Before After - Heaven 17 Album Review

Album Review

I was a bit of a late comer to Heaven 17, getting into them a few years after I was initially digging The Human League - a band with whom Heaven 17 share close links - apart from being from the same part of the UK (Sheffield), UK synth pioneers Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh were part of the original Human League lineup.

Perhaps the most memorable album (from my perspective) is 1983's The Luxury Gap, an album which spawned the massive track Temptation - later to be re-released as a dance floor filler.

It's been 21 years since the release of my last Heaven 17 purchase - 1984's Penthouse and Pavement, so what link does Before After (my first non-vinyl Heaven 17 release!) have to their illustrious past? The familiar strains of lead singer Glenn Greggory are as unique as the Human League's Phil Oakey and the complex synth compositions still remain - mainly accompanied by a four-to-the-floor dance beat.

Opener I'm Gonna Make you Fall in Love with Me is a good way to start the album, with it's nicely vocoded/ sampled vocal intro, and dance tempo. It does sound a little cheesy, but is entertaining anyway. Over the next few tracks, it becomes a bit predictable in an 'electronic-band-does-house' kind of way.

The cover of The Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear the Reaper' makes for a bit of an interlude, after which the album's tempo mellows to a chillout/ urban tempo for the remaining tracks.

Highlights: I'm gonmna make you fall in love with me, Don't Fear the Reaper and What Would it Take.

Daniel O'Connell