@unix-guy:
I was
wondering if anybody else in the world would feel the same way! (And I'm
still hearing crickets about Dave Bainbridge of Iona, but, whatever.)
Orzabal's work on
Songs From The Big Chair was, I think, some of the most innovative pop-playing electric guitar of that whole era. Certainly no shredder, but that's not what pop songs usually need. Orzabal's playing always supported the song, sometimes in wildly unexpected ways. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is the usual citation, of course, and that song would be utterly different (and far less interesting) if you subtracted Orzabal and replaced him with some other guy merely strumming and arpeggiating the chords. But "The Working Hour" always amazed me with just its mere
note selection, and of course the melodic counterpoints in "Broken/Head Over Heels" are sheer beauty.