On 29 May 1981, Echo And The Bunnymen released their second studio album, 'Heaven Up Here'. The album became Echo & the Bunnymen's first Top 10 release when it reached number 10 on the UK Albums Chart. It was also the band's first entry into the United States album charts when it reached number 184 of the Billboard 200.
In 2012, the album ranked number 463 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The NME ranked the album number 39 on its list of the 50 greatest albums of the 1980s and number 51 on its list of the greatest albums of all time. The album also received the NME's 1981 best album award. Reynolds described the award as "essentially an anti-New Pop protest vote by post-punk's silent majority".