| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Shout | | | | | |
| 2. The Working Hour | | | | | |
| 3. Everybody Wants To Rule The World | | | | | |
| 4. Mothers Talk | | | | | |
| 5. I Believe | | | | | |
| 6. Broken | | | | | |
| 7. Head Over Heels | | | | | |
| 8. Broken (live) | | | | | |
| 9. Listen | | | | | |
To even write a review of this album in this forum is rather unusual. In 1985, Tears For Fears released their second album, entitled Songs From The Big Chair. Like their previous release, the lyrics were based almost entirely on "primal scream" therapy; the music, while somewhat less than "progressive", was still "art rock" in the sense of tending to ornate song designs and, on occasion, extended solos. Although their first album had attained some measure of success in Britain, there was little to suggest that this release would take the world by storm.
The result, of course, was quite the opposite. Both "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" were #1 singles in America, "Head Over Heels" reached the top ten, and "Mothers Talk" charted as well. And all of this occurred in spite of the fairly low-key presence of the individual band members.
I'm still befuddled as to how it all happened. Granted, Orzabal and Smith looked vaguely like the members of Wham!, but that was about the only similarity. Perhaps that was all that was needed for the undiscerning American market ... which might possibly give some people hope that good music can occasionally slip through the cracks. But there was nothing about this album to suggest that major success was destined to result from it.
This may be why, a decade later, rock historians tend to overlook the group entirely. As such, the rightful position of Tears For Fears beside Ultravox, and possibly Frankie Goes To Hollywood, as the more advanced of the UK-synth groups of the day has been lost to many.
There is little doubt in my mind that Roland Orzabal would have been a part of the "art rock" movement -- possibly even a singer in a progressive band -- had he emerged in the 1970s. To begin with, he's from Bath. ;) More notably, his early work reveals a tendency to approach the pop market from the position of a slightly detached outsider, filtering decidedly un-populist ideals into the marketplace. Such a description could fit equally well with Bryan Ferry, or with post-Genesis Peter Gabriel.
Moreover, Orzabal's recorded output in TFF has the following developmental logic to it: (i) first album: tentative beginnings -- (ii) second album: artistic breakthrough -- (iii) third album: truly advanced structuring that the critics were bewildered by, thus causing the need for a "rethink" in the face of commercial pressures, (iv) period of doubt, (v) reemergence with fourth album, a more modest retreat into the simpler structures of earlier years, (vi) ensuing crises of identity. I would defy anyone to find a more appropriate pattern for the career of the average progressive musician.
Songs From The Big Chair was Orzabal's "great leap forward", and is one of the few successful albums from the 1980s to have deserved its fate.
"Shout", the leadoff track, is perhaps the greatest #1 hit single from the mid-'80s; certainly, its lyrics are far darker than any other such track from the period. With its percussion intro, morose bass lines, Hammond organ washes, extended keyboard solo in the mid-section, and guitar solo in the outro, this track may very well deserve to be regarded as the definition of '80s "art pop". A rare success in its market.
"The Working Hour" is almost as good, and is even more elaborate of a construction. The saxophone intro + drums/keys passage which leads into the song sounds like nothing so much as what Peter Gabriel (another Bath resident, oddly enough) had been doing a few years earlier (the fact that the guitar line takes a more rhythmic role a la David Rhodes might seem to confirm that this was deliberate at some level). The lyrics are again of an extremely dark nature, usually semi-Orwellian imagery to develop the song along its course. The saxophone undertones in the chorus are quite good as well (a comparison of the general sax performance to the solos suggests that Collins did a better job than Gregory; neither is bad, however).
"Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and "Mothers Talk" are perhaps the two most commercial songs on the album, but even here the lyrics tend to undermine somewhat the streamlining effect (how many other #1 singles would contain a line like "Even while we sleep, we will fall to acting on our best behaviour."). "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is more musically sparse than the previous tracks, but is still fairly good (the synthesized section in the middle and the guitar solos redeem the any danger caused by the up-tempo rhythm. Neil Taylor's solo is a bit "flashier" than the rest of the song, but that shouldn't be too surprising. "Mother Talk" contains a few uncomfortable Duran Duran similarities, but is otherwise a similarly sparse-but-good track (with good bass work throughout).
The second half of the album is perhaps more overtly "art poppish" than the first. "I Believe" (dedicated to Robert Wyatt) begins with a reversed snare drum, and emerges as a fairly good ballad (possessing none of the bathos that the term often implies). The grand piano part is quite stately, and Orzabal's higher vocal range is shown off fairly nicely here.
"Broken" is a synth-pop tune, though with strong art-rock leanings. The guitar part is quite good, and the first emergence of the memorable keyboard hook is fairly notable. This track leads directly to "Head Over Heels", another rare pop triumph of sorts. The grand piano section is an obvious highlight, but the guitar line (which could have fit on a '80s solo-Howe project fairly easily) is notable as well. The track concludes with a brief reprise of "Broken".
"Listen" is easily the most Eno-derived song on the album, using assorted sound samples and keyboard settings to create a memorable ambient track. The drum patterns, high-range vocal background, and lead vocal chanting are all extremely well done, and easily transcend the "pop" genre entirely. The guitar part is nothing short of majestic. An excellent track on which to end the album.
This reviewer thereby brings this essay to a close not so much with a recommendation for prog fans to consider the album (per se) -- since most American and British fans will be somewhat familiar with it already -- but rather a request that they reconsider its role in the legacy of '80s art-pop.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 12 September 1997)