I would like to shout it from the highest mountain, to tell the world I've found love and what it means to me...

I had written earlier about Bronski Beat, the “gayest band ever” in my eyes. Well, after one album and an aforementioned remix set, lead singer Jimmy Somerville left the group. Instead of going solo, he formed the Communards with childhood friend Richard Coles. This pairing didn’t stray too far from the Bronski formula of political angst, but including more orchestral-styled pieces as well. Well Coles and Somerville lasted for just two albums, before Somerville finally embarked on a solo career. Heaven is a compilation of songs from both albums and a few live and stray tracks. Rather than a hits collection, it is more of a sampler of their work. If you are looking for their two biggest successes, the remakes of “Don’t Leave Me This Way” and “Never Can Say Goodbye”, neither are here. It may be understandable that Somerville or the record company wouldn’t want to focus (or pay royalties) for non-Somerville-written material, but then there’s “Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart”, while Somerville-penned "Disenchanted" and "For A Friend" are missing. But what is here includes good work, and his most representative song with the group, the buoyantly anthemic “There’s More To Love (Than Boy Meets Girl)”, making a defiant yet exuberant statement against homophobia. “Hold On Tight” explores a more subdued, jazzier pop sound, while “If I Could Tell You”, one of their most poignant laments on the AIDS crisis, represents the more sparse, classically-influenced tack Coles had on the group’s material. “Tomorrow” and “You Are My World” are fast-paced songs that glean from the Bronski Beat book of busy keyboards but focus more on the interpersonal relationships than activism. And adding “So Cold The Night” as well as concert interlude “Czardas” gives a glimpse of Somerville’s “socialist camp” side. There are a couple non-album songs on here besides “Zing…”, and “Sanctified” and “Judgement Day” are passable pop, while “Annie” and “I Do It All For Love” are just a little forgettable. Closing out the set are “Heavens Above” from their debut, and a live version of “Victims”, another AIDS-activist piece. In total, Heaven almost succeeds in portraying the “soul” of the Communards, even without including the groups singles, though ignoring at least one of Somerville’s “hairdresser on fire” falsettos on their most successful remakes makes this a couple notches below essential.

Grade: B
Best Cuts: “Hold On Tight”, “There’s More To Love”, “You Are My World”, “Tomorrow”, “If I Could Tell You”
Weakest Links: “Czardas”, “Annie”, “I Do It All For Love”

"You Are My World" made #21 in the UK single chart.
"So Cold The Night" hit #25 on the US dance club play chart and #8 in the UK.
"Tomorrow" hit #23 in the UK.
"There's More To Love (Than Boy Meets Girl)" made #20 in the UK.

Listen: "Hold On Tight" [Click Here To Listen]

Buy: You can pick up Heaven at websites like here and here.

And now for some clips. First off, the jubilant lovesong "You Are My World" gets the "cute" treatment with a guy preparing for a date...