Penthouse And Pavement
by Heaven 17

Penthouse And Pavement by Heaven 17
Year: 1981
Release date: 1981-09-18
Overall rank: 4,676th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 116 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1981 (80th)
Award Top albums of of the 1980s (671st)
Award Best albums of all time (4,676th)

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Heaven 17 bestography

Penthouse And Pavement is ranked as the best album by Heaven 17.

Heaven 17 album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (4,676th)
Penthouse And Pavement
Lower ranked (10,566th) »
The Luxury Gap

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Penthouse And Pavement rankings

Penthouse And Pavement rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,676th | 1980s rank: 671st | 1981 rank: 80th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026JohnnyoGreatest albums of 1981 by Ultimate Record Collector47/55 -
2026stangetzawayTop 43 Music Albums of 19818/434
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of 198144/1003
2026stevengnzTop 98 Music Albums of 198181/981
2026mikepenTop 100 Music Albums of 198187/1001
2026JohnnyoBest Electronic / Dance albums of all time by DigitalDreamDoor78/100 -
2026 Patman360Top 100 Music Albums of 198130/1004
2026 PasticheTop 20 Music Albums of 198117/201
2026 RomanelliMy Overall Chart: 2201-230085/100 -
2026fabm0List 198186/100 -
2026 LeonardTop 99 Music Albums of 19816/995
2026jonny5244Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s100/1000
2026stangetzawayTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s90/1002
2026BorderFreeAndrewTop 100 Music Albums of 198112/1004
2026 LiedzeitTop 50 Music Albums of 198143/501
2026Rm12398Top 20 Music Albums of 19816/204
2026 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 198124/1004
2026LittleM1971Top 90 Music Albums of 198116/904
2026 neilgeeTop 100 Music Albums of 198156/1002
2026 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of 198196/1000
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 121
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 305
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Penthouse And Pavement collection

Penthouse And Pavement ratings

Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 116 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 116 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 !
06/05/2026 21:19 LittleM1971  Ratings distribution  5,98481/100
 
100/100
 !
05/25/2026 01:08 twc0006  Ratings distribution  2100/100
 
65/100
 !
04/06/2026 05:33 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,43570/100
 
75/100
 !
01/25/2026 14:32 Pluto11  Ratings distribution  12,25972/100
 
80/100
 !
12/08/2025 19:38 Jakor  Ratings distribution  5,48470/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 71.6/100, a mean average of 70.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.3.


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Penthouse And Pavement favourites

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Penthouse And Pavement comments

Showing all 7 comments |
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Rating:  
25/100
From 12/02/2021 13:58 | #276979
fine line between clever and fresh/disjointed and sparse. new wave
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
Pretty darn good, some of the beats sound dated, but not many, and the funky bass sounds and afro rythyms are great. Some filler, not every idea works. Liked it much more in 2021 than I did in the early 80's which kinda shows that it was ahead of its time. The first 3 songs were the strongest for me though I also really liked Lets Make a Bomb.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
An interesting early eighties electro pop concept album which was more ahead of its time than many may think. 'Play to Win' and 'Soul Warfare' are personal favourites. Personally, I would put 'The Luxury Gap' in first place and 'How Men Are' in second place, mainly because I find the tracks on those two albums more melodic.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
Heaven 17's greatest moment. This politically heavy album is one of the classic electro pop records of the early eighties. Fascist groove thing, is an excellent opener on an album full of strong cuts. Underrated.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
15/100
From 03/27/2014 19:45 | #107801
concept album which tries to produce a businesslike and serious sound. The goal was achieved and out comes exactly what it is: a buisnesslike and serious redord.
btw: cool cover art.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
One of the best New Romantic albums and an 80's classic. An_outlaw, I understand where you're coming from but they're being ironic.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Far from the most rebellious album cover ever.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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