Master tape : YES
Gain 2™ Ultra Analog
Heavy Press : 140g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Record Technology Incorporated (RTI)
Label : MOFI - Silver Label Vinyl Series
Original Label : Mercury
Recorded 1983–1984 at The Wool Hall Studio (Beckington)
Engineered by David Bascombe
Produced by Chris Hughes
Mastered on the Mobile Fidelity The Gain 2 Ultra Analog System by Paul Stubblebine
Photography by Tim O'Sullivan
Originally released in February 1985
Reissued in 2012
Tracks:
Side A:
- Shout
- The Working Hour
- Everybody Wants To Rule The World
- Mothers Talk
Side B:
- I Believe
- Broken
- Head Over Heels
- Listen
Awards:
Slant Magazine ranked the record at number 95 on its list of the best albums of the 1980s and Pitchfork placed it 87th
Reviews :
“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. The album also heralded a dramatic maturation in the band's music, away from the synth-pop brand with which it was (unjustly) seared following the debut, and towards a complex, enveloping pop sophistication. The songwriting of Orzabal, Smith, and keyboardist Ian Stanley took a huge leap forward, drawing on reserves of palpable emotion and lovely, protracted melodies that draw just as much on soul and R&B music as they do on immediate pop hooks. The album could almost be called pseudo-conceptual, as each song holds its place and each is integral to the overall tapestry, a single-minded resolve that is easy to overlook when an album is as commercially successful as Songs from the Big Chair. And commercially successful it was, containing no less than three huge commercial radio hits, including the dramatic and insistent march, "Shout" and the shimmering, cascading "Head Over Heels," which, tellingly, is actually part of a song suite on the album. Orzabal and Smith's penchant for theorizing with steely-eyed austerity was mistaken for harsh bombasticism in some quarters, but separated from its era, the album only seems earnestly passionate and immediate, and each song has the same driven intent and the same glistening remoteness. It is not only a commercial triumph, it is an artistic tour de force. And 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.” AllMusic Review by Stanton Swihart
Ultra Analog™ : The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ Series stems from the use of the Gain 2 system, mastered at half speed from the original master tapes where possible, capturing and uncovering as before undiscovered sonic information.
Ratings :
AllMusic : 4.5 / 5 , Discogs : 4.37 / 5