Penthouse And Pavement

Oh this one was enjoyable if a little weird. Lyrics fit oddly well for the COVID era. Fave track: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang. Should have been the theme song for Trump's presidency.

I’m beginning to suspect that the author of this list misunderstood the assignment. This is clearly just a list of 1001 albums he has heard.

Some albums age well, while others remain rooted in the time that they were made. Heaven 17 may well have been significant pioneers of synth-pop, leading the New Wave revolution in the early 80s, but this album is a difficult listen now. Over-pleased with the new technology that enables unnecessarily complex musical patterns, the attempt to be edgy with sixth-form political potshots is simply lost in the mix. How this ends up in any list of great albums is a mystery to me.

So you're telling me it didn't chart successfully, and it didn't wow critics successfully either. Then why the fuck would this ever be on the list? As an example of complete and utter underwhelming mediocrity? A what not to do? Ain't nobody got time for that. It's shit. And I don't need to listen to shit for shit's sake.

Favourite songs- Penthouse and Pavement, Play to Win, Song with no Name I'm not a big fan of synthpop but I feel there's a lot of better synthpop out there than this. Some songs feel almost annoying and immature on this album. Synthpop is also something that needs to be really well produced for me to enjoy it, and I think the production here was not amazing. Also, you look at a synthpop band like Kraftwerk, which were so ahead of the curve that you have to respect their inventiveness, but this is a record from a time where tonnes of bands were making stuff like this, so it doesn't even seem terribly original to me. Not a bad album, certainly not my style, but I would argue that this is not an essential album. On the first track, [We Don't Need This] Fascist Groove Thang, the verse has some cool melodic ideas, but then it descends into this really repetitive chorus, that infiltrates your ear in an unpleasant way. Also the percussion is some of the most annoying stuff I've ever listened to. Next comes the title track. It starts off with a cool riff played on a synth, but it almost sounds like a horn. The percussion here sounds a bit better. There's obviously another vocalist on this track too. The melodies are cool here too, catchy, but in a fun way. I'm not a huge funk fan either, but this was an enjoyable track, though it did not need to be almost seven minutes long, as there are a lot of parts where I feel a bit of a lull. Still a great song though. Play to Win is okay, not an amazing song, but it's got some nice moments. It was one of the shorter tracks on the record, which I appreciated, as a lot of songs were really stretched out. This was the perfect length. Again, some really repetitive motifs that got kind of annoying, but this was okay. Next on the record is Soul Warfare. I'm not really a fan of this song at all. The piano sounds really pitchy and kind of like a toddler's just playing at random points. Then the hook (which is a pretty appalling hook. Seriously, write a better chorus) sounds really pitchy again, and it bothers me a lot. Another overlong song. Geisha Boys and Temple Girls is fine, until you get to the chorus. It's so nursery rhyme-ish that it puts me off the whole song, which is a shame because I was enjoying the verse. The laser sound effects do really annoy me as well. Let's All Make a Bomb might be the most annoying song on the record. From the farting synths to the weird melody, this song just sucks. The Height of the Fighting just repeats, over and over and over and over... then the verse is really strange. I'm sure it was a big political statement at the time and stuff, but the song just isn't enjoyable to me. Song With No Name is kind of dark in an interesting way. I can see why someone would enjoy this, and it's not bad at all. Got some weird moments, but definitely a highlight of the record. The last song, We're Going To Live For A Very Long Time, is another very childish song. Super repetitive and annoying. Not a fan at all. So yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of this record, but I do see how some people would really like it if they were into this style of music. It's just not to my taste.

the lyrics are amazing. very interesting album to listen to. definitely gives a unique perspective to the time period. track 10 has serious thundercat vibes. i feel like i have been looking for this album since 2016.

This makes me want to squirm around on the ground like God’s favorite bug 🐜🦟🐜🦟🐜🦟

Heaven 17 experiment with 80's synth pop in an effort that almost feels like a summation of the musical movement. Unfortunately, they fail to capture any of the pop magic of other contemporaries when it comes to catchy ear worms.

Shallow and Pedantic. Bass player is fantastic. But everything else is pretty elementary. Seriously, I'm struggling to not turn this off. It's like that guy in school who thinks he's a good song writer and keeps trying to share his demo but it's god fucking awful. And he gets a record deal, which is stunning until you find out his dad owns the label.

Maybe a little generous but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Fascist Groove Thang is great and although it lost me around tracks 3-4, the likes of Let's All Make A Bomb and The Height of the Fighting hooked me back in. It's very 80s in some ways but also still manages to sound futuristic to me.

You may know Human League for their synthpop masterpiece Dare. Well, just a couple years earlier their music was more avant-garde, like if postpunk went complete synths and pop. Moving in a more commercial direction, founding members Ware and Marsh broke off to form Heaven 17 to continue their more abstract sound, giving us this excellent entry. Lyrics are incredibly left-wing, reminds me of Gang of Four, to the point where they outright call Reagan and Thatcher starting fascist regimes in the first track. "Let's All Make a Bomb" is a celebratory mood to bring about the end of the world. Although not revolutionary, it's a fresh relief to hear unique subject matter in such an upbeat manner. The first half is all high-energy dance tracks, littered with repetitive catchy choruses and addictive beats. Clearly inspired by American disco, this is most evident in "Soul Warfare" with the signature guitar chords. Second half shifts to "electric" dark wave, still maintaining that groove off the first half, but much mellower and atmospheric. I love it all, this is exactly my preferred genre of pop music, danceable with highly varied synth tracks not afraid to get weird.

Well, I was a little hesitant going in, since I never listened to Heavens 1-16, but I figured I'd get the gist of the plot through context. Pretty decent, some Talking Heads vibes (but worse lol).

meh songwriting

Not really an electronic person. Not surprised I didn't really enjoy it.

Its got groove. But somehow it feels very small, the sounds feel very small, and the vocals seem very of. This is pretty bad. 2/5 The further I progress, the further this uninterests me. Nothing happens. 1/5 It's like a parody. "Decline Of The West" is pretty good, but it's not on the original album, so I wont consider it in this context. But I will include it on my playlist instead of any of the other songs lol.

Synthpop. Dammit. The worst thing to come out of the 80s. It's blippy-bloopy, arpegiated, slam-drum crap with Devo-esque non-singing vocals. Also, there are random saxophone solos inserted for some reason. I hate everything about this genre. In the interest of fairness, there ARE some pretty groovy guitar and bass tracks on this album that are not typical of the genre. They're just buried underneath so many layers of blippy-bloop that they lose their grooviness. Even throwing it that bone, this album is awful and gets one star.

i agree with Dan LeRoy of AllMusic who felt that the album combined electropop with good melodies, and that Glenn Gregory was able to deliver the "overtly left-wing political" lyrics without sounding "pretentious"

Awesome new wave album with similarly awesome messages. The early songs on the record sound like Primus if it were a new wave band.

This kind of early new wave/synthpop can be hit or miss due to it being so raw compared to what most people are familiar with, but I really enjoyed this album!

Me: Mom, can we have Kraftwerk? Mom: We have Kraftwerk at home. Kraftwerk at home:

A haiku: Heaven 17? Heaven 2 or 3 at best Aren’t I clever?!

Penthouse and the Pavement has some sick bass playing throughout, but the title track has a standout bassline. The sound has perhaps not aged as gracefully and I find the songwriting a bit hit or miss.

Another album I'm wondering why it's on this list. This was a struggle to get through.

Quite odd.. Spotify wouldn’t let me listen to half the album. Otherwise very short

I'm expecting another bad English New Wave band after looking at the cover of this album. Oh what a surprise I was right. This album was so bad it made me reconsider my enjoyment of other new wave bands.

I like a lot of 80s music but this was a lot of fluff (needs more pumping base). I think I just wanted them to be Depeche Mode and they aren't. Honestly, this is what people are probably thinking of when they say they don't like 80s music. And why was this album so friggin long?

It's OK as pure background music, but can't see it as anything else. The lyrics seem somewhat interesting, but I mostly didn't pay much attention.

WHO THE HELL IS PICKING THESE ALBUMS?! WHO DECIDED I NEEDED TO HEAR THIS?! 1/5

Have never had a positive opinion of Heaven 17 – not sure why, just never had a good vibe about them… Could not have picked out a song of theirs – so it wasn’t anything experiencially-related, but it’s always been that way… Well – after listening to “Penthouse & Pavement” – my long-held disdain for Heaven 17 was absolutely dead on, as this album – as my good friend Keith is fond of saying – was fucking terrible!!! Not pretentious like many other “1’s” that I have given, nor was it mindless speed metal – which I have been known to trash – no, this was just a level of extraordinary suckitude that one doesn’t come across very often… The funniest part, was the ONLY song that I found even remotely listenable, was “Song With No Name” – which I’d probably give a 2-stars out of 7 – but after that, there was absolutely nothing else worth listening to, over the rest of the ONE HOUR & 22 MINUTE exercise of sonic futility… That was until Track #19 came on (i.e. I might have had listened to the deluxe version…) – and I was like, oh – that doesn’t suck as much as everything else… When I went to check what the title of said song was on TIDAL, I found it was called “Song With No Name – 12-Inch Version”… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Seriously, this was absolutely awful, and that’s ONE HOUR & 22 MINUTES of my life that I’m not gonna get back… Would honestly give this a “0” if I could, as listening to this actually pissed me off, but the site won’t allow it, so begrudgingly I’ll give it a 1…

Shouldn't be on this list, in my opinion.

5. One of my favorite albums on this list so far

For some reason, seeing the cover made me think I would not like this - I think the ridiculousness of it was too tantalizing of a promise to be true - but luckily I was wrong, I loved it! The only thing I recognized was Fascist Groove Thang (I think from the LCD Soundsystem cover), but I liked most of these. I appreciate the political commentary, and the spare yet imaginative arrangements. The basslines in the first half of the album are so distinctive that I was shocked to find out that the bass player was not a part of the band - he was just some kid that happened to be at the local theater that one of the band members worked at when they were looking for a bass player. Really amazing story, well told here: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/heaven-17/we-dont-need-this-fascist-groove-thang

I've been patiently waiting for this one. It's about as close as it gets to RCE, if not in terms of sound, at least in spirit. Though honestly soundwise it's not too far off. The Kraftwerk influence is strong, but it's tempered with a decent amount of soul to set it apart. Right down to the BEF acronym, and just look at that cover! Listening to this is like getting DNA test results back and finding out who your long lost father is.

I have never heard of this band or album but it's great. 1981 is an interesting year in music and film and this album isn't an exception.

This album STARTED by calling Reagan a fascist outright and saying the world is fucked and needs to change all will be one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard. This couldn't have possibly NOT gotten a 5 from me. Damn this is the kind of stuff I use this site to find.

cool

Very lovely stuff. Funky vibes mixed with electronic. Overall i liked all trakcs but the ones that stood out: Bassy play in "Groove Thang" was epic good. Fully instrumental goodness "Declines Of The West"

Very quirky and fun album. Chaotic energy.

Classic synth-pop album. Perfect in every way (lyrics, art work, song writing) and part of a perfect 3-album streak with its two successors, The Luxury Gap and How Men Are.

This is a fine, fine example of early 80s British synth-pop, which is a genre I strongly connected to in my adolescence. Not that I knew this album, but I wish I had. It also gets points for the politics of the time. Coming today, on the U.S. election day, "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" helped me emotionally cope with a terrifying day. Maybe I can get through this with a defiant dance beat! Is it perfect? No. But it speaks to me and it made me happy today. And it has a perfect cover.

i'd heard of this band but never listened to them prior. damn, was i missing out! this is some good ol' WEIRD 80s music. all these songs sound radically different and a little off-putting but i'm totally here for it, even if the BBC wasn't because they didn't want to offend the worst man of the late 20th century, ronald reagan. favorites: we don't need this fascist groove thang, penthouse and pavement, soul warfare, geisha boys and temple girls, the height of the fighting, song with no name

I like it

Wow! I really liked this!!! I've never heard of Heaven 17 before, but I will be listening to more of them for sure. The first track ("Fascist Groove Thang") was definitely my favorite. It felt very 80s, but also fresh compared to a lot of 80s synth pop.

Despite growing up in the 80s, I haven't listened to a lot of Heaven 17 before. The album cover had me ready to like this album, and like it I did. I love this synth-driven, pop extravaganza. It addresses some pretty interesting topics (I enjoyed "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" as I placed my ballot into the collection box today). Some days the relative simplicity of a lot of the songs might not have appealed as much to me, but it was perfect today!

Deep down in my heart, I know that this isn't *actually* a perfect album, but man does it hit right. It gives me that perfect synthy vibe that I am always down for. Fun times all around!

A five star album, even before listening to it once again. The precision in the recording and the sound is incredible. It still sits well in the early 80's critiques of Thatcherism. Unlike most, it has aged incredibly well.

$/& sauced

Wohoooo! Heaven 17.

Yes, perfect. The ideal rate and ratio of beeps and boops. Just enough Ronald Reagan libel/slander (that's a lie, I could go for a little more).

I didn’t know that this record is so good. It’s rough and very danceable. Perfect!

10/10 VERY ambitious for a pop album, but I guess that’s just how 80s UK was

10/10 LOVED IT. So very classy and every song sounded too interesting. Favorite was probably let’s all make a bomb

It was a ripping day for GME, so listening to this 80s-casino-cocaine on trays by babes in roller skates-style music was hitting just RIGHT. Got a little weird towards the end but I wasn't paying attention. I would revisit though!

An innovative album which improves with every listening.

Extended version has some good songs would probably rate it possibly higher if they were on the original 9 track album. 2 former human league members and very of its time but would listen to it again so a good 4. The music and the lyrics are both fun with something to say.

Fascist Groove Thang is one of the very great dance trax of the 1980’s. And the title track of this album, which follows it, isn’t far behind it in quality. The rest of the album is good dancey stuff. I think the lyrics reach a bit of a nadir with The Height Of The Fighting & the repeated refrain “He-la-hu”. Really? But I have to give this album a high rating just for the opening 2 trax - they’re so good.

I swear I'm not just rating these more controversial albums high scores to be different, I just really like some of these albums, and I suppose that differs from others. It just has this groove to it at points that I get really into, and I like the singer (singers?) voice. It does start to fall apart a bit with some of the last couple songs, but otherwise an album I enjoyed my time with quite a bit.

Great - takes me right back!

Wow. How. Interesting. 80s synth pop with very weird yet deeply topical lyrics. And some deftly executed experimental moments that make this record worthwhile musicaly speaking, too. Someone in this group pointed out with a snarl how the first track could have been used for Trump's campaign (I had not realized this song was the one covered by LCD Soundsystem, too). What more can i say? And what a great, sardonic artwork, to boot. I thought only Devo could pull off weird stuff like this. I was wrong. Thanks Dimery and co. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: more than 900, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: approximately a half so far (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter

Good album for the most part, catchy songs but starting to get more annoying than enjoyable towards the end

This album took me a little while to review, which was good because it grew on me a bit as I tried to sit down and listen to the whole thing. As an album, it's a bit more frenetic than a lot of early synth pop (e.g. stuff like Human League and Gary Numan). This both gives the album a very distinct style and makes it a bit more fun to dance to. I also like that political/social ideas were a little more at the fore than with other early synth groups. This band feels a lot more like a punk band that sold their guitars for magic synthsizers than a lot of their contemporaries 4/5

I can definitely understand why some people don’t like this album, but I found myself oddly appreciating it for what it is. Very much a product of its time, though with it has admirable messaging that remains relevant to the present day. Fav tracks: (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang, Penthouse and Pavement, The Height of the Fighting

I had this on cassette, I think it died in the Strathfield Car Radios cassette player I had hanging onto the dashboard of the LC Torana. Every now and then it would kick back into life and play another strangled bit of Soul Welfare. This holds up really well, considering Ian and Martyn's background with Human League, it is funky as fuck, Penthouse and Pavement is an absolute stand out. I wonder if this album just suffered due to the overwhelming focus on Dare? One of the best, of many, lines in the Young Ones episode Interesting is when Rick comes bounding in and says "anyone for Human League", I'm still laughing. I think Glenn Gregory must have had a huge influence on the direction they took to great effect. Play to Win, Soul Warfare, The Height of fighting, crikey its a dance album. Worthy entry by Dimery and his minions.

This album was fun and weird and I had a good time with it!

I’ve definitely given worse albums 4s and better album 5s. It’s on the fence for me, but I think it falls on the low side

Better than I remembered from when I owned this a long time past. Odd to think this was radio-friendly pop music 40 years ago!

4.0 - Each side is like a distinct mini record. Side A is a high energy mash between Talking Heads and "She Blinded Me With Science." I especially like the funky bass throughout. Side B has a more minimal electronic sound, reminiscent of Eastern European darkwave. The bright cheerful vocals give an ironic edge to the grim Cold War-inspired lyrics ("Let's All Make a Bomb").

I really enjoyed this. I usually hate extended play albums but after enjoying the album, I listened to another 40 odd minutes of 12" remixes. This is also the first album my wife complained I could've waited before I played it*, so we played it again. Not sure it's a 5 star classic, but definitely worth a few more listens. *She wasnt too concerned about my bloody valentine.

Неплохо, но местами прям не нравится

Hell yeah.

This would be a 3.5 but for the purpose of this challenge I'll give it a 4. Note sure if it's an essential but I'm glad I listened to it. Quirky synthpop with lots of irony and... well, synths.

Ramdomize system is good sinxe a couple album. One of my favorite genre. weird just enough, nice use of the synth, album cover is cool.

Great New Wave album that makes me think of early Men Without Hats stuff. Don't know how it got on this list, but was glad to hear it.

8/10 - funky nice to listen to

I had first heard of Heaven 17 through LCD Soundsystem's cover of "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang", but I had only heard their original and nothing else. I might be just be an easy mark for the exact combo of early 80s new wave/synthpop, but this was a fun surprise of an album for me. Probably just as easily cheesy and dated of its time if you're not a fan of the exact reference points. "Fascist Groove Thang" was what had attracted my initial attention, but the title track is also a banger

legal legal oitentista e pa

Excellent bass. Very 80s

A fun little synth pop album, pleasant listen, not too long. Saved tracks: Soul Warfare, The Height Of The Fighting, Song With No Name

Almost perfect

Snaps

I really liked this!! I love 80s synth pop and this is about as 80s synth pop as you can get. Bummer the BBC banned their single, thus inhibiting the success of this album. This is probably a 4.5 for me.

High points: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang, Soul Warfare. Reminds me of: Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the lighter side of New Order

Interesting synth pop album. Most of the songs are just okay, but my favourite track by far was the highly Kraftwerkian I'm Your Money, and I loved the weird arpeggiated synths on Geisha Boys and Temple Girls.

Compliments to these guys for making a synth pop album that I thoroughly enjoyed. Favourite track: Song With No Name.

Interesting synth techno pop album, enjoyed the beats and the lyrics, would listen again

J'ai aimé cet album: ceci est un appel à l'aide.

02/26/2022 Fun synthpop from a band I’ve never heard of. Only half the album is available on Spotify, which was a bummer. But of those that I was able to listen to, they were tons of fun!

"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" is very catchy with the super speedy back beat and has a super cool bass jam in the middle -First couple tracks were pretty strong, back half wasn't as good. Whole thing gave me Talking Heads and David Bowie vibes

Very fun, super dancey.

Far more funky than Human League (sounds like real 1980s slap bass, not a bass-synth, but I might be wrong). "Right on" anti-establishment political lyrics are vaguely interesting, but a bit embarrassing. Vocal is deep and a good cross between Japan's David Sylvian and Human League. A good "sister" album to Dare.

It's not an album I would necessarily put in the 1001 challenge, but... Wow, I loved the unusual synthesizer sounds and kind of sarcastic vocals. "Let's All Make A Bomb" is a killer track. I think I loved that album.

This is a reason why I am taking part in this listening exercise: to hear albums like this that I had little to no knowledge of. I enjoyed it, need to listen more.

Slaps

80s is very 80s

funky

Left wing lyrics over industrial electronic dance music is a proper mood and Heaven 17 deliver an ambitious and unusual album. Ahead of its time in many ways and an admirable record.

Het eerste nummer voorspelde voor mij niet veel goeds, maar erna werd de muziek iets toegankelijker, en vond ik het nog best goeie nummers

"Penthouse and Pavement" is the debut album from English new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17 consisting of Glenn Gregory (vocals), Martyn Ware (piano, synths, percussion, vocals) and Ian Craig Marsh (synths, sax, percussion). Ware and Marsh formed this band after breaking away from The Human League. They actually first formed the production team British Electric Foundation which was credited with the production of this album. Critics called this electro-pop with good melodies. I'd agree there..very much sounding of the early 1980's. Although the singles didn't fare as well, the album stayed in the British Top 100 for 77 weeks. Side A or the Pavement Side starts with the first single "(We Don't Need This)Fascist Groove Thang" which was a song banned by the BBC for its commentary on the political Right particularly Ronald Reagan. A poppy song with a very quick beat and mechanical sounding which goes funky towards the end. A synth jam opens their second single, the title track "Penthouse and Pavement." This is kind of groovy. A very busy song with all that's going on. Female backing vocals. A cool guitar/synth ending. OK, this sounds a lot like The Human League. He's going the motions during the day and is free at night. "Play to Win," the third single keeps up the up the quick, poppy pace. Just go for it in life. "Geisha Boys and Temple Girls" open Side B or the Penthouse Side. It sounds like "Close Encouters" with keyboards and laser sounds. Well, we're in that era. I think about forget trying for boys and girls to get along. Their last single and far and away my favorite song on the album is "The Height of the Fighting (He-La-Hu)." A dance groove, mechanical. A deep male voice saying two words and the singer responding. Great, great vocal chorus repeating the title. Very similar to Depeche Mode. An anti-war song. A happy-sounding song "We're Going to Live for a Very Long Time" ends the album. Another song with a very catching chorus. A positive song about people living people together with opposite views. This album definitely throws you back to the early 80's with a few extremely good songs. I can't say this quite as good as The Human League's "Dare" released around the same time. This album is a great example of early 80's synth pop genre.

Nice synth pop release

An odd/fun album in the best possible way.