The Hurting is the debut studio album by British new wave band Tears for Fears, released on 7 March 1983. The album peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart in its second week of release and was certified Gold by the BPI within three weeks of release. It reached Platinum status in January 1985. The album also entered the Top 40 in several other countries including Canada, Germany, and Australia. The Hurting is a loose concept album focusing on themes of child abuse, psychological trauma and depression. Despite its dark subject matter, the album was a huge commercial success. It contains Tears for Fears' first three hit singles – "Mad World", "Change", and "Pale Shelter" – all of which reached the top five in the UK and the Top 40 internationally. It also contains a new version of the band's first single, "Suffer the Children", which had originally been released in 1981, while the album version of "Pale Shelter" is also a new recording. The album was remastered and reissued in 1999, and included four remixes as bonus tracks and an extensive booklet with liner notes about the album's creation. A 30th anniversary reissue was released on 21 October 2013, in both double-CD and deluxe four-disc boxed set editions. Writing and recording The songs were written by Roland Orzabal inspired by his own childhood traumas and the primal theories by Arthur Janov. Most of the songs were heavily inspired by the writings of Janov. "Ideas as Opiates" was named after a chapter in his 1980 book "Prisoners of Pain", which also was a direct influence on the song "The Prisoner". Musical influences included Gary Numan, Talking Heads and Peter Gabriel. Having worked with different producers on their first two singles, they recruited Chris Hughes to produce the album. The core of the band Orzabal and Curt Smith worked in a close and democratic collaboration with producers Hughes and Ross Cullum, only using ideas all four of them agreed on. Prior to the album "Mad World", originally thought of as a single b-side, was released and became a hit single. The first two singles "Suffer the Children" and "Pale Shelter" were re-recorded for the album. Critical reception Contemporary Contemporary reviews of the album were mixed. In Smash Hits magazine, Fred Dellar gave the album a positive review and stated that "there's no doubting the talent on display." In the