Penthouse and Pavement

Interesting to read up on the backstory of Ware & Marsh transitioning from Human League to BEF/Heaven 17, and the Pavement/Penthouse sides concept, but that's as far as it went, I found the album itself quite dated and lyrics cliché.

Das ist good! Sprockets!

Odd. Questionable lyrics but pretty catchy?

3 ⭐️

I’m reading a lot of hate here for this album. What the fuck do YOU know? This is more Human League than Human League. So much so that the last 2 tracks even sound like Philip Oakey singing them (or probably more likely the other way around since Glenn Gregory was the singer they wanted for Human League in the first place).

Not to detract from either the Human League or Heaven 17 - I like both their respective albums on this list as much as the other. Well no, maybe Dare just a teeny bit more. But they are basically the same band.

I was a little surprised to see this band having an entry in the book, they are definitely not the best of 80s UK pop, that crown going to Duran Duran, and the only single I ever liked was Temptation. Their lead single off the album “We Don’t Need this Fascist Groove thing” with such brilliant politically charged lyrics has sadly a tune so dull I wonder if the BBC banned it for being boring.
That’s what I wrote before I heard the rest of the album. Track 4 onwards is great and credit for making a political pop album, so ultimately 3 STARS.

I don't exactly like electro pop, but Heaven 17 is not really bad. Some of the songs, including the title track "Penthouse and Pavement" have some catchy melodies, so I can understand there was some audience for this kind of music.
Needless to say most of the album is absolutely cheesy from today's view

I don't really know what to say about this one. It is painfully 80s. But still fun. Great bass lines for the songs that actually have a real bass. It sounds like a soundtrack from a silly, feel-good 80s comedy. It gets a little repetitive. It's short and to the point though.
I don't know why this album was included. I feel like whoever made this list was just to the point of 'yeah I need like 50 more, what's an album I've listened to that's not here yet?'. But still, it was fine for one listen through. 2.5/5

Weird album. They're really good at the funky, danceable tracks they open the album with, but they gradually shift into some Kraftwerk-style, almost industrial synth experimentations.

There's an ironic touch I enjoyed about the final track -- they're singing about dancing their way through collapse, meanwhile all of the danceability they had at the start of the album has crumbled away by this point.

The entire B-side was a rough first listen, but there’s something strangely infectious about it that kept pulling me back. I think I’ve come around on it now, I think it's a solid record, though not one that's going into the rotation.

Standouts: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang • Play To Win • Soul Warfare • Let's All Make A Bomb

Of all the 80’s albums, this is definitely one of them. There really isn’t much to write home about here, it’s inoffensive, but I feel like it just misses the mark.

Okay - interesting, seemingly unique sounds for era. Good complex instrumentalities. Did not pay attention to the lyrics but supposedly they are good.

Pew, pew, pewpewpewpewpewpewpewwwww…..

Super corny.

80s synth pop with poorly charting singles? To say I went in with low expectations is an understatement, but I was surprised and actually enjoyed the first few tracks. Unfortunately, it quickly went downhill from there. I’ll give it some points for the incredible bass playing on the first few tracks and the sadly still relevant lyrics throughout. Other than that, I really don’t understand why this is an album I needed to hear before I die.

i really don’t care for this particular brand of 80s pop

Information Society covered (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang in 2016, and that's the version I heard first. It's always interesting when you hear the original version after the cover.

Unfortunately, this is another album of uneven quality - and I'm saying this as someone who's rather fond of 80's synthpop. Song With No Name was a particularly painful 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.

Heaven 17 have that one good song, "Temptation", that is not on this album though... Excuse me, I just to go listen to that, so good.

Anyways, this is an album you need to hear before you die? Well I guess I can stop doing chemo now, I'm done with life because of this album, its that bad.

A lot going on here. A political Human League (like actually, it's two of the same guys). I do generally like the music and lyrics, but it's a little bit maximalist for my preference. Hey la hoooo. Rounding up because they got their name from A Clockwork Orange, and because the final line "for a very long time" repeated indefinitely on the original vinyl album (and I love a gimmick).

Highlight: 'Soul Warfare'

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…

a primeira metade eh PEDRADA demais, synthpop com outros ritmos e um baixao gostoso demais
na segunda metade fica mais atmosférico e um pouco experimental demais... mas num eh ruim nao!!