December 1998
Speaking of brightness, there are times when a guy like me, if I had my way, would not just remaster the music, but reflavor it -- make it less inherently bright and more, well, smooth-sounding. Of course, it really is not the job of MoFi, or anyone else, to remake the music in their way; it is how the artist(s) intended the music to be heard. On this note, MoFi did a great job remastering Songs From The Big Chair, adding clarity and even reducing some of the overly bright tendencies that my original CD suffers from. Yes, the whole recording is still bright, but I can't sand down my kitchen table with it like I could with the sound of the original CD. All those great Tears For Fears songs are here, except for a few like "Sowing the Seeds of Love," for instance. Still, this CD has many great songs and even a few that never really hit the charts, like "Listen," and added bonuses like extended mixes of "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World." "Listen" actually isn’t bright-sounding like the other songs. It has this beautifully thick reverb that gives it a gigantic soundscape. The keyboard comes in, and even the air gets big! Then comes the deep bass, and off we go floating into this airy, fantasy world. This is actually my favorite song here because it really gives you this lofty feeling of gentle flight. The highs sound very delicate here too. All in all, Songs From The Big Chair is another faithful MoFi release that preserves the artists’ intentions, maybe better than the original release did. Add in the two bonus remixes and this is one fun romp through some of my fave great ‘80s music. Highly and humbly recommended for that ‘80s music lover in you. GO BACK TO: |
Tears for Fears - Songs
From The Big Chair (Remastered)
![[Reviewed on Gold CD]](../format/goldcd.gif)
Welcome
to the late, great 1980s! Reganomics, New Wave, sequencers and sampling galore! As a Gen.
Xer myself, I can still remember when the Tears For Fears song "Shout" was on
heavy rotation -- not just on that new cable channel MTV, but also on the radio too. Let's
face it, like Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" and Rush’s "Closer To
The Heart," "Shout" was overplayed to the point that, well, we just
couldn't take it anymore. In fact, I personally refused to play "Stairway To
Heaven" for many years, only to rediscover the truth and beauty of the music
years later. Here's another example of music's beauty. OK, so maybe all the electronic
sequencing and brightness inherent with this recording might put you off; all you Gen.
Xers know the music by heart anyway.