Heaven Up Here
Heaven Up Here | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 30 May 1981 | |||
Recorded | March 1981 | |||
Studio | Rockfield (Rockfield, Wales) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 43:03 | |||
Label | Korova | |||
Producer | Hugh Jones, The Bunnymen | |||
Echo & the Bunnymen chronology | ||||
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Singles from Heaven Up Here | ||||
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Heaven Up Here is the second album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen, released on 30 May 1981. In June 1981, Heaven Up Here became Echo & the Bunnymen's first Top 10 release when it reached number 10 on the UK Albums Chart.[2] It was also the band's first entry into the United States album charts when it reached number 184 of the Billboard 200.[3] The songs "A Promise" and "Over the Wall" were released as singles.
Recorded at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth in Wales, Heaven Up Here was co-produced by Hugh Jones and the band. An album generally well received by fans in the United Kingdom and by critics, Heaven Up Here won the "Best Dressed LP" and "Best Album" awards at the 1981 NME Awards. The album has also been listed at number 463 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[4]
Background and recording
After the public and press interest garnered from Echo & the Bunnymen's debut album,
In the liner notes to the 2003 remastered version of the album, lead singer Ian McCulloch said that he constantly had the American rock band the Velvet Underground's song "What Goes On" in the back of his mind. He also stated that the band wanted to record a soul album.[5] In the same liner notes, bassist Les Pattinson said that the band was often lazy and hence had hired rehearsal space at the Ministry in Liverpool. He said this made them work harder and develop "language" in the rhythm.[8] According to guitarist Will Sergeant, McCulloch considers Heaven Up Here to be Sergeant's album because he was bossy and a control freak during the recording.[9]
Music
In 1981, music magazine NME described the album as darker and more passionate than 1980's Crocodiles. Record Mirror also said that the band sang the blues and devoted themselves to existential sadness. They went on to note that the album offered "an anatomy of melancholy, resplendent with the glamour of doom".[10] Melody Maker disagreed when in 1981 they said "the Bunnymen are continuing to play majestic, uplifting music that will shine through the dark days ahead of us".[10] In the 2002 book Turquoise Days: The Weird World of Echo & the Bunnymen, author Chris Adams said that in 1995 McCulloch had said, "That spikey edge [of the album] still stands up."[11] In relation to their style of music, in 1980 McCulloch had said, "I always say 'We're a rock band'. Because I'm proud of that." He added, "I like rock music [...] I prefer being good or great within that basic format [...] I just prefer basic songs."[12]
In his 2005 book Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978–1984, British music journalist Simon Reynolds described the sound of Heaven Up Here as having been filled out with "guitar overdubs, keyboard glints, vocal multitracking and atmospheric vapours".[13] Comparing Heaven Up Here with Joy Division's 1980 album Closer, Reynolds said they are "harrowed by the same things [...] hypocrisy, distrust, betrayal, lost or frozen potential". However, he said that "Closer shows Ian Curtis fatally mesmerized by his own dread visions, Heaven Up Here ultimately turns its face towards the light" with the tracks "No Dark Things" – which he describes as renouncing "death-wishful thinking" – and "All I Want" – which he describes as "a blasting celebration of desire for desire's sake" and "pure intransitive exhilaration".[13]
Cover
The photograph used on the front and back cover of the album was taken by photographer Brian Griffin.[7] The picture shows the band on a wet beach in the south Wales seaside town of Porthcawl;[14] there are dark clouds in the sky and the sun is low on the horizon causing the band to be silhouetted. The picture was taken on a day off from recording the album.[15] The original album's cover art was designed by Martyn Atkins.[7] According to Griffin, they used buckets of fish offal to entice the gulls to fly into shot. He also stated that both Drummond and Rob Dickins, head of their record label Korova, hated the pictures from the shoot, and that he and Atkins had to fight for them to be used on the sleeve.[14] The cover received the "Best Dressed LP" award in the 1981 NME Awards.[16] Reynolds said that the band's manager, Drummond, saw them as representing "cold, dampness, darkness".[17]
The front cover picture of the original album was kept for the 2003 reissue. However, the design was altered slightly by graphic designer Rachel Gutek of the design company guppyart. The release contained an expanded booklet written by music journalist Max Bell giving the background to the album. The booklet also contains a number of photographs which are credited to Sergeant and Pattinson.[7]
Releases
The album was originally released as an
Along with the others of the band's first five albums, the album was remastered and reissued on CD in 2003 containing five
The only single from Heaven Up Here released worldwide was "A Promise" on 10 July 1981. The single stayed on the
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [19] |
Blender | [20] |
The Guardian | [21] |
Mojo | [22] |
Pitchfork | 8.0/10[23] |
Q | [24] |
Record Mirror | [25] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [26] |
Smash Hits | 9/10[27] |
The Village Voice | C[28] |
Heaven Up Here was generally well received by the music press and critics. In a 1982 interview with the band for the NME, rock journalist Barney Hoskyns described the album as "one of the most superior articulations of 'rock' form in living memory."[29] Later reviews have continued to receive the album well: AllMusic reviewer Aaron Warshaw said that McCulloch "sings with soaring abandon and passion throughout the album" and that Sergeant's guitar playing was at its "angular finest".[19] Not all reviews were positive: Robert Christgau of The Village Voice said that he held "no brief against tuneless caterwaul, but tuneless psychedelic caterwaul has always been another matter."[28] In his 1999 book From the Shores of Lake Placid and Other Stories, the band's manager Bill Drummond said "The album is dull as ditchwater. The songs are unformed, the sound uniformly grey."[30]
Heaven Up Here sold well in the United Kingdom, staying on the UK Albums Chart for a total of 16 weeks and reaching a peak of number 10 in June 1981.[2] The album was the first release by Echo & the Bunnymen to make it onto the American charts when it reached number 184 on the Billboard 200.[3]
In 2012, the album ranked number 463 on
Legacy
The song "The Disease" was covered — re-titled as "From Heaven" — in 2024 by American industrial metal band Static-X for their album Project Regeneration Vol. 2; it is based on an archival vocal recording of late frontman Wayne Static who passed away in 2014.[34]
Track listing
All tracks written by Will Sergeant, Ian McCulloch, Les Pattinson and Pete de Freitas.
- Side one
- "Show of Strength" – 4:50
- "With a Hip" – 3:16
- "Over the Wall" – 5:59
- "It Was a Pleasure" – 3:12
- "A Promise" – 4:08
- Side two
- "Heaven Up Here" – 3:45
- "The Disease" – 2:28
- "All My Colours" – 4:06
- "No Dark Things" – 4:27
- "Turquoise Days" – 3:51
- "All I Want" – 4:09
- 2003 reissue bonus tracks
- "Broke My Neck" (long version) – 7:22
- "Show of Strength" (live) – 4:41
- "The Disease" (live) – 1:53
- "All I Want" (live) – 3:09
- "Zimbo" (live) – 3:52
Personnel
- Echo & the Bunnymen
- Will Sergeant – lead guitar
- Ian McCulloch – vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
- Les Pattinson – bass
- Pete de Freitas – drums
with:
- Les Penning – woodwind
- Technical
- engineer
- The Bunnymen – producer
- Martyn Atkins – album design
- Brian Griffin – photography
- Andy Zax – producer (reissue)
- Bill Inglot – producer (reissue), remastering
- Dan Hersch – remastering
- Claes Neeb – engineering on "Broke My Neck" (long version)
- Rachel Gutek – album design (reissue)
References
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
- ^ ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ a b "Echo & the Bunnymen > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 April 2008.
- ^ a b "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ a b Bell, p. 4
- ^ Heaven Up Here (LP cover notes). Echo & the Bunnymen. Korova. 1981. KODE 3.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b c d e f Heaven Up Here (CD booklet). Echo & the Bunnymen. Warner Music UK. 2003. 2564-61162-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Bell, p. 5
- ^ Bell, p. 7
- ^ a b Adams, p. 71
- ^ Adams, p. 72
- ^ a b Adams, p. 74
- ^ a b Reynolds, pp. 440–1
- ^ theweek.co.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ^ Bell, p. 8
- ^ Adams, p. 73
- ^ Reynolds, p. 450
- ^ "The Ultimate Echo and the Bunnymen Discography". Villiers Terrace.com. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
- ^ a b Warshaw, Aaron. "Heaven Up Here – Echo & the Bunnymen". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ISSN 1534-0554. Archived from the originalon 16 February 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ISSN 1351-0193.
- ^ Tangari, Joe (2 March 2004). "Echo and the Bunnymen: Crocodiles / Heaven Up Here / Porcupine / Ocean Rain / Echo & The Bunnymen". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ISSN 0955-4955.
- ISSN 0144-5804.
- ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ISSN 0260-3004.
- ^ ISSN 0042-6180. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
- ISSN 0028-6362.
- ISBN 1-84166-000-0.
- ISSN 0028-6362.
- ISSN 0028-6362.
- ^ Reynolds, p. 441
- ^ "Project: Regeneration Vol. 2". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 18 January 2024.
Sources
- Adams, Chris (2002). Turquoise Days: The Weird World of Echo & the Bunnymen. New York: ISBN 1-887128-89-1.
- Bell, Max (September 2003). Heaven Up Here (CD booklet). Echo & the Bunnymen. Warner Music UK. 2564-61162-2.
- ISBN 0-571-21570-X.