Tears for Fears was one of the most forward-thinking groups of the 1980s, but the two musicians were also synth-pop hitmakers. Highly influential and often misunderstood, Tears for Fears is one of the greatest bands of all time.

Their ability far extends past the handful of global hits that you may have heard on the radio and 1980s compilations. Here are the 10 greatest songs by Tears for Fears.

Greatest 10 Songs by Tears for Fears

10. “The Hurting”

Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith were one among the many kids dreaming of a pop career. But the duo moved at lightning speed. Their early demos may have been amateurish. But the songwriting and some of the songwriting ideas were highly advanced.

“The Hurting” was the title track of the band’s debut. It’s something of a concept record, centred around the theme of childhood trauma. Orzabal and Smith trade vocals here and make this a great early number.

9. “Break It Down Again”

Recorded in the 1990s and without Curt Smith, “Break It Down Again” is one of the best songs that Orzabal wrote during this period.

The sound may harken back to Tears for Fears’s synth-driven glory days. But the lyrics show Orzabal is stubbornly thinking of the future, and of the band’s mission.

In 1993, the band still had plenty of fans. They made this into a hit, one of the last ones before an inevitable drought.

8. “Head Over Heels”

In 1985, the album “Songs from the Big Chair” made synth-heavy pop into a genuinely respectable genre. It also helped the genre become the biggest thing on the charts.

“Head Over Heels” is the oft-neglected single from this album. This happens on account of the success of the other tracks. Regardless, I think, that it’s one of the more interesting pop songs of the era.

7. “Sowing the Seeds of Love”

Tears for Fears fancied themselves as something not dissimilar to The Beatles. Many bands have crumbled under this self-imposed pressure.

But this duo didn’t exactly do that. The expectations just slowed down and delayed their work.

When they did release “Sowing the Seeds of Love,” it was clear that they were still capable of making gorgeous, surprising music. Of course, one of the biggest surprises was the retro ’60s, Beatlesque sound of this.

6. “Raoul and the Kings of Spain”

Success was the proverbial blessing and curse for Tears for Fears. This was, after all, one of the defining groups of the 1980s. Consequently, many music listeners could not accept their influence extending past that decade.

The 1995 album “Raoul and the Kings of Spain” is not without its faults. It’s also not with Curt Smith in the line-up. But the title track is absolutely magnificent. If Roland Orzabal thought, for a while, that he could be a Brian Wilson-like figure, he was not entirely wrong.

5. “Pale Shelter”

Audiences who first heard Tears for Fears or saw their MTV videos can be forgiving for mistaking them for just another plastic pop group.

Instead, songs like “Pale Shelter” prove that Tears for Fears was a unique group even in its earliest form. Although highly amateurish, the songs found on 1983’s “The Hurting” are profound testaments to trauma and healing.

4. “Mad World”

For a long while, churning out hits seemed like a reflex for Tears for Fears. The success kept coming even as the band’s material dealt with heavy, psychology-influenced topics.

“Mad World,” of course, was one of the first songs written by Roland Orzabal. He asked co-member Curt Smith to sing it. And this song, more than any other, proved beyond doubt that this brand-new new-wave band was going places.

The song’s been covered a few times, most notably by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, and is a real high watermark ofor forward-thinking pop.

3. “Woman in Chains”

“Woman in Chains” was a big hit in 1989 for Tears for Fears. But much of this may have had to do with the weight of expectation and the actual wait time.

Listening in retrospect, this is, indeed, an incredible song. The quality of the music justifies the four years spent making.

Well-intentioned, Beatle-influenced and featuring the extraordinary vocals of Oleta Adams, this is sophisti-pop cut like few others.

2. “Shout”

Tears for Fears’s synth-pop duo, possibly, got a little too confident in the mid-1980s. But who can really blame them?

In just two albums, they’d taken songs, largely inspired by deep psychological traumas and a forward-thinking pop sound, to the top of the charts.

“Shout” was a song about Primal Scream therapy, the kind also favored by John Lennon. It was also one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. And it’s a pristine example of how pop music can and should be made.

1. “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”

Everybody knows “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” It’s hard to try to provide a soundtrack for the 1980s without including this song. And it’s nearly impossible to pick up a compilation featuring the decade’s biggest songs that does not include this one.

The explanation for all of this fame is right there in the sound. Perfectly arranged and featuring one of the great choruses in pop music, this is an eternally pleasing composition.

It’s also a song that, unlike many other ’80s hits, uses the lyrics to explore profound concepts—the psychological need for power over others.

“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” is one of the greatest songs of all time and the shining hour of Tears for Fears.