Tears for Fears were always more aspirant than the average synth pop group. Early on, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith were harnessing prominent topics -- their name inferred from Arthur Janov's primal scream therapy. Driven by attention-getting, contagious synth pop, The Hurting became a prominent hit in England, setting the stage for worldwide fame with their second album, 1985's Songs From the Big Chair. With singles "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Shout," the album turned into a outstanding hit, basing the couplet as one of the greatest acts of the MTV generation. Rather than promptly recording a follow-up, Tears for Fears moiled over their third record album, the colorful and jazz-rock-tinged The Seeds of Love. As the record was a bountiful hit, it made up the closing of an era rather than a brand-new beginning. Smith left the band early in the 'nineties, and Orzabal carried on Tears for Fears, engaging more advanced and ostentatious focusings to a humbler audience.

Smith and Orzabal began to quarrel heavily, and Smith left the group in 1992. In 2004, Orzabal reunited with Smith for the colorful and Beatles-like, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, their first collaboration in over a decade.