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]
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."[3]
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."[5] 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."[6]
