- Audio CD (13 Feb 1984)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Virgin
- ASIN: B000025JR9
- Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 141,080 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang |
| 2. Penthouse And Pavement |
| 3. Play To Win |
| 4. Soul Warfare |
| 5. Geisha Boys And Temple Girls |
| 6. Let's All Make A Bomb |
| 7. The Height Of The Fighting |
| 8. Song With No Name |
| 9. We're Going To Live For A Very Long Time |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Amazon reviewers are a self-selective sample, aren't they? Chances are we're only here to tell you that this is the 'best album of all time'. I won't go that far, but I will suggest that Heaven 17's 'Penthouse and Pavement' is one of the most important albums of the 80's. Why? First off, it did 'classy' infinitely better than London's queeny Soho New Romantics ever did 'classy'. As a concept album, 'P&P' tells a great story about Thatcherite-era consumerism while affirming an deep-rooted confidence that Sheffield was always going to sound cooler than London. It's also packed - like every other Marsh/Ware product - with great production tics that transcended the obvious. The unsung hero of the piece is guitarist/bassist John Wilson whose gorgeous playing shapes tracks like Play To Win. To a die-hard synth freak, Wilson opened my mind to the beauty of the guitar rather than fearing it as an instrument of Satan. A year later I was listening to Chic and thanking H17. As a teenage Human League fan I was overawed how smart, grown-up and ahead of its time up 'P&P' sounded. Almost a quarter of a century later, this middle-aged father still reckons he was right first time around.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Possibly one of the first concept album of the 80's and filling in some of the themes previously touched on the Human League's 'Travelogue'.
There are two strains of thought that course throughout 'Penthouse and Pavement'. 'Groove Thang', 'Geisha Boys and Temple Girls', 'Lets All Make A Bomb', 'Height of The Fighting' and 'We're Going To Live for a very Long Time' hold a mirror up to the world at large and report back on the distortions locked in their subjects; US Politics and their effect on the world, Religious implications and their impact on relationships, The possibility of nuclear war (a subject that mattered greatly in '81), war (in general) and religious extremes.
'(We don't need this) Groove Thang' sets the tone for the rest of the album; a serious 4/4 workout full of chants and a slinky bass line similar to what Frankie would do three years later on 'Two Tribes' and so good, it was banned by the BBC.
'Penthouse and Pavement', 'Soul Warfare', 'Song with No Name' and 'Play to Win' look inwardly at 80s Britain; principally the rise of the yuppie - their focus on money, their empty relationships with money, cocaine, the beginning of privatisation and Thatcherism (most critics lazily assumed that Heaven 17 were celebrating the lifestyle little realising that Gregory, Marsh and Ware were all Socialists).
Sounds drab eh? Not a bit of it - this is music for the mind, heart, soul and the feet. This album is fuelled by early analogue electronics that most modern bands would kill for, looping over this - some of the most killer bass lines; generating precision but fluid rhythms you can't help but move to. There is now an import version of the album available which features one of their greatest 12"s; 'I'm your Money', which explores similar themes to the album and sounds like Detroit techno at least seven years before it existed. Celebrate and vaporize.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
As a whole, an album of two halves. The first half is very upbeat and funky. The second half is Heaven 17 at their best.
'Let's All Make A Bomb' is my favourite track on the album, in both lyric/music terms.
This album does sound somewhat dated in terms of production quality, but it does not disappoint with it's clever lyrics and melodies.
'Let's All Make A Bomb' is my favourite track on the album, in both lyric/music terms.
This album does sound somewhat dated in terms of production quality, but it does not disappoint with it's clever lyrics and melodies.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The packaging screams product , the music proves otherwise.
If any album ,superficially at least , seemed to embrace the precepts of Thatcherism and monetarism it's Penthouse and Pavement by Heaven 17. Read more
Published on 4 May 2009 by russell clarke
A nice start
Now, I was one of those devastated when the original Human League split up, but I began to realise that I'd have twice as many records to buy! Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2005 by Coincidence Vs Fate
A departure from the Human League in more ways than one !!!!
Having been a fan of the Human league since the release of "Fast 4 - Being Boiled" - I still remember the day I sat reading Melody Maker at the Bus Station amd cried (litterally )... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2003 by Mr. A. R. Banyer
A new romantic classic
Capatalist hip - maybe not the most promising intro, but this is a classic of its time. Heaven 17's debut album following the split from the Human League influenced many, and it's... Read more
Published on 17 Dec 1999 by Justin Steed
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