More of the Music of Tears For Fears
More of Our Favorite Art Rock Albums
Below you will find an excerpt from the commentary associated with a shootout winning pressing we discovered a while back:
There is one quality that the best copies always have and that the worst copies always lack: Frequency Extension, especially on the top end.
When you get a copy like this one, with superb extension up top, the grit and edge on the highs almost disappears. You can test for that quality on side one very easily with the percussive opening to Shout. If the harmonics and air are present at the opening, you are very likely hearing a top quality copy.
Side one here has smooth, sweet, analog richness and spaciousness I didn’t think was possible for this recording. The bass is full and punchy. When it really starts cooking, like in the louder, more dynamic sections of Shout or Mothers Talk, it doesn’t get harsh and abrasive like practically every other copy I’ve heard. It’s got energy and life, and it gets loud when it needs to without making your ears bleed.
There is wonderful transparency and presence in the vocals, not to mention a really deep soundstage. This copy trounced nearly all of the other pressings we played in terms of bringing the music to life while still keeping the aggressiveness of the presentation under control.
A Classic
This is a classic in the Tears for Fears canon, probably the album most people regard as their best. I myself prefer Seeds of Love, a near perfect pop masterpiece and one I have played hundreds of times from start to finish. (It helps to have it on cassette.)
All of which takes nothing away from Big Chair — it’s one of the top albums from the 80s no matter how you slice it. It went to Number One on the charts for a reason. There’s really not a bad song on either side, and quite a few absolutely brilliant ones.