Tears For Fears "Songs From The Big Chair"

Songs from the Big Chair is the second studio album by the British rock/pop band Tears for Fears, released on 25 February 1985 by Mercury Records in most countries and distributed internationally by Phonogram Inc. The album peaked at number two in the UK and number one in the US and Canada. It spawned the international hit singles "Mothers Talk", "Shout", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Head Over Heels", and "I Believe". It remains their best-selling album to date.

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". A mostly-instrumental track called "The Big Chair" (which includes dialogue samples from the film) was released as the B-side of "Shout" in 1984, but was not included on the album.

The album peaked at no.2 in the UK Albums Chart and remained in the Top 10 for over six months. In the US, it reached number one for five weeks (non-consecutive), and in Canada it reached number one for nine weeks (non-consecutive) and spent six months in the Top 3. In all three countries, the album went multi-platinum. It also reached number one in Germany and The Netherlands and Top 10 positions in various other countries including Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Italy.


A companion video documentary entitled Scenes from the Big Chair was released in late 1985. 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.

In 1998, MFSL remastered and re-issued the album with an extended "Head over Heels" (running 5:24) and two bonus tracks (extended mixes of "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World").

The album was remastered and re-issued on CD in 1999 with bonus tracks, including B-sides and remixes. The track listing is based on the Special Edition cassette version of the album, which featured five B-sides as bonus tracks—including three tracks ("The Conflict", "The Marauders" and "Broken Revisited") from The Hurting period. In addition to these tracks, it includes two remixes.

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.

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


To mark the album's 30th anniversary, Universal Music released the album in five different formats on 10 November 2014, including a 6-disc Super Deluxe Edition which includes four CDs and two DVDs (1 audio, 1 video). This edition also includes a 30-page replica 1985 tour programme and a 32-page booklet. Additional formats released simultaneously include another 2-disc Deluxe Edition, a single disc remastered edition, a 180-gram heavyweight vinyl album, and a "Pure Audio" Blu-Ray edition. The 5.1 surround sound mix is done by renowned remixer and progressive rock musician Steven Wilson.