Be One of Us #48 - "Start of the Breakdown"

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Karen (@FourWalls) figured it out on the second go round! Have you got the gist of this particular 50-song music series yet? (Hahaha, I purposely started with a couple Canadian bands to try to throw you off!) The order of this countdown is entirely random, but we are at #48: "Start of the Breakdown" by Tears for Fears. 80's British synth pop legends Tears for Fears (Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, both vocalists and multi-instrumentalists) built their career, especially early on, upon primal therapy-inspired lyrics combined with catchy, danceable pop music, bursting onto the scene with their 1983 debut album, The Hurting. And the critics had a field day. "Tears for Fears and their listeners sound like they've given up completely," "Reheated hollow doom...diluted Joy Division," "The psychologically wretched family histories of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, in an attractive and sellable music format," "Has there ever been a more miserable mainstream pop album?" were just some of the kind words used to describe the album (which, actually, was quite good! Of course, that sort of stuff is right up my alley.) The Hurting's final track, "Start of the Breakdown," was not a hit (hell, it wasn't even released as a single,) yet it pretty much summarized the gist of that record. In fact, it was used as the opening song on the band's 1983 concert video, In My Mind's Eye, and rightly so. It's basically the perfect song to kick off a Tears for Fears concert. Even if it makes you feel hopeless as hell. (Info verified by Wikipedia)