Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 5 of the UK Singles Chart, while "Head over Heels", "Mothers Talk" and a live version of "I Believe" were also successful internationally.

[3] Near the end of the completion of the album, Roland Orzabal played two simple chords on his acoustic guitar that formed the foundation of the song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".

[8] In NME, Danny Kelly called Songs from the Big Chair "a calculated and brilliant peak, a quintessence of polished pop putty ... perfect at its shimmering surface, worthless to its craven core."

"[28] Johnny Waller of Sounds awarded the album four and a half stars out of five and said that compared with their debut, "Tears for Fears have lovingly crafted a new masterpiece with softer, smoky vocals, more tempting melodies and less abrasive rhythms."

"[29] Rolling Stone reviewer Don Shewey found Tears for Fears reminiscent of various other acts, noting traces of "U2's social conscience, the Bunnymen's echoing guitars and XTC's contorted pop wit" but commented that Chris Hughes' "sparkling" production "nudges Songs from the Big Chair slightly ahead of the pack.

"[26] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, noted the "uncommon command of guitar and piano, Baker Street sax, synthesizers more jagged than is deemed mete by the arbiters of dance-pop accessibility" but beneath a prevailing "portentous" mood, suggesting "a depth and drama English lads have been falling short on since the dawn of progressive rock.

"[27] Barry McIlheney of Melody Maker wrote that "none of you should really be too surprised that Tears for Fears have made such an excellent album", calling it "an album that fully justifies the rather sneering, told-you-so looks adopted by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal on the sleeve"[31] AllMusic, Stanton Swihart wrote that Songs from the Big Chair "heralded a dramatic maturation in the band's music, away from the synth-pop brand with which it was (unjustly) seared following the debut, and towards a complex, enveloping pop sophistication", deeming it "one of the finest statements of the decade.

"[19] Mark Elliott of Record Collector said that the album found Tears for Fears "making it big, coating their consistently interesting material in a high-gloss commercial sheen that captured the mid-80s zeitgeist perfectly",[24] while Q highlighted its "sound of spotlit, spacious sophistication plus anthemic choruses you'd bet your house on.

"[32] Writing for Stylus Magazine in 2006, Andrew Unterberger concluded that "even today, when all rock musicians seem to be able to do is be emotional and honest, the brutality and power of Songs from the Big Chair's catharsis is still quite shocking.