| Heaven Up Here | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 29 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 Englishpost-punk bandEcho & the Bunnymen, released on 29 May 1981.[2] In June 1981,Heaven Up Here became Echo & the Bunnymen's first Top 10 release when it reached number 10 on theUK Albums Chart.[3] It was also the band's first entry into the United States album charts when it reached number 184 of theBillboard 200.[4] The songs "A Promise" and "Over the Wall" were released as singles.
Recorded atRockfield Studios nearMonmouth in Wales,Heaven Up Here was co-produced byHugh 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 1981NME Awards. The album has also been listed at number 463 inRolling Stone magazine's list ofthe 500 greatest albums of all time.[5]
After the public and press interest garnered from Echo & the Bunnymen's debut album,Crocodiles, the band released theShine So HardEP which maintained their profile. Work then soon began on their second album,Heaven Up Here. Following musical differences between the band andCrocodilesproducersBill Drummond andDavid Balfe,Hugh Jones was brought in to produceHeaven Up Here.[6] Jones had previouslyengineeredCrocodiles and co-producedShine So Hard with Drummond, and would later go on to produce the band's 2005 albumSiberia. The band were also given an additional producer credit.[7] The album was recorded atRockfield Studios nearMonmouth in Wales during March 1981.[8]
In theliner notes to the 2003remastered version of the album, lead singerIan McCulloch said that he constantly had the American rock bandthe 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.[6] In the same liner notes, bassistLes 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.[9] According to guitaristWill Sergeant, McCulloch considersHeaven Up Here to be Sergeant's album because he was bossy and a control freak during the recording.[10]
In 1981, music magazineNME described the album as darker and more passionate than 1980'sCrocodiles.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".[11]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".[11] In the 2002 bookTurquoise 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."[12] 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."[13]
In his 2005 bookRip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978–1984, British music journalistSimon Reynolds described the sound ofHeaven Up Here as having been filled out with "guitar overdubs, keyboard glints, vocal multitracking and atmospheric vapours".[14] ComparingHeaven Up Here withJoy Division's 1980 albumCloser, Reynolds said they are "harrowed by the same things [...] hypocrisy, distrust, betrayal, lost or frozen potential". However, he said that "Closer showsIan 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".[14]
The photograph used on the front and back cover of the album was taken by photographerBrian Griffin.[8] The picture shows the band on a wet beach in the south Wales seaside town ofPorthcawl;[15] 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.[16] The original album's cover art was designed by Martyn Atkins.[8] According to Griffin, they used buckets of fishoffal to entice the gulls to fly into shot. He also stated that both Drummond andRob Dickins, head of their record labelKorova, hated the pictures from the shoot, and that he and Atkins had to fight for them to be used on the sleeve.[15] The cover received the "Best Dressed LP" award in the 1981NME Awards.[17] Reynolds said that the band's manager, Drummond, saw them as representing "cold, dampness, darkness".[18]
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.[8]
The album was originally released as anLP by Korova in the United Kingdom on 29 May 1981. It was then released in the United States bySire Records on 24 June 1981.[8] It was released elsewhere on Korova, although with a different catalogue number. Side one of the LP contained five tracks and side two had six. The album was first released on CD on 16 May 1988.
Along with the others of the band's first five albums, the album was remastered and reissued on CD in 2003 containing fivebonus tracks – these releases were marketed as 25th anniversary editions. "Broke My Neck (Long Version)", recorded at Tistedal Studios in Norway on 7 June 1981, is theB-side of the12-inch single "A Promise" – an edited version was used as the B-side of the 7-inch single. The other four bonus tracks were recorded live at the Manly Vale Hotel in Sydney, Australia, on 11 November 1981. The reissued album was produced by music historianAndy Zax and producer Bill Inglot.[8]
The only single fromHeaven Up Here released worldwide was "A Promise" on 10 July 1981. The single stayed on theUK Singles Chart for four weeks and reached number 49.[3] Later that year, "Over the Wall" was released as a single in Australia only.[19]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [20] |
| Blender | [21] |
| The Guardian | [22] |
| Mojo | [23] |
| Pitchfork | 8.0/10[24] |
| Q | [25] |
| Record Mirror | [26] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [27] |
| Smash Hits | 9/10[28] |
| The Village Voice | C[29] |
Heaven Up Here was generally well received by the music press and critics. In a 1982 interview with the band for theNME, rock journalistBarney Hoskyns described the album as "one of the most superior articulations of 'rock' form in living memory."[30] 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".[20] Not all reviews were positive:Robert Christgau ofThe Village Voice said that he held "no brief against tuneless caterwaul, but tunelesspsychedelic caterwaul has always been another matter."[29] In his 1999 bookFrom 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."[31]
Heaven Up Here sold well in the United Kingdom, staying on theUK Albums Chart for a total of 16 weeks and reaching a peak of number 10 in June 1981.[3] The album was the first release by Echo & the Bunnymen to make it onto the American charts when it reached number 184 on theBillboard 200.[4]
In 2012, the album ranked number 463 onRolling Stone magazine's list ofthe 500 greatest albums of all time.[5] TheNME ranked the album number 39 on its list of the 50 greatest albums of the 1980s and number 51 on its list of the greatest albums of all time.[32][33] The album also received theNME's 1981 best album award.[13] Reynolds described the award as "essentially an anti-New Pop protest vote bypost-punk's silent majority".[34]
The song "The Disease" was covered — re-titled as "From Heaven" — in 2024 by Americanindustrial metal bandStatic-X for their albumProject Regeneration Vol. 2; it is based on an archival vocal recording of late frontmanWayne Static who died in 2014.[35]
All tracks written byWill Sergeant,Ian McCulloch,Les Pattinson andPete de Freitas.
with:
| Chart (1981-1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[36] | 17 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[37] | 10 |
| USBillboard 200[38] | 184 |
| Chart (2021-2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Croatian International Albums (HDU)[39] | 11 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[40] | 46 |
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