''How Men Are'' is the third studio album by English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

band

Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), ...

, released on 24 September 1984 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

. The album peaked at No. 12 in the UK and was certified Silver (60,000 copies sold) by the BPI in October 1984. Three singles were released from this album: " Sunset Now" (UK #24), "

This Is Mine "This Is Mine" is a song by the British new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, which was released in 1984 as the second single from their third studio album ''How Men Are''. It was written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, and p ...

" (UK #23) in 1984, and an edited

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of " ...(And That's No Lie)" (UK #52) in early 1985, which was the first Heaven 17 single to fail to reach the UK Top 40 since " Let Me Go" at the end of 1982. Although digital sample-based instruments such as the Fairlight CMI and the

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, also referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Its high-quality samples, flexibility and affordability made the LinnDrum popular; it sold far m ...

drum machine were still responsible for most of the album's sounds, ''How Men Are'' marked the beginning of an increased usage of

acoustic instrument Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the ad ...

s in Heaven 17's music. A small

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

is employed on three tracks, and two tracks make use of the Phenix Horns Esquire,

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million r ...

's famous brass section. Another notable contribution to this album was made by the vocal group

Afrodiziak Afrodiziak was a British singing group composed of Caron Wheeler, Claudia Fontaine, and later Naomi Thompson, that was active in the 1980s. As a duo, Wheeler and Fontaine were best known for performing backing vocals on the Jam's final single ...

, who sang on four tracks. In 2006, Heaven 17's first three albums were

remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

ed and

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...

d with bonus tracks.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh, and Martyn Ware, except where noted. Side one # "Five Minutes to Midnight" – 3:46 # " Sunset Now" – 3:35 # "

" – 3:51 # "The Fuse" – 3:05 # "Shame Is on the Rocks" – 3:59 Side two #

"The Skin I'm In" – 3:46 # "Flamedown" – 2:59 # "Reputation" (John Wilson, Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware) – 3:03 # " And That's No Lie" – 10:02 ;Additional tracks

Personnel

Heaven 17 * Glenn Gregory – lead and backing

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

* Martyn Ware –

programming, backing vocals, Roland System 100 bass (3) * Ian Craig Marsh – Fairlight CMI programming, backing vocals (1), Roland System 100 (3, 6) Session musicians * Greg Walsh – Fairlight CMI programming, Roland System 100 bass (3) * Nick Plytas – Roland System 100 simulated classical guitar (6), acoustic piano (8, 9) * Ray Russell – guitars (5, 7, 9) * John Wilson – guitars (8), bass guitar (9) *

Mo Foster Mo Foster (born Michael Ralph Foster, 22 December 1944) is an English multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, solo artist, author, and public speaker. Through a career spanning over half a century, Foster has toured, recorded, and perf ...

–

fretless bass A fretless bass is a bass guitar whose neck does not have any frets. While the instrument is played in all styles of music, it is most common in pop, rock, and jazz. It first saw widespread use during the 1970s, although some players used them befo ...

(6) * Phenix Horns Esquire – horns (3, 7) * Michael Harris –

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

(3) * David Cullen – orchestral arrangements and conductor (1, 6, 9) *

– backing vocals (2, 4, 8, 9)

Production

* B.E.F. – producers * Greg Walsh – producer, engineer * Jeremy Allom – engineer * Ray Smith – cover paintings, photography, cover concept

Track listing

Personnel

Production

Charts

Certifications

References

External links