One record at a time: 168. Heaven 17 - Bigger Than Americs

Ultimately this version of "Bigger Than America" is a demonstration of how successful Record Store Day is as a marketing tool. This orange tinted vinyl was released as part of the annual eBay scalpers event in 2019 and it was the only vinyl pressing available at the time. As with all Record Store Day releases, we are made to feel these records would only be available for a short period and in limited quantities. 

Yet in reality there were lots of these records pressed and you can still pick it up cheaply today. To add insult to injury, another vinyl pressing was included in the "Another Big Idea" box set the following year; so now I own it twice.

For some reason the vinyl has a different sleeve to the CDs released in 1996. The images in the artwork repeat the same ideas as "Penthouse and Pavement" by portraying the band as businessmen or diplomats engaged in international affairs. Whilst his album also continues the band's obsession of appropriating soul/R&B motifs, this time it tries to marry them to a more refined brand of synth-pop than they were capable of in 1981.

Today, this album has something of a dated nineties sound. The high pitched bass drum on single "We Blame Love" sounds like that used by Snap! on "Welcome To Tomorrow" or "Get-a-way" by Maxx - both of which were released two years prior. The backing vocals on the album are provided by Angie Brown who is probably best known for singing on some of Bizarre Inc.'s biggest hits and almost every song has a dance friendly beat. In fact this album is probably the first time Heaven 17 consistently employed strong beats and basslines on a recording. The annoying slap bass and session musicians of the eighties have been dispensed with leaving an album that returns the band to their synth-pop roots.

Whilst of its time, this record is well produced and imaginatively realised. One thing I have noticed about Heaven 17 records is that you don't hear any synth presets; everything is crafted by the band. Generally these songs are pretty good with only the awful "Big Dipper" pulling things down with verses that sound like a bad poem written by an angry teenager.

Contemporary reviews of this album were not kind and it sold poorly. Whist this isn't exactly an album full of hits it deserved better than to be ignored. This record probably had no promotional budget and poor distribution; I certainly wasn't aware of its existence in 1996 and I probably would have bought it given the opportunity. Still, I own it twice now. 3/5