Bigger Than America Explained

Bigger Than America
Type:Studio album
Artist:Heaven 17
Cover:Heaven17-_biggerthanamerica.jpg
Released: (UK)
Genre:Synth-pop
Label:Eye of the Storm
WEA
Producer:B.E.F.
Prev Year:1993
Next Title:Before After
Next Year:2005

Bigger Than America is the sixth studio album by the English synth-pop band Heaven 17. It was originally released in September 1996, on the label Eye of the Storm, eight years after their previous album, Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho.

The album peaked at number one on Germany Alphabeat Redaktionscharts' Rock/Pop/Alternative Charts in November 1996, but did not chart in the UK. It was listed as number 6 on the online music magazine Addicted to Noise's Writers Poll.[1]

In an interview with The Guardian in 2010, Ware recalled: "This went under the radar to the extent that hardly anybody in this country knew about it; we did do an album in '95 called Bigger Than America, which was our attempt to re-engage early analogue synths and create an album based on that. It just got lost in the big Warner Brothers machine."[2]

Critical reception

Upon its release, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian commented: "Heaven 17 have hardly changed [and] things are much the same - just less melodic. Marsh and Ware still produce plinky, one-tempo backbeats, [and] Gregory's lyrics are disillusioned, even morose. "We Blame Love" has the closest thing to a tune, which brings us to the crux of the matter - their status as godfathers of techno is unchallenged, but these songs are hollow and too samey."

Robert Semrow of Keyboard wrote: "[Heaven 17] were outstanding before, and have only improved with time. Each song is solid and very dancefloor-friendly. Bigger Than America is similar to their previous sound, with pads and dance grooves providing a backdrop for Gregory's unmistakable strong vocals. Lots of movement, lots of changes, and lots to enjoy."[3] Howard Cohen of Knight Ridder summarised: "Erasure-like Europop cuts 'Freak!' and 'Another Big Idea' are danceable enough, and there's a throbbing Giorgio Moroder dance remix. But this is largely tuneless, boring stuff. Which explains why few missed Heaven 17 in the first place."[4]

Track listing

  1. "Dive" – 4:30
  2. "Designing Heaven" – 5:15
  3. "We Blame Love" – 4:49
  4. "Another Big Idea" – 4:57
  5. "Freak!" – 4:09
  6. "Bigger Than America" – 4:00
  7. "Unreal Everything" – 4:10
  8. "The Big Dipper" – 4:57
  9. "Do I Believe?" – 4:57
  10. "Resurrection Man" – 4:06
  11. "Maybe Forever" – 4:42
  12. "An Electronic Prayer" – 4:06
  13. "Designing Heaven – (Mies Van Der Rohe mix)" +
  14. "Designing Heaven (Den Hemmel Designen) – (Gregorio remix)" +

Tracks marked with "+" are bonus tracks added to the other version of the CD album.

Personnel

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Heaven 17 - The most complete homepage . Heaven17.de . 2012-01-16.
  2. Web site: Paul Morley interviews Heaven 17 . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/IOKMbAd-JII . 2021-12-15 . live. YouTube . 2010-11-03 . 2019-12-08.
  3. Web site: Keyboard - Google Books . 2010-05-25 . 2019-12-08.
  4. News: Cohen. Howard. 28 February 1998. Tune up. The Gazette.
  5. Web site: Heaven 17 albums chart history received from ARIA in May 2024. ARIA. Imgur.com. 4 June 2024. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart

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