PET SHOP BOYS

[Paulo]

I have expressed in previous e-mails my distate for rock music. And also my admiration for my favourite "pop-disco/dance" band PET SHOP BOYS. This weekend I bought their new album RELEASE and to my horror it was a pop-rock album.



My first reaction was obviously to hate the album, "TRAITORS" I thought. While listening to the song I GET ALONG, I didn't know if it was PSB or OASIS, in fact it sounded more like the second. The drums on HOME AND DRY sounded like every breath you take by The Police.



Two days after when I had to accept the fact that the album is what it is and my anger won't turn the beat from rock to dance, I began to listen to the songs with less prejudice to discover that they are very beautiful, melancholic as the usual PSB stuff. Even the Oasis rip-off I GET ALONG is quite good.



The album contains a song with the BEST melody TENNANT & LOWE have written so far. It is called THE NIGHT I FELL IN LOVE which has a SMITHS athmosfere. Jonnhy Mars guitar is spread all over the album.



Best tracks:



SAMURAI IN AUTUMN (the only dance track in this 10 track collection). A very futuristic sounding piece of music.



THE NIGHT I FELL IN LOVE (the best piece of music written by Tennant & Lowe)



There are other excelent pop songs: LONDON, E-MAIL and LOVE IS A CATASTROPHE.



Worst song: BIRTH DAY BOY (boring).



Has anyone heard the album. What are your thoughts about it ??

[The Lord of Flatbush]

Haven't heard that one, outside of West End Girls, the best cut that I've heard from Pet Shop Boys is "So Hard". It's the import 12" version mixed by David Morales. It came out domestically, but it wasn't the same mix as the import. Check it out!

[BrunoRepublic]

Yesterday, I got the DVD of "Home And Dry" in the mail. To my astonishment, it actually plays on my DVD player. Although the disc has no region coding, it's in PAL format, and my DVD player's manual specifically states that it will only play NTSC content. I know a lot of DVD players can convert from one to the other, but I wasn't expecting my cheap-ass, purchased-at-Wal-Mart RCA unit to do this. It was a nice surprise.



Unfortunately, the video itself was a nasty surprise. Consisting almost entirely of footage of rats eating garbage around subway tracks, I can't say I'll be pulling this one out for viewing on a regular basis. Visually unpleasant and boring. Ewwww...



As for the album, my verdict is what I call the "Björk" award: one-third of it is awful, one-third of it I'm indifferent to, and one-third of it I love.

[Jeff H]

I think most of the Pet Shop Boys' videos--with very few exceptions--are nasty... or boring, stupid or self-indulgent. I really lost interest in them when every new video was another lame computer-generated number. Maybe the Boys think they're artsy or cutting-edge, or maybe they think videos aren't worth the effort, but I think they wasted a lot of opportunities to create good videos to match some great songs.



Btw: I read that a new song of theirs is an "imaginary" account of a fan discovering that Eminem is gay and having sex with him backstage. Can't say I'm thrilled that the Boys are helping to extend this no-talent thug's 15 minutes of fame, but maybe the song will make his fans think twice about some of the crap he's spewed.



_________________

"...a once in a lifetime feeling that returns every week..."

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jeff H on 2002-04-18 09:37 ]</font>

[BrunoRepublic]

On 2002-04-18 09:36, Jeff H wrote:

I think most of the Pet Shop Boys' videos--with very few exceptions--are nasty... or boring, stupid or self-indulgent. I really lost interest in them when every new video was another lame computer-generated number.

I thought those were the best ones! (aside from the delightful Being Boring video, of course )

Btw: I read that a new song of theirs is an "imaginary" account of a fan discovering that Eminem is gay and having sex with him backstage.

Correct, that's "The Night I Fell In Love". Oops, gotta be careful; some folks don't appreciate discussion of "lifestyle choices" like that! :lol:

[BrunoRepublic]

On 2002-04-12 08:23, The Lord of Flatbush wrote:

Haven't heard that one, outside of West End Girls, the best cut that I've heard from Pet Shop Boys is "So Hard". It's the import 12" version mixed by David Morales. It came out domestically, but it wasn't the same mix as the import. Check it out!

There are three different 12"s for So Hard. Despite the fact that everyone (including PSB themselves) thinks the Morales mixes of So Hard were brilliant, they were only ever released commercially in the Netherlands and Germany. Both the 12" and particularly the CD single of these mixes are quite rare, and go for pretty big sums of money these days. I paid about $40 Cnd for mine, and that was about three years ago.



In the US, only the regular extended version (like the album version, but longer) got released commercially. However, US promos do exist of the Morales mixes.



In the UK, the above mixes were released, along with the "KLF vs. Pet Shop Boys" single, which is a complete reconstruction of the track. Even more bizarre is the KLF's "UFO mix" of the b-side "It Must Be Obvious". This was also released on CD-single in Germany/Netherlands, and I think US promos exist as well. This one isn't too hard to find. I can only assume that Parlophone chose to go with this one as the KLF were at the height of their fame at the time. And for more pointless trivia, this was one of only two remixes they ever did; the other being Depeche Mode's "Policy Of Truth", which isn't all that different from the original. Oh, and one more thing... the Morales "eclipse" mix of So Hard is on CD #2 of Jealousy, but this is just a short dubby mix and not the real thing.

[maarten]

Graham - I am going to have to email you about these Morales mixes.



I thought the only thing David had ever done with PSB was the double on their previous album ("NYC Boy" and "Don't know what you want..."). Which I thought were excellent. Especially the use of The Salsoul Orchestra was great and a credit to the disco legacy of some of the PSB songs.



And the disco single version of "Don't know what you want..." has a kind of melancholy electronic Morales version which gives the song a totally new perspective.



With regards to the new album by PSB - after careful listening I have decided against buying it. It seems that the reviews I have read here confirm my opinion.



_________________

"ON THE BEAT"

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: maarten on 2002-04-19 00:42 ]</font>

[SandraDee]

I think u PSB fans will find the soundtrack to their London musical 'Closer to Heaven' much more preferable to 'Release'. Its coming to New York next year so u will probably get the soundtrack CD then, It contains a brilliant 'disco' track called Positive Role Model which samples Barry White(!) plus other disco tracks called 'This is my Night', 'Just My Little Tribute To Caligula Darling' & 'Call Me Old-Fashioned'. Its the best album theyve done in years (& I'm a huge fan). See the stage show if u can - it too is brilliant(& v.gay)

[disco everyday]

While searching for the CD of "Closer to Heaven," it seems as though there are about 2 or 3 different versions of it? Is that correct? What are the differences? Thank you.

[SandraDee]

[quote]
On 2002-05-05 11:28, disco everyday wrote:
While searching for the CD of "Closer to Heaven," it seems as though there are about 2 or 3 different versions of it? Is that correct? What are the differences? Thank you.
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There's only the one version of the soundtrack that I'm aware of but there are different versions of the Closer to Heaven track itself. The version on the soundtrack is slow whilst there is a dance version on their last album 'Nightlife'.

[shockadelica]

PSB are one of those "teenage bands" for me, meaning I haven't particularly followed them in years and very rarely listen to them anymore.

"Actually" is a classic 80s record, though.

"Nightlife", blegh, the reason I don't like that album is because it sounds like dance music done by people who don't know how to do dance music. PSB made some great pop in the past, but that album is just... mostly awful. I don't actually have the "Closer to Heaven" soundtrack, but I've read it's the same sort of thing... which is probably why I've not been exactly too interested in picking it up!

[discodoc]

Pet Shop Boys are certainly one of the best groups of the 80's (and into the 90's as well). "Always On My Mind/In My House" is my pick for Best Song of The '80's. I could name dozens of other PSB songs that I LOVE. I can't say that I enjoy their recent departure from being music driven to being sex driven (what I'm saying is, I don't give a sh*t who you're having sex with, and I don't need to hear songs about it either), but it sounds like if I heard their newest record I would absolutely become ill. To fall from such greatness to the obscurity of being another faceless rock band... ugh!!! Your original train of thought on this subject was correct: the Pet Shop Boys are selling out. :cry: Fans are shooting themselves in the foot if they buy this crap. If the record sells, it only encourages the release of more nonsense. :x