Reviews (page 7 of 7)
Really, yet another album that was only a hit in Britain? This never sniffed success in the States and there's a reason why. The opening track is so repetitive and annoying I was unable to suffer through all of it. I am SHOCKED 4M people have listened to it. It's the same 9 words for over 4 minutes!! The title track with it's layered percussion assault is so overcooked, "Play To Win" is the definition of crappy 80's music. The rest of the album isn't worth mentioning, it's filler. I'm an 80's kid, there wasn't anyone jammin' to this album in 1981. This entire album was atrocious and does not hold up well at all, the sound is so dated and the percussion is the textbook version of what not to do in a recording studio. There's a reason no one knows Heaven 17 today. No hits, no one has ever covered any of these songs, no influence (in the US at least), no longevity. This is 100% an album I could have never heard and died in peace. Utter shite. 1 star, it's that bad.
Nah. thanks thogh
This honestly wasn't good at all.
weird
1.5/10
The album that makes you think “if I was a gay man in the UK in 80s this would have been my jam!”
Una época en la que esta música estaba vigente, pero nunca me gustó y ahora aún menos. Para eso tenemos Jo Boxers, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, y en otro nivel los origianles The Human League o Tom Tom Club, The Style Council... Dos lados, el A mas funk (en los 80 eso eran baterías digitales, esos bajos eléctricos sin cordal, todo terrible y artificial). El B más sintetizado, igual de pop. En ambos las letras son buenas, crítica social (Thacherismo) etc. Let´s all make a bomb es lo más salvable de este disco. The height of the fighting también. Obviable. No puedo con ellos ni con Scritti Politi, y lo he intentado pero no hay manera.
It's hard to rate an album that is really out of my wheelhouse, but this was very difficult to listen to. I hated this album like 30 seconds into it. I generally don't love early 80s synthpop, but this album is especially bad at it. It's actively annoying and repetitive, and generally not mixed well. I really don't find this album to be vital or important enough to be included in a list of 1000 albums that one must listen to before they die.
The bar must be very low for this album to enter the top 1001 God damn I had to come back to this review with more hate in my heart as I got to the end of this album. Holy fuck what were some of those vocals
Stupid ass bullshit. 1.5/5
The lyrics and themes are pretty inspired, and that's about the only positive thing I can say about this album. I didn't enjoy it at all.
This was a very forgettable album. Nothing stood out at all. 1.2
I hate this
80s esoteric Brit-pop, did not enjoy. The synth rhythms and programming were probably mind blowing in 1981, so credit there. Cold war angst throughout the album, did not interest me. I stopped halfway thru.
Strange 80’s music. Never heard of them. No wonder, no hits.
Band wishes they were Devo.
How this ends up in a list of great albums is a mystery to me! Maybe this synth-pop helped usher in the New Wave revolution of the 80s, but this album is a tedious listen in 2026. Mostly, it’s the annoying self indulgence of “weeeee new toys!” and just forces unnecessarily weird rhythms & patterns & sounds. I’d like to cut 50% of the technology out of it and return it to the land of the living.
Favorite Song: N/A
This was horrible. Boring melodies, repetative, void of atmosphere, not fun. One song was OK, the instrumental. Why is this even on the list?
I can comfortably support the first track’s title. The vocals for the band ultimately feel like a bad David Bowie or Depeche Mode impersonation. Unfortunately it didn’t get much better from there.
Nicht gehört
Kinda interesting, really liked the 80s vibes, did it pioneer electro? OK I HATE IT IT GAVE ME A HEADACHE I PREFER WILLIE NELSON
Pish.
I could only listen to half of this album on Spotify but I didn't really get it. Seems to be making a statement about war? Idk. The music was not compelling enough to try to understand lol.
1 is this even music?
Pathetic
Not a fan
Fascist Grove Thing began getting more airtime in my town during Trump’s first term, and really ramped up in 2025. Understandably so, given the state the USA today. Hateful, uneducated, greedy, hypocritical, draft-dodging MAGA Republitards. Despite the relevant lyrics, this music is not catchy or melodic. More noise than substance. Too bad; I need an anthem for my angst, and this ain’t it. No Kings!
I really disliked this album. I have no other words
Interesting front cover. Not much else to report. Was silly 45 years ago, it's no less silly now.
I’d give no stars if I could. Poor Devo impression.
I lasted one track. This was not my groove thing at all. No idea how this made the list, still it is educating me on stuff I don't like.
Why is this in the list? I literally could not come up with any positives about this album and it has zero redeeming features! I just really disliked it and hope to never listen to it again
I like 80s synth pop but this is legitimately terrible and annoying.
I only like electronica when it feels cohesive and this is all over the place.
I didn't hate but it wasn't that good either.
Fucking terrible, squared. Here we are at the confluence of disco and britpop. I'm in hell.
If coke residue was an album, this would be it. I love silly 80s stuff. However. This is….umm...memorable….
not my taste synth pop
literally garbage
Not for me
All the songs pretty much sound the same
"Penthouse and Pavement" by Heaven 17 is really not my style. To me, it mostly sounds like fairly bland synth-pop, and musically it did not grab me very much. There might be strong or provocative statements in the lyrics, especially considering the time it was released, but that aspect did not really come through for me in a way that made the album more engaging. I did read that some of the singles were banned by the BBC, so I assume it must have been considered pretty outrageous back then. From a personal listening perspective, though, this is not something I would come back to. One or two songs were ok, but overall it is not an album I enjoyed much.
favorites: track four: soul warfare
I really hated this. Thin crappy electronica. I dont care who it influenced.
Yeah, no.
Not a big fan of synth pop but the album is very 80s. Some pretty groovy songs tbf. A lot of very unique songs… Seems to be a political statement. Fav song is ‘Geisha Boys And Temple Girls’.
1. groove - 0 2. pavement -1 3 uuin -0 4. zoul - 0 5. height - 0
Temu Depeche with a Casio knockoff.
too 80s for me honestly
Heaven 17: Penthouse and Pavement Penthouse and Pavement is an album that struggles to maintain the promise of its opening act. While it starts with a surge of energy—leveraging sharp, electronic funk on the initial tracks—the momentum quickly dissipates as the record progresses. The production, which was once considered cutting-edge, now feels somewhat hollow, lacking the sonic depth needed to sustain interest over its full runtime. Despite its historical reputation as a pioneer of synth-pop, the project ultimately falls flat, failing to bridge the gap between its ambitious concepts and its actual execution.
Awful
I didn't really like this at all. It was like a combo of new wave pop and funk that no one asked for or wanted. Throw in the synths and overly-80s production and it's just kinda the worst of all worlds. It felt like each person involved thought they were working on a record with a different genre than everyone else. I don't see much here that I can say redeems it in any way. It just kept getting worse. Listening to the singer repeating "for a very long time" over and over may have sent me over the edge if it hadn't been the last track. I don't get why this is on the list. I won't be listening to it again. Overall: 1/5
I would absolutely hate to be sat next to any of this lot at a work function.
Terribly dated
3/10
45
What is this? Completely not my style of music. Track one has its moments but doesn’t go anywhere and some of these songs are flat out bad.
Synth pop and new wave is just not my thing. It feels like this band is searching for anything that might stick in a time where synthesizing everything and over tuning every bass line is the new cool thing to do. In the "80's music sucks" argument, if someone held up this album as a reason why, it would be hard to argue against.
This was not enjoyable, felt he was shouting at me the whole time. Lyrics were dumb, melodies soulless, and conducive only to the most coked out of dance moves.
What is this and why is it here? 1.
Toilet noise
“1001 albums you must hear before you die!” Catchy title …the book probably was first named “995 shitty albums that should have never been recorded with 6 good ones mixed in” and didn’t sell well with that title … either that or it was curated by 6 idiots in a psych ward deep inside England somewhere! I thought “what a fun idea get a new album every day to check out … hear some great important MUSIC that I some how missed… plus relisten to some of my old favorites. WRONG the people who made this list are so far off!!! I’ve suffered through - Goldfrapp, Limp Bizkit, the Associates, the prodigy, public Image LTD, Portishead, Minutemen… and this “Heaven 17” which wasn’t even AS bad as many of the above was the straw that broke the camel’s back… I’m starting to write my own book called “Life is too short to listen to shitty music!” 1 star for this and I’m out… this experiment is over for me!
The start does not bode well for this album, sounding very much like a low budget version of their Sheffield rivals The Human League. It goes on for what feels like an age before we reach more casio keyboard sounds of Penthouse and Pavement. I fear it is becoming quickly apparent why I only know Temptation (unfortunately not on this album). The one slightly redeeming feature so far is the occasional bass break. Play to win is an accurate amalgam of all the cheesy elements of early eighties music.overall this just made me appreciate Human League more
By every available metric, I should have quite enjoyed this. I did not.
This was NOT good
Boring and does nothing new.
Not for me
A handful of semi-interesting beats/motifs do not make an album a must listen.
Feels to much like homework trying to get through it in an attempt to listen to all the albums on this list.
Is it nearly finished yet? Lyrics so bad could have been written by Paul McCartney. Soul Warfare is absolutely awful 5 minutes of repetitive shit. Followed by 4 and half minutes of more repetitive shit.
This reminds me of being 7 and messing around on my Yamaha keyboard. Step one: press preset drum Step two: plink three keys. Repeat. Step three: think of a title and sing it over and over. This feels like a pisstake, but you just know it's not. Crap.
After the first song I thought it was going to be good, it is not. I guess I need to listen to Heaven 1-16 to get the context of it all. I did know of Facist Groove Thang due to the LCD Soundsystem cover they did some years ago. Lets All Make a Bomb also was good, but the rest of the album did not interest me.
Rarely have I heard a more generic sound in my life. Couldn't get through it.
A little less than mediocre. What's this doing on the list?
Not good late 80s early 90s techno ish sound
Sadly I don't feel this is an album I needed to hear before i die.
Hot dog if you're going to make an hour and a bit long album you better have something profound to say and produce. This largely feels like they had all of these ideas and were just scared to trim it down. It's a big bloated mess with relatively interesting techno/synth riffs. At times got funky on the bass, and that's fun, but that's about it. One thing I hate is when you listen to a song, and you can tell that they think they have a hit, and it's just . . . not (example, The Height of Fighting)
Don’t think I made it through a single song. Every song just repetitive
I never liked 80's music, and this is amongst the most dull I've heard
More hell than Heaven.
This album stinks, but also fuck fascism
This was pretty crap
Quite possibly the worst album I have ever listened to. I wanted to set myself on fire.
Am I being trolled?
Selten belangloses Album.
Pew, pew, pewpewpewpewpewpewpewwwww…..
Super corny.
Out of the albums I have heard so far, this one was the one I least liked listening to. I didn't enjoy the rhythms, the lyrics or the beats and it overall just felt awkward and monotonous. I like synth-pop but this was not to my taste at all. There was some songs where it goes into a horrendous screech and the lyrics keep repeating with a dull voice. Would not recommend this album to anyone in my opinion.
How on earth this made it onto the list of 1000 albums to hear before you die I do not know. I think listening to this album may have actually brought me closer to death. If not closer to death, perhaps just a little more insane. If the intersection of carnival music, elevator music and opera is what you are after this album may be for you!
One of these days the AG will tell me to listen to a band I've never heard of and I'll actually like it. Not so here.
Odd, sporadic and musically hollow. Sounds like two guys screwing around in their garage hitting random effect buttons for 40 mins singing about whatever comes to mind. Hard pass
This album feels like someone told AI to make an 80s album and it just threw in everything. A lot of these songs are way too long. Temptation by Heaven 17 is a great song from this band but none of the songs in this album are anywhere close to that. There wasn’t one stand out for me, I found it quite an annoying listen
This was bad. It was bottom of the barrel 80’s synth pop. The singer has the generic 80’s synth pop voice that every band had at the time. It’s a voice I hate and find very annoying. The songs were hard to listen to. There’s one song on here that has a synth “solo” at the beginning that straight up sounds like a toddler mashing around on a keyboard. I don’t know why anyone would listen to this, let alone enjoy it.
Boring and dated
More stupid British synth pop. And this one has to be the dummest album on the whole list. Not the worst, but definitely the dummest. And no amount of beeps, boops, and laser beam sounds could save it. Praise be that half the songs were unavailable on Spotify. Unless you have an emotional attachment to this album because you listened to it while losing your virginity or something equally impactful I don’t see how anyone with functioning ears could ever enjoy this. Garbage.
Well this was just horrible that had nothing going for it and just kept going no thank you. Put some real stuff here!
Wtf is this
The Good: We’re in heaven… The Bad: It’s ranked 17th… The Ugly: At least we thought we’d stay in the penthouse… turns out that it is on the pavement… What in the actual fuck? And this is NOT the FIRST time I am writing this as the opening comment to a review… For a second I thought that we’d hear something incredible, as I’ve not had too much synth-pop show up on the list, and there are some amazing bands/albums that came out in the early ‘80s… Of course, if you lived in that period and you can barely recall hearing a Heaven 17 tune, you should know better… then again, I was pleasantly surprised with those Scottish lads from Orange Juice, or even better, the art pop from the Assocaites—believe you me, 1000% better than this horrid of an album. Can’t say that I really enjoyed listening to this… I believe that my thought was “can we get it over and done with so I can listen to Can’s Tago Mago album again?” Yeah, I feel bad for the chaps, guess they should never have left the Human League…
The synth on this isn't as immediately annoying as some other electronic music, but by the end of this album I was going crazy. It's both annoying and stupid, and the songs feel like they go on forever. And the synth ended up giving me a headache by the end of this.
Extra fuck you for not being on streaming. I had this here for months.
Ts is not tuff gng
- übel nervig
slick, glossy, album which set the scene for a BIG WAVE of synth pop. all these years on, it is a tiresome listen - limited sounds, mannered vocals.
I’ve seen Heaven 17 live before, supporting Squeeze at the Royal Albert Hall, but I’d never actually listened to one of their albums in full—until now. I decided to give their debut Penthouse and Pavement a try. Given my love for 80s music and synths, I thought this would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I found the album surprisingly dull and directionless. I’m honestly baffled as to how it earned its place on any “must-listen” lists. It didn’t chart particularly well upon release, and the critical reception at the time wasn’t glowing either. In my opinion, it hasn’t aged gracefully and is a really poor album. Favourite track: Penthouse and Pavement — probably the most listenable song on the album. Least favourite: Soul Warfare — an absolute low point; it just didn’t work for me at all. Album artwork: A very corporate, business-like cover that matches the aesthetic but doesn’t excite.
Painfully 80’s, far too earnest for its own good, and despite the unique sounds very little songwriting here. Just a drag of a record.
offensive
Brothers, Sisters, the only redeeming factor about this album is its brief 22-minute run time.
Not my style
I did not care for this much.
Too repetitive. They say the same things over and over in the songs.
I'd rather be shot
Meh
I can't say I liked this record. The stripped-down, experimental synths with the washed-out vocals didn't really tickle my fancy. There was probably some sort of message in the lyrics, but I couldn't get any of them since they were so faded. Favourite Track(s): Penthouse And Pavement Least Favourite Track(s): Soul Warfare, Geisha Boys And Temple Girls, Song With No Name
I've never heard of these guys, but this list seems to have every single synth pop album ever made while having nothing but a dim notion of genres like rap, so I guess that's not surprising. Anyway, it's weird as most synth bands are, and goofy, also like most synth bands. Not the worst synth pop album on this list--there is too much competition on the crap end of that formula--but pretty close to it. The first song is OK. Much of the rest sounds a little too heavy on the experimental side and low on the listenable side. Like "hey, we discovered electronic beeps and whizzes. Cool, let's put them all on the album at the same time." At least this album is short. 1/5
I got three songs into this it’s just not for me.
Once you get through the initial "wtf is this shit" you can actually hear that it is in fact shit
People that like this think AI videos of Will Smith eating spaghetti are the coolest thing since sliced bread
this is just not really the vibe
guys to bet in this genre on niiku petshop boys eli jos ei oo yhtä ihanaa musaa niin sit ei oo hyvä!
More like Eardrum Warfare. Brother, this album STINKS! Weird lyrics and beats all throughout and, not exaggerating, within 5 seconds of the first track I knew this would be garbage. 1/10.
Not sure what this one is doing here Will I listen to again: 0%
Genuinely one of the most boring listening experiences I've had. This album had nothing of substance to offer me. Every part of my body wanted to skip every single track. 2/10
Not fun or interesting. With a little more effort it could have been mediocre
I’m always an optimist , however I didn’t like this album.
Why and how is this album on any list? I wish I could give a zero. Worser version of Human League
This is a staple for The Blue Oyster
Awful album.
There was no need to have this album on the list. It’s long, boring, and repetitive. I’ll be glad to never remember this album.
"Temptation" is their only real decent song and it's not even on this album. Do yourself a favor and go listen to Thomas Dolby or Howard Jones instead of these guys.
Not good by 1981 standards and definitely not good in 2025.
Weird 80s electronica, was not feeling this one
Deepstate-underground-illuminati-nazi scientists have been studying this album since 1970 trying to harness it's supernatural amnesiac qualities. Yes, you read that right. 1970. This is the fifteenth time the album was released. It was just so potently forgettable on each previous iteration that everyone repeatedly forgot it existed - even the band.
1.33
Goddamn. I could not be a fan of electronic music but I didn't like this album at all. The instrumental at times felt like it was created by punching a keyboard and the lyrics were so repetitive I was forced to skip some parts, and I'm a TOOL fan who's used to 15 minute long songs. (e.g. the outro to the last song couldve just been "I'm going to repeat this line for a very long time, for a very long time, for a very long time, for a very long time). This could have definetly been a revolutionary album at their times, but it's simply not for me
I'd like to say heavily dated, but surely this was never good? Doesn't even have the banger that is Temptation to salvage a second star from this shipwreck of an album...
That was horrible.
Definitely not something I needed to listen to!
I had never heard of this but it sounds pretty much how I thought it would: terrible 80s synth with lame singing and worse lyrics and something I absolutely did not need to hear before I die. Love the cover art, though! (ntm)
Could of done without this album before I died. Now to hope its not the last album I hear before I die.
Another garbage album. I got through 1.5 songs.
Awful stuff
langweilig
OK this is complete and utter garbage.
I tried. I can find a little bit of fun in it, but it’s just not my jam. 1
Am I still on the 1001 Albums page...?
Overall: 1/10 What a way to end the year. It blows me away that a group of musicians got together and decided to make this. The synths are annoying, the drums sound like crap and the vocals are so stuck in the 80s that they're wearing leg warmers. I wouldn't even bother with this one in any other context. Fav Song: Penthouse and Pavement Least Fav Song: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
The musical equivalent of a dot matrix printer.
Falling asleep just by looking at the cover... and listening to it put me in a coma shortly after. Snoozefest. Nothing interesting to note.
When the people who try really hard to rate albums well and even go as far as to list songs they liked can't even find a good selection, you know the album is shite. Sorry to Heaven 17, who I am sure made waves somewhere, but no thanks.
The problem with listening to a bunch of 20 something's lyrics on capitalism, greed, politics and social issues is that, in retrospect, they're mostly naive bollocks. Does the music compensate? Nope... "Let's All Make a Bomb", you succeeded beyond your wildest dreams with this howler! 1/5
This album was only 5 songs / 22 minutes. And it felt like an eternity. I did like the anti facist message though.
Skipping this new wave offering...
Good if you have trouble sleeping, crap for literally anything else.
Ätzendes Album. Total nervig.
Flock of Dodos
Knew I would hate this before I made it to the 2 second mark. Dirt-mall bootleg Depeche Mode here, complete with a Dave Gahan impersonator for a singer. No, thank you.
Yuk....
This album should serve as a reminder that just because a band was a "pioneer" in a genre does not mean their music will hold a flame to anyone they served as an influence to down the road. There's some interesting production choices on this album and for 1981, it was probably revolutionary, but by today's standards, it's an exhaustive listen. By the end of it, my jaw hurt from clinching my teeth... hardly a 1/5
Not great, Temptation must of been a one hit wonder
Dated shit.
Ok, I’m taking it out on this piece of subpar garbage. This has been a shit week for albums (bar one day) can I get something not from the bargain bin of music history please?
Not a big fan
Worthless! One of, if not the, worst things I’ve listened to for this project. It’s not popular, it wasn’t critically successful, it’s not influential. It’s just some album the guy who made this list listened to and kinda liked and he needed to fill 1001 spots so thought “sure.”
So glad this was only a 22 minute album because I could hardly handle it. Listen again: no Purchase for my collection: no Favourite Song: nonw
the fuck even was this dude. god dammit. i hate it
If Spandau Ballet got worse and repetitive gospel-like. This album is pure trash. Zero stars is generous.
Every time there's an 80s album that I don't recognize I nervously open the Wikipedia crossing my fingers it won't be another British 80s new wave or synth album. I've been burned again.
Talking Heads if they fucking sucked.
Starts off with a catchy banger. Followed by more than an hour of forgettable pop twaddle.
Ugh - if there were was an option for zero stars I would have used that....
Ерунда какая-то, треки перезатянуты, надоедают, не можешььдождаться когда же это наконец закончится.
Between thin, crunchy, unbuttered layers of bass, squealing synthesizers and vexing vocals make for a thoroughly unappetizing musical meal.
This was just awful. Maybe it sounded a lot cooler in the 80s. I don't know, and frankly, I don't care to know.
Not sure about the genre. Dance mixed in with artsy.
Some real funky bass lines here. Other than that, fucking terrible.
Happy clappy electronic dance music with obligatory simple riffs, twangy bases and drum machine. Not my cup of tea. A one star
Early tech just sucks.
This was really bad, not sure how it made this list.
After listening to this, I contemplated jumping out of the window of my penthouse only to land head first on the pavement below. Actually that thought occurred AS I was listening to it. Regardless that these guys shared members with the Human League, how the hell some of these albums make the list is beyond comprehension. Even if heaven existed in 17 different realms, I’m sure this album would not be included in any of them.
What an inclusion from the wiki on this: “It has since been regarded as ‘an important outing’”. Wow really makes you think. This album cover goes hard, GUYS DOING BUSINESS. But this was painful. Sounds like someone just got their Casio keyboard and has mastered the art of annoying you with every stock sound included.
You know how when something is not very good but it inspires someone to create something good. I don’t know if that’s the case but with this being early 80s maybe it influenced other music in that decade. I don’t know. That’s about the only nice thing I could say.
I’m perplexed. Flummoxed even. No clue why this album is on the list. As far as I can tell it was not popular, not critically acclaimed, has no hits, and isn’t particularly influential in the world of synth pop. So….what are we even doing? Sounds like a cheap rip off of the Lambda Lambda Lambda battle of the bands set. The album cover is pretty awesome, tho, in that so bad it’s good kinda way. 1.5/5
Voornamelijk lege interessant doenerij
Early UK synth pop
Should have just put a Pavement album here instead of whatever this was attempting to be. This was not very good at all and way too long. Think it said the genre was rock and pop. Not true. The crazy debate going on in my head right now is who did it worse, the Dylan album yesterday (really any Dylan album) or these guys? And I see another Radiohead album coming up? WTF? I suppose I had this coming after several 4 star albums. I'm guessing the next album I see will be another Neil Young. Sheesh......I guess if I gave Dylan negative stars, these guys deserve none. So zero it is...... 0
answering the question “what if thomas dolby was 11 years old and got a keyboard for christmas”
On release the public didnt like it, the critics didn't like it and it sold sod all so let's put it on the list??? The authors desperate need to convince us he's a musical intellectual is starting to get a bit stupid now.
Another truly dire album
Not good
No. Not well-received by charts or critics? Fantastic. This is a great experiment if you wondered what Talking Heads would be like without any actual talent. Every once in a while, I’d think a certain riff was decent… and then they’d repeat it for five minutes until I hated them even more. Why?
This should remain in 1981. No reason to bring it back. Yes it's got the 80s vibes but there are so many 80s soundtracks that are much better at it.
I value my life more than keep listening more than 5 tracks of this album. Not amused at all.
Outhouse..
Like a cross between Oingo Boingo, Devo, Wang Chung, and NPR. I liked a few tracks but most of it wasn't good, certainly not for 1.25 hours
Kein Folk - erster Stern. Ansonsten gibt es nur noch einen Punkt zu klären: Wie(so) hat es das Album in diese Liste geschafft?
Oh boy, that started off strong. So much keytar. I feel like if you took out the lyrics, it would be kinda cool background music.
Noise
Talking Heads did it better. Every song on this album sounds the same. No point in even ranking them.
Nice
No Thanks!
Phew. Especially the production really didn't do anything for me. It just sounds so sterile and lacklustre.
Not my thing
Þetta er ekki skemmtilegt .....
Too repetitive, pretty mindless lyrics. Musically, maybe it was a new sound in 81?
does not cllick with me
Do not like electronic.
Doesn't hold up well and I generally enjoy synth pop. Tough to get through and found it extremely jarring
La verdad es que no
#106. Big oof. This manages to be both terrible and full of pretentious twattery. 1/5: Surely no one likes this, right?
More like Hustler and Bullshit
Please don’t recommend me this type of music again
Didn't like this at all, fascist groove is ok
I remember when this first came out in the early 80s and how exciting it sounded along with Gary Numan, The Human League, Gang of Four etc. This was the newest thing from England and it was so different. Fast forward to today and it sounds embarrassingly dated and archaic. Fun fact, the name Heaven 17 was first mentioned in Stanley Kubrick‘s movie Clockwork Orange, when the main protagonist goes into a record shop and names off a few fictional band names to impress a girl who he’s trying to pick up. Did I say that this is horribly dated?
For techno pop that was a hard listen. It did not have a beat you could dance to and felt disjointed.
Not for me. At all.
I'm missing some quality here
I honestly hated this. Maybe it was groundbreaking at the time. Only positive was it was only 38 minutes long.
Too tech funk 80’s. Hard pass.
I tend to like synth pop but I found this album very grating. I don’t feel like it’s aged well.
Not my thing.
Nothing special.
this album has a lot of dead spots. its a little too synth-poppy (although its to be expected), like they just kinda noodle around on the keys a bit too much at times and can overwhelm the song. the vocals are pretty off. like they were more interested in making statements than you know, music.
Oh god, the production is way too generic 80s for me.
The only strong suit I can see is that, if the instrumentals were improved, the hooks on this could be so much better. The sparse, plastic-sounding instrumentals bring it all the way down to the basement, exposing the flaws of the vocals. In a list cluttered with synth pop records, this one definitely didn't need to be here. Small concession: I do like how the final track cuts out midway through repeating "For a very long time!" Pretty funny.
terrible
stupid politics, fake funk, and the shit side of 80s production
Ho boy this isn't good
0. Shit. Rubbish. That's not even music, it's CRAP.
It's got everything one wants in an early '80s classics – synths that sound like a Pong game, naive politics, sprockets-esque vocals. One can just about smell the gelled-up hair and flipped-up collars down the decades. Musically, it's plenty bouncy but totally soulless and also quite annoying. One senses the ambition for polyphonically oriented innovation or complexity or avant-gardeyness later in the record, but its falling short is the dominant impression. Rating this anywhere near the best of the '80s demonstrates just how horrendous that decade could be.
This is not the selection I expected. What rubbish. Am I missing something
unlistenable shit
Nothing special
Syhtpop is definitely not my thing, so this album was pretty boring for me. Honestly, the music that Spotify recommended afterward was a thousand times better. Not entirely sure why this is here, there's nothing particularly good about it.
It’s rare that you find an album where the tone and delivery of every track is as annoying as this one… I thought I was going crazy, I felt like my ears were engaging in civil war with my brain… wtf is this disjointed cacophony!?
If it's not historically significant, it didn't sell much, and the critics didn't like it, then why would it be on this list?
Pure Garbage.
I tire of ⭐️ albums that I can't justify being included on this list. The only tolerable parts of "Penthouse and Pavement" are the funkier bits, but even those aren't enough to save the rest from oblivion. To counteract the bleakness of the single-star stinkers, I'm going to start adding a five-star review for an album that ought to have the offender's spot. Today we'll keep it heaven-related, and open with... Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog (1991) I've already lamented that 90s Seattle is under-represented on the 1001, and we'll come back to that idea when we finally get Pearl Jam's "Ten." But Temple of the Dog holds an amazing place in the history of the Seattle scene. Conceived by Soundgarden's Chris Cornell as a tribute to Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone following his death, Cornell brought together Wood's former bandmates Mike McCready and Stone Gossard to create a pre-supergroup. Soundgarden had yet to hit it big, and Pearl Jam was still yet to form. Eddie Vedder was in town to audition for McCready and Gossard's new band and was brought into the studio for the TotD recording sessions. The rest, as they say, is history. Within a couple years, Cornell and Vedder would be two of the most talked about frontmen in rock, and to this day they are my two favorite rock singers. To have them together on TotD? Its transcendent. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Esto no es música. Abz.
This type of 80s aesthetic will always be nostalgic to me but my goodness this is unlistenable.
Atrocious
this was not good
Einfach schrecklich. Ein Tiefpunkt.
1981 eh? What fucking new wave masterpiece is this gonna be today? I see the names of UK cities on the cover, too - good good, couldn't go more than a day without some kind of UK bullshit. Fuck you, Dimery. uuuuugh. I knew it would be new wave, but there was still a part of me that really, really hoped it wasn't. I'm so fucking tired of these same genres day after day. And this was worse than average new wave, too. 38 minutes never felt so long. 1/5.
I hated every second of listening to this. Those synths are something else, man. Best track: N/A
They were tedious in the 80s but with the passing of time they have become absolutely soporific. Why is this in the 1001? I can think of no justification whatsoever for including it. They had one hit - Temptation - which is not even on this and is not very good anyway.
Shit was ass
Not my speed
80's. English.
Genuinely cannot understand why this album is on the list. There were so may better electronic bands around at that time. IMO this is a poor album from an overrated band.
Boring, boring synth pop. I barely made it through.
Electro garbage
Soa com um Depeche Mode piorado.
I mostly hated this entire thing.
What in the actual FUCK is this album? It is just so damn bad. Early 80s New Wave and Synth-Pop is always very hit or miss. And this is one of the worst misses I have had the displeasure of listening to. The first few songs are mediocre at best. "Geisha Boys And Temple Girls" is problematic. It is creepy and racist and I'm sad I left Spotify to be able to listen to it. "Let's All Make A Bomb" while a strange song to follow that up with is probably the best song on the album. I do not understand how this album made it to the list. It wasn't even that influential to the genre. It's just terrible!
similar to Kraftwerk 1.5
Deary me. I am bored
Penthouse And Pavement is desperately bad, the worst of the 80s shit, get it off my ears. 1/5.
Dross. Boring, beige synthesiser stuff which has been done so much better by a lot of other people. Opening track is the best of the bunch, which isn't saying much. 1/5.
Bruuuuh detta suger fr... så störande och sångaren borde aldrig sjunga igen!
Didn’t like this one
Not the most puzzling pick in this list, but surely one of the worst?
No ty
when am i gonna have a modern album. this is bad.
Hated this. Not much more to say, definitely not for me.
Niet door heen te komen. Terror
Nee. Dit is hem niet. Nee.
Stressiges Album. Interessant aber nichts für mich.
1/10 being generous, awful
Detestable. It's been a while... since the Incredible String Band that's i've actively disliked track after track. It is amazingly dated... and shouldn't have been allowed to escape the 80's. The electronic/synth sounds/beats are unpleasant. Nothing redeeming here.
Awful 80's synth's
Cocaine is BAD
Kraftwerk did it better.
N
Hate is strong word. I fucking hated this. No melodies. Shit electronica just for the sake of it. If i never heard this again it would be too soon. 1/5 P.S- Fuck the super league.
i didn't enjoy this one
It feels like the foundation of a lot of music I like, but I would never return to this album.
My god, horrible
No famaliar songs. Not realy a nice album to me.
no
This was disgustingly 80's. Yuck!
I’m not going out tonight I’m not home 🏡 I got my car 🚘 and my truck 🛻 back from my job I just need you and me in my arms I not want nobody around to talk with nobody I want nobody around I just don’t care 🤷♀️ if you’re my best friend’s family is a family member that’s what I’m trying not everybody wants you to get with me.