"Heaven" is a song by Scottish band

the Chimes ''The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In'', commonly referred to as ''The Chimes'', is a novella written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1844, one year after ''A Christmas Carol''. It is th ...

, released on 20 November 1989 as the second single from their only album, ''

The Chimes ''The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In'', commonly referred to as ''The Chimes'', is a novella written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1844, one year after ''A Christmas Carol''. It is th ...

'' (1990). It reached number one on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart, staying at the top for one week. The song also peaked at number 54 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Black Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart, but failed to appear on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. "Heaven" also reached number 24 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number five in New Zealand.

Critical reception

Bill Coleman of ''

'' complimented the song as "tasty" and "an even stronger club offering", than the band's debut single, " 1-2-3". He added that vocalist

Pauline Henry Pauline Henry (born 29 January 1961) is a Jamaican-British recording artist. She was the vocalist in the Scottish band the Chimes, best known for their 1990 cover version of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", between 1988 and 19 ...

's delivery "sends shivers and has been called by one colleague "the

Candi Staton Canzetta Maria "Candi" Staton (, ) (born March 13, 1940) is an American singer–songwriter, best known in the United States for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's " Stand by Your Man" and her 1976 disco chart-topper "Young Hearts Run Free". In E ...

of the '90's"." A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote that "this self-produced and self written

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

number has a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

rhythm track and an excellent vocal performance. The record sparkles with

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

energy and the inclusion of an unexpectedly messy piano is great. Give it a play." When re-released in 1990, the magazine stated that "following up their massive " I Still Haven't Found...", this electryfing act brings us more house-pulsed

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. Soulful vocals and a rocking piano riff." Nick Robinson from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' commented on the re-release, "This time the funky drum, subtle piano and wailing vocal track should make a sizeable dent in the pop chart, building on the success of "Still Haven't Found.." earlier this year." Daniele Davoli of

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

reviewed the song for ''

Number One Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

'', saying, "It's really nice. It seems to be like a true sound — when you close your eyes you see the song in the same way. It's not a refined song but it's full of feeling and that's the stuff I like. They're going to have a heavy success." In her review of ''

'' album, Miranda Sawyer from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' noted Henry's "remarkable voice" and declared the song as "classy".

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs The Chimes (Scottish band) songs Songs written by Mike Peden