Pet Shop Boys - Electric, produced by Stuart Price

Hyped

http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/pet-shop-boys-leave-parlophone-new-album-coming-in-june/053977

I stick with them no matter what

They did imply during the Elysium interviews that they'd held back the pop bangers so I'm not surprised that this has come so soon afterwards but I didn't realise Price was involved.

Stuart Price, eh? They should have held out for Avicii.

7/8 years too late for all concerned.

probably a lot more for psb, but trying to create a feasible scenario wherein stuart was alive or not 7

The Will Young/Richard X album wasn't *terrible*

The last album was their dullest since "Release," but I will always have time for the Pet Shop Boys. At least they probably got a better quote from Price than they would have 8 years ago! Maybe they got some awesome deep discounted tracks.

Stuart Cut-Price

Well!

Les Carpetright Digitales

they should do something with ian catt. and not just for the opportunity to do animal puns

nah i'm still excited for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNliJ66WbbU

sounds better than what they have been doing. sort of.

couldn't sound much worse tbf.

so it's 'Relentless' to 'Elysium's 'Very' i guess. psyched!

This shows all the signs of one of those records where all parties concerned aim for a platonic ideal of what they should sound like and end up underwhelming on all fronts.

Unfortunately, Neil's lyrics were the weakest link of the last one. I hope he steps up here.

I'm hopeful because Price did such faultless work on the last tour. He came it as a fan but not a reverential one. The sequencing of the show, and the new versions of certain tracks, were spot-on. Of course Neil & Chris still need to write some good songs but I don't have any worries about the sound of the record.

Unfortunately, Neil's lyrics were the weakest link of the last one.

oh man I wish I agreed with this, I might have enjoyed more than one song on the last album

my overall reaction to Elysium was "I can feel myself aging as I listen to this"

Elysium grew me on me a fair bit (although Winner should still obviously burn in hell) but it was the first time I actually had to force myself to buy a Pet Shop Boys album out of loyalty. I have faith that this album will be great, I'll always have time for a new album by them.

The last album was their dullest since "Release,"

It was. But then... The two in between were their best ones apart from "Very" and "Behaviour".

I think they're done but I'll still pay my respects.

I mean, the only song I ever want to hear off of Elysium is "Ego Music" and that's partially because I'm still trying to decide if it's terrible or not

"Leaving" is still my pick.

"Leaving", "Memory Of The Future", "Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin", and, hmmmmm that's it...

will be weird to not see the parlophone/emi label on a psb release ...
like blur, its just one of things you expect to see on all of their covers.

the youtube is encouraging - all I ask is that the majority of tracks are danceable.

Even weirder not to see the Parlophone label on Paul McCartney releases.

from their Facebook

Pet Shop Boys
The countdown has begun! Tomorrow we reveal the album artwork, track listing and release date for the new album Electric.

From Popjustice:

Example appears on a song called ‘Thursday’, Bruce Springsteen cover ‘The Last To Die’ (as performed live on recent dates) is track six, the amazing italotronic teaser track from last month is really called ‘Axis’ and opens the album, there’s a Boys Noize mix of ‘Axis’ on its way, the whole thing’s out on July 15, and you can pre-order it on iTunes right now.

Neil and Chris told a press release that “‘Electric’ is very much set on the dance floor,” adding: “Our latest album often evolves as a response to our previous album and, whereas ‘Elysium’ had a reflective mood, ‘Electric’ is pretty banging! [TRANSLATION: GET ON YOUR DANCING SHOES] And working with Stuart Price on a studio album is something we have wanted to do for a very long time.”

In further copy and paste action, Stuart Price adds: “Making ‘Electric’ was an exciting experience. We recorded it between Berlin, London and Los Angeles using various techniques between old school synth and drum machine programming and new school computer mangling. For me it was a chance to work with two people who shaped so much of my musical taste, yet who keep on pushing farther in both a natural and unexpected fashion. ‘Disco’ (from 1986) was an album that always spoke to me because it blended song arrangements with dance floor mixes, and that is what ‘Electric’ felt like to make. Allowing songs to be full length without considering the pop rules, disregarding classic structures and instead just working instinctively on what was fun and danceable.”

The full tracklisting, meanwhile, is:

1. Axis
2. Bolshy
3. Love Is A Bourgeois Concept
4. Flourescent
5. Inside A Dream
6. The Last To Die
7. Shout In The Evening
8. Thursday
9. Vocal

New tour should be amazing on this basis.

as long as it's better than the last two stinkers

God a good feeling about this one, based on not much in particular.

I'm always wary of acts that state a goal. This is a dance album! This is an album more aligned with album x! Etc. They set the bar so high. But of course, no act sets out to make a bad or disappointing record on purpose, so I have to take any expressed enthusiasm with a grain of salt, especially when it's coming from the producer, who a) is being paid to be there and b) whose record as a producer for others has been pretty spotty as of late.

Still, fingers crossed!

Setting my expectations as low as humanly possible for this.

If we get a Relenteless-style album of instrumentals similar to that track I'd be happy...

Relentless

as long as it's better than the last two stinkers

Yes was pretty good, but I agree Elysium was awful.

I had positive things to say about The Most Incredible Thing and the most positive thing I can say about Elysium is that it eventually ended

well also "Ego Music" was fun to listen to while reading the Amanda Palmer thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDCU17wXktY

Definitely a throw back to Relentless or "Euroboy".

20 seconds in and this is already better than everything on Elysium

otm

"Euroboy" is so awesome

picking up a big patrick cowley vibe from this....

ok much better

If they could just write one song as good as 'Domino Dancing' again, I'd be incredibly happy!

is today "Turrican trolls DJP Day" or something

Not at all!

is today "Turrican trolls DJP Day" or something

all day all day!

Hahahaha!

;_;

I still don't think Elysium was all that terrible, it had it's moments and is a much better album than Release which for me is still their low point.

New song is really good, hope the rest of the album can deliver.

North American tour in September!!

Thorough interview.

it is mind-boggling to me that anyone could think Elysium wasn't the worst fucking thing

YES

Neil: Yes, but it’s also fun. You know that you want to please yourself, but you’ve also got your hardcore fans and then your casual fans. Also, our audience differs around the world. In Mexico our fans are much younger than they are in, say, Germany. I’ll be interested to see how audiences react to this show. We’ll play a song like “I’m Not Scared” — which we haven’t played since 1991 or something — and a song called “Fugitive” from a couple of albums back. Those are deep cuts that are sort of for the real fans. You don’t want to just only play hits. We are lucky enough that we could do a show and only play the hits, but that would be boring. When I go and see someone live, I don’t need to necessarily hear all the hits. If David Bowie were to play live again, I don’t need to hear every hit one after the other. I’d love to hear “Sweet Thing” from Diamond Dogs ; I don’t have to hear “Rebel, Rebel” or “Suffragette City.” I think it’s the same with us.

Chris: I’m always very inspired by sounds. Whether it be Brazilian music or the Spanglish radio stations in LA — or even hearing dubstep for the first time — I’m always intrigued by interesting new sounds and they way they filter through popular music … or by how different cultures do their own take on what is “dance” music or “electronic” music.

Neil: In the ’80s we were always fascinated by how South American bands would do their own weird take on Depeche Mode. You’d have these singers with very heavy accents singing like Dave Gahan. They had very deep voices … and they were apparently miserable.

Chris: What a great era that was. (laughs)

Neil: One of the things I love about the Electric is that there are bells — literally, bells — on almost every track. We hadn’t used sounds like that since the early ’80s. It reminds me of New York in 1981 or 1982 — the sound of it.

Chris: I’d imagine Madonna doing the “Dress You Up” dance to this music.

Chris: We’re also still enormous music fans as well. We follow everything happening in popular music and are constantly being asked about it. People want to know what we think of the new Daft Punk single. It’s an issue for us. (laughs)

Neil: Oh, more than an issue. I mean, is there anything more important right now than that that Daft Punk single?!

Neil: Well, we always wanted to make a record with Nina Simone.

Chris: She didn’t have a reputation for being difficult at all, did she?

Neil: She certainly didn’t. But I think she despised us. She had no time for us, and who can blame her, really?

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Pet-Shop-Boys-Electric-CD.jpg

Really like that artwork. I have a good feeling about this album.

It's making my eyes go funny.

"Axis" is really incredible. Not even sure why, since on paper it's just a "Menergy" homage.

Just heard this and it's really great. Disco/Very vibes. The Springsteen cover's majestic and Love Is a Bourgeois Construct is like the platonic ideal of a PSBs song.

I want to believe

Honestly, Love Is A Bourgeois Construct is their best song since whatever the last one you truly loved was. So exciting.

"Love is a Platonic Ideal"

I want to believe

― charli.xlsx (sic),

I don't care what you say, I am not getting my hopes up.

you guys keep up the flow of future Pet Shop Boys song titles

Track by track review.

ok, now I believe

I am going to make it my personal mission to murder everyone who misuses the term "4/4"

That isn't technically a misuse I suppose.

Before the 4/4 kicks in?

Ah I read "4/4 beat that kicks things off". The other one is probably a misuse, although you never know.

DJP reminds me of my dad, who worked on the Shuttle program for 40 years, getting livid any time someone would call the Orbiter itself "The Space Shuttle". The whole thing is The Space Shuttle—the white/black vehicle with the wings is the Orbiter.

iow, people don't care.

http://thereisnocloud.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/oldman_yelling_at_cloud.jpg

"4/4 beat" is correct insofar as any rhythmic pattern within a 4/4 measure could be described as a 4/4 beat; I really don't think it's asking too much for people who use musical terms to use them correctly or not use them at all.

so... "Vocal" is great

From what I've heard so far the music is alright (not amazing), but I cringe every time I hear Tennant's voice and lyrics. I don't know why. At this point I think I could only tolerate something either fully instrumental or a guest vocal... but really I think they should just quit. :/

His vocals are the Pet Shop Boys though, even when the music hasn't been great I'm always really happy to just hear him sing.

Think the new songs sound great, really hoping they can pull this off.

http://www.popjustice.com/interviewsandfeatures/a-lengthy-neil-tennant-interview/116349/

New song linked at the top of that interview is great. I've loved everything I've heard from this album so far.

Finally something I like without reservations. It feels very Moroder-esque in parts. The chorus is totally vintage Pet Shop Boys in the best possible way.

The British singer and rapper, Example, performs on one track, "Thursday".

Bad use of commas there, I reckons.

Their most beat-heavy album since "Introspective." I was cool for a couple of listens -- now it sounds delicious.

"Thursday" and "Fluorescent" are what I've wanted from these boys for years.

Is this out there now?

y

wow v house-y...i like 'boshy', but could do w/ it as an instrumental

This album is fantastic. Only played it once so far but my first impression is that the whole album is really great, even a cameo from Example can't ruin it.

Love Is A Bourgeois Construct is indeed as great as people have been saying. Thursday and Inside a Dream are my favourites so far.

Listening to this now, I gotta say that at times Neil sounds a little like a guest on his own record. He's a little bit overwhelmed by the songs and arrangements, which don't give him much room to develop melody. Still a great album!

On first listen 'vocal' is head and shoulders above everything else. I'm a bit disappointed tbh.

That's the one I skip!

Give "Thursday" and "Inside a Dream" another try.

Will do. Willin to believe I've got it all wrong. Hoping in fact.

'Thursday' is the one I keep wanting to turn into 'love comes quickly'.

Musically it's perfect, it's just not quite taking off for me yet. Oh fuck, here's example.

I do find the concept of putting Thursday night front and centre intriguing mind you.

"Inside a dream" is excellent actually.. "Vocal" still feels like the key track though, I love it.

This is the first Pet Shop Boys album since maybe Very that hasn't got any songs that I want to skip. Not sure I'm ready to claim it's their best since album since then (Fundamental and Nightlife are great albums) but so far I'm finding it to be their most consistent since then.

you're exactly right

Pretty sure I like everything on "Nightlife." I'll need to listen a few more times, but like someone upthread I get some "Relentless" vibes from this, not the sound, but like it's its own self-contained thing.

Price really has a way with the toms. The 'chorus' of "Inside a Dream" is all about the breakbeat - the vocals just support it. A couple other tracks are really made by them as well.

Good interview. I'd like to hear the original version of Thursday with the pilfered Nicki Minaj verse.

http://idolator.com/7465525/pet-shop-boys-electric-interview/3

might actually dare to listen to this one - prob one of my all-time favourite bands but i have no optimism for new material.

be optimistic!

i knew i shouldn't have believed the hallelujahs for this -_-

a slightly EDM-ed up attempt at redoing confessions on a dancefloor after eight years have passed, with worse beats and barely any songs - or indeed barely any PSB vocal presence or personality at all (though one is slightly grateful for this given how bad it is when it does emerge, like on "love is a bourgeois construct"

also who the fuck let example on this

wow we couldn't be farther apart

(I feel weird saying this, but I'm a little closer to Lex than the pro camp. :/ This isn't horrible, I guess, but I'm sticking with my earlier take on, well, not much vocal presence or personality. It feels like Neil guesting on an OK DJ mix. I haven't even been able to make it to the Springsteen cover yet, and I love Springsteen.)

as I age I listen to the likes of "Love Comes Quickly" and "Euroboy" and Introspection more than the singer-songwriter ones with dance trappings. The group in the first camp exploit dance sounds of the moment. Elysium and Yes got me so bored of the latter that I'm ready to overcompensate.

and Tennant sounds great on "Fluorescent"

"Loves Comes Quickly" and Introspection>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>this one.

It's not at the level of those releases. It's a job well done.

Better than the last one at least!

How is "Love Comes Quickly" not a singer-songwriter song?

I mean, if you were talking about "We All Feel Better In The Dark" and "Music For Boys" and "Some Speculation" etc, I'd definitely get it

"Love Comes Quickly" is closer to "Some Speculation" imo.

I disagree, largely for structural reasons (the larger emphasis on repetition in "Some Speculation" along with the extension of the instrumental sections, the more complicated chord progression and the chosen instrumentation mark it as much more dancefloor-oriented to my ears than "Love Comes Quickly")

also Introspective is a terrible touchpoint IMO, everything I've heard so far points towards Nightlife

You're probably right, in part because all I hear these days is the 12" version of LCQ, which is closer to SS in its use of repetition.

What stops me from making the Nightlife comparison is Electric's mostly electronic arrangements: it's spikier. Nightlife boasted those grand Craig Armstrong/Rollo string arrangements.

ha I was wondering if you were thinking 12"/Disco rather than the album track; I can buy that

I recommend listening to "For Your Own Good" and "Closer To Heaven" again, plenty of spiky to go around until the strings roll in

I never mind relistening to Nightlife

btw have you heard Electric?

I've only heard "Axis" and "Vocal" so far, which has me very very VERY interested in the entire album (and is why I am gravitating towards Nightlife as a comparison point)

xp Ah gtfo Lex. If you don't rate Love Is a Bourgeois Construct I don't know what to say.

i thought it was really clunky and ham-fisted, lyrically, like the words just landed with thuds :/

You can't see it but I'm holding up a placard reading GTFO LEX

SURELY you find the example cameo horrifying tho!

It's grown on me. Bit of a shock the first time I heard it. I generally don't think guest raps work. Weirdest one I've heard this year is Dido and Kendrick Lamar.

Kendrick is surely capable of channeling the power of the coffee table if needed.

It sounds like an intensely uncomfortable first date where the couple don't even bother with dessert. "Yeah, it's been great but I've got a lot on at work so I should really get an early night. *fake yawn* See you around some time."

ha i never bothered hearing that but i could imagine kendrick/dido actually working (b/c he is smoother than he is portrayed and she is not quite as bland as she is portrayed) (though bland enough for me not to bother, clearly)

he's on the quadron album too, doesn't disgrace himself

That Quadron track is exactly what I was thinking of.

SURELY you find the example cameo horrifying tho!

― lex pretend

He's not exactly my favourite person either and I was worried when I read he was on here but that song is so great it just isn't spoiled by him at all. Love Is a Bourgeois Construct is great too, those two and Vocal are my favourite songs right now.

This album completely deserves the great reviews its been getting. Them making an album this good so soon after one of their lowest points just shows why I'll never write this band off.

example's entire schtick is a sort of chart EDM rip-off of the pet shop boys in the first place so it kind of makes sense they'd return the "favour" in a way

I also find "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" clunky, though I'm not sure if I also find it endearing, in a "Sound of an Atom Splitting" sense.

I realised the other day that I have no idea of the difference between Example and Professor Green.

They all look the same to me.

pro green is a kind of meh yet up-for-it chart rapper; example's songs - each of which is exactly like the other - foster the impression that he is an actual serial killer

I assume this isn't the Professor Green you're talking about: http://open.spotify.com/album/4ibhI1V9oagokGqCyoBT4b

this is AWESOME

"love is a bourgeois construct" seems to me exactly what would happen if you dragged a very track through jcl textures, couldn't be happier about it

a slightly EDM-ed up attempt at redoing confessions on a dancefloor

ridiculous btw

Brad likes it, so I'm happy.

THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY

"...construct" made me so giddy when I first heard it.

THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Friday, July 12, 2013 9:28 PM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ot fuckin' m!

I've always liked those moments in Pet Shop Boys tracks where Chris makes a talky cameo appearance.

I'm not feeling this AT ALL - I really like the opener, and Thursday is great until Example comes in, but the songwriting by and large just isn't there and the production isn't great either. I agree about Love Is A Bourgeois Concept being heavy-handed, and it reminds me of the mid-90s Pet Shop Boys sound that I never really liked that much in the first place.

Feels a bit like one of those Return To Form albums (classic example = REM's Accelerate) that sound close enough to the glory days to be briefly exciting, but aren't really a return to form because they sound like a clumsy reappropriation of a platonic ideal of a band's sound. Presence of Stuart Price is crucial because Confessions on a Dancefloor is also one of those albums - without anything as great as that album's opening three tracks.

Also the way he sings the word 'bolshy' is kind of annoying.

Fwiw, I still really like Accelerate... I'm fully expecting to get as much out of Electric in a few yeears time as I am doing currently. This is the first new Pet Shop Boys album I've seriously liked for quite some time, to be honest!

*years

Have to agree with Matt on this one (except I wasn't taken by Confessions On A Dancefloor at all, thought it was all forced).

"Feels a bit like one of those Return To Form albums (classic example = REM's Accelerate) that sound close enough to the glory days to be briefly exciting, but aren't really a return to form because they sound like a clumsy reappropriation of a platonic ideal of a band's sound."

Point taken... however, one potential saving grace here is that many of the good tracks are reminiscent of fan-favorite B-sides like Paninaro, In the Night, Miserablism, Shameless, Euroboy, Some Speculation, and so on. They might be dated sonically but they have Lowe's special sauce and are fun to listen and dance to. If it's a choice between a clumsy rehash of Rent or West End Girls - nearly impossible lyrical/musical balancing acts and a template they have not successfully repeated since the '80s - and a fun, quirky song about nothing like Bolshy, I'll take Bolshy.

Then again I was obsessed with Love etc. and the bonus CD in 2009 but haven't played it in more than a year...

many of the good tracks are reminiscent of fan-favorite B-sides like Paninaro, In the Night, Miserablism, Shameless, Euroboy, Some Speculation,

OK now the hype's gotten impossibly out of hand

Reminiscent

(Hmm, would be a great name for a PSB album)

yeah, I just mean that most of the album is made up of dance tracks that sound of the moment. A couple of them are quite bad, others are better, time will tell whether they have staying power.

Matt DC OTM. At best it all sounds like a professional copy of vintage PSB but with weak vocals and with lyrics that are either lazy or verging on parody. I mean, would 1987 Tennant be proud of the lyrics to "Thursday"?

*parody = "self-parody"

"Thursday" lyrics are fine by me; dunno if 1987 Alfred would be pleased with me now.

I guess they're meant to be simple, upbeat and optimistic. The best comparison I can think of is "Heart", but somehow it just doesn't work for me.

I am also kind jealous of the people who are enjoying PSB at the moment. All I can feel is slightly embarrassed, because I really, really used to love these guys :/

It's possible I'm compensating for how the last two induced gagging.

Well yes, this is certainly an improvement over Elysium... and most of Yes.

Oddly, the Example bit didn't bother me at all. I would've given him the whole track to sing. It's Neil's voice I have a problem with.

eh idk i actually skipped elysium bc of the dismal single and reception

i'm just enjoying this. the springsteen cover is great too; kinda neat to import an anti-war song to the club

Okay, so I can confidently say that 'Love Is A Bourgeois Construct' is one of my tracks of the year... I can't think of many songs from this year that's made me hit the repeat button so often, and in terms of PSB's own back catalogue, the last track of theirs to get this reaction out of me was 'I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing'(!)

God bless you Turrican. Too many people raining on my parade itt.

http://thequietus.com/articles/12820-pet-shop-boys-electric-review-2

The reviews for this have been really fantastic, even the NME gave it a good one.

http://www.metacritic.com/music/electric/pet-shop-boys/critic-reviews

Also apparently this is number one in the first set of mid week charts. I doubt that it will stay there until Sunday but its not a bad start following their worst selling album that came out just ten months ago.

Delighted it's getting the reviews it deserves. My rankings since Very:

Electric > Fundamental > Nightlife > Release > Yes > Bilingual > Elysium

Release is easily my least favourite but apart from that I agree with your order.

My review: http://www.spin.com/reviews/pet-shop-boys-electric-x2/?utm_source=spintwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spintwitter

I'd still place Fundamental over Electric.

Also apparently this is number one in the first set of mid week charts. I doubt that it will stay there until Sunday but its not a bad start following their worst selling album that came out just ten months ago.

― Kitchen Person, Wednesday, July 17, 2013 10:39 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

We've only got to wait Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday to find out... I wanna know it's gonna stay for the weekend.

lol

Ha!

Also in slightly depressing news Robin Thicke has already overtaken them after one day. I'm sure Jay-Z and bloody Rod Stewart will catch them next.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/updatealbums

#3 debut in England, their highest since Very

Nice. Realized the other day I have been ridiculously lax for too long in catching up with their albums in full so I finally snagged Yes and Elysium as well as this for Amoeba store credit. Need to go into a proper binge throughout all the albums here (and get Format while I'm at it).

Gave Bilingual another listen today and enjoyed quite a lot of it. 'Discoteca' in particular is one of their best ever opening tracks, in my humble opinion. Having said that, there's one or two tracks I would chop from it: I love the idea behind 'Metamorphosis' lyrically, but musically I think it's dated quite horrendously. I find 'Electricity' a bit on the dull side too.

But: 'Discoteca', 'Single', 'Se A Vida E', 'A Red Letter Day', 'Up Against It', 'Before'... all fantastic.

"To Step Aside" is essential imo

would toss in "It Always Comes as a Surprise."

I never got into Bilingual. I agree with Turrican on the highlights but I really can't remember much else on there. It didn't help that it followed their two best albums. Release and Elysium may be weaker albums overall but that was a real misstep for them.

Happy this album has charted that high, especially as it has come so quickly after their worst performing album.

Bilingual is a great album, but Metamorphosis is dreadful and the sequencing, placing the album's four least accessible songs at the beginning may have been an error.

Bilingual was actually my first PSB album so I have strong views about it... Discoteca and Single are two of the album's MOST accessible songs. Electricity is bad. I like the sequencing as is once you take out the duds.

My Bilingual EP/10" would be:
A1 - Discoteca-Single
A2 - Metamorphosis
A3 - Se a vida e

B1 - A Red Letter Day
B2 - Before
B3 - To Step Aside

Up Against It and Saturday Night Forever would be good b-sides.

Hey so all of Electric is on YouTube for legit, so I listened to it in bed last night while Israeli bros were smoking and partying at 1am on the balcony outside said bed? Seems to get better and better as it goes along, rly looking fwd to listening on CD with actual dynamics in February

Discoteca and Single are catchy and were a AA single of sorts, but are fairly 'heavy going' away from more traditional PSB pop, just like the two songs that followed them. The rest of the album is generally summery and breezy in comparison. I wonder if Se a ... or Before should have followed the opening two tracks.

"Bilingual" marked the end of the Boys' winning streak for me. I don't think it's a bad album, but it's been hit or miss since then, with some glorious highs and some boring lows. And it's to the PSB's credit that the worst they generally get is boring.

But they were never be...I'll stop there.

The reissue of Bilingual has Neil's original sequencing included in the interview booklet, I retagged my rip to follow that

To me, the slow decline began with "Very"... never been a fan of that album. And yeah, (few) hits and (mostly) misses ever since :/

Just found a Neil interview where he talks about the Bilingual sequence issue, hmmmm there y'go.

Could you post the alternate sequencing?

So I listened to Electric and it pretty much rules

this album was my excuse to write about every PSB single ever recorded

http://www.randomhouse.ca/hazlitt/feature/pet-shop-boys-every-single-single

'Discoteca' in particular is one of their best ever opening tracks

OTM ! "The Survivors" and "It Always Comes As A Surprise" are essential too. I agree Bilingual has sequencing problems, but the quality is there. Still their best since Very IMO.

To me, the slow decline began with "Very"... never been a fan of that album. And yeah, (few) hits and (mostly) misses ever since :/

― daavid, Tuesday, 23 July 2013 18:56 (1 hour ago) Permalink

Whaaaat!? I think if Very drops off at ANY point, it's after the first 8 tracks, but for me that's because the first 8 tracks of Very rank as some of their best-ever material!

Good for them for writing "Love Is A Bourgeois Concept" before Stephin Merritt finally got around to it.

Construct.

gah! Copied and pasted from the track listing above, too.

this album was my excuse to write about every PSB single ever recorded

http://www.randomhouse.ca/hazlitt/feature/pet-shop-boys-every-single-single

― "Gunplay" (ft. Gunplay) (Andre Gunder Frank 3000),

A fun read. "Was It Worth It" has become essential to me.

Very has always been my favourite PSB album but recently Behaviour has been catching up. I'd find room for both of them in my top thirty albums of all time list.

Love Is A Bourgeois Construct has been announced as the next single. Is there any way this can somehow be the hit it deserves to be?

Start buying!

aaaaaand it looks like it'll debut at #25 in America, their highest chart entry since Very.

That's interesting. What's driving that? It can't just be good reviews, surely.

well, 10,000 sales last week ain't great. These days chart prospects mean nothing.

Also: promotion. Every day last week their people paid for a YouTube ad.

Very has always been my favourite PSB album but recently Behaviour has been catching up. I'd find room for both of them in my top thirty albums of all time list.

― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, July 23, 2013 9:43 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Spare a thought for Please... I mean, just look at that tracklisting. One absolute classic after another for the first five songs and then it still delivers tracks like 'Tonight Is Forever', 'I Want A Lover', 'Later Tonight' and 'Why Don't We Live Together?'. 'Violence' is probably the sole weak link on that album!

Also: promotion. Every day last week their people paid for a YouTube ad.

― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, July 23, 2013 9:57 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yup. I've been noticing ads on various websites (even non-music related) for Electric.

first album for a new label! It wants to make good on its investment.

Spare a thought for Please... I mean, just look at that tracklisting. One absolute classic after another for the first five songs and then it still delivers tracks like 'Tonight Is Forever', 'I Want A Lover', 'Later Tonight' and 'Why Don't We Live Together?'. 'Violence' is probably the sole weak link on that album!

Wow -- total mind-meld, Turrican. If there's an underappreciated album in their imperial phase, it's the debut.

And "Why Don't We Live Together" is my favorite (yet) PSB song.

I think I've felt compelled to listen to Please far more than I've ever done its more widely appreciated follow-up, Actually. Lose 'Violence' from the tracklisting and substitute the album version of 'Suburbia' for the single version and it's a stone cold 10/10 album for me.

Oh yeah Please is fantastic too but Actually, Behaviour and Very are their three 10/10 classics for me. There isn't a thing I'd change about any of them. I guess I'd rate Please lower as apart from West End Girls the singles on there are not ones I'd rate as my very favourites, as good as they are.

because you've never seen me karaoke "Opportunities."

"Violence" is bleh, agreed. I'd dispose of it and include "Jack The Lad" instead (I realize my beloved 7 " version of "A Man Could Get Arrested" doesn't fit aurally).

I guess I'd rate Please lower as apart from West End Girls the singles on there are not ones I'd rate as my very favourites, as good as they are.

― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, July 23, 2013 10:42 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Just out of curiosity, what would you say are your absolute favourite PSB singles? Obviously, I understand that it's a very difficult choice because there's so much brilliant stuff to choose from!

My top ten would be something like this

10. Where The Streets Have no Name
9. Yesterday When I Was Mad
8. West End Girls
7. You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk
6. I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give Anymore
5. So Hard
4. Rent
3. Can You Forgive Her?
2. Left to my own Devices
1. Being Boring

because you've never seen me karaoke "Opportunities."

― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

That's probably it, is there any footage available?

Love Is A Bourgeois Construct has been announced as the next single. Is there any way this can somehow be the hit it deserves to be?

― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, July 23, 2013 9:43 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lets put it this way: no. I'm baffled they didn't go with "Thursday" or "Inside a Dream", tbh.

...though it would be amazing if it was just for the sake of there being a hit single with that name.

*name = title

I'm absolutely thrilled with 'Love Is A Bourgeois Construct' being a single, myself.

Bilingual pre-release order:

Discoteca
Single
The Survivors
Se A Vida E
It Always Comes As A Surprise
Up Against It
Before
Metamorphosis
To Step Aside
Electricity
Saturday Night Forever
A Red Letter Day

i still haven't heard this; keep putting it off in case it's bad. i can't imagine doing that with any other band but i love these guys. the nay-saying on here is giving me fear as much as the hype is. might just get hammered tomorrow and have at the damn thing.

The nay-saying is overblown IMO, but I will give overblown dance music from people I've followed for three decades a lot more slack than others would.

Wow, dunno if it's the alternate sequencing, or just being forced to listen to it again (in another order), but "Bilingual" is sounding sweet right now.

I think I've said this before in another thread, but the Bilingual B-Sides are great too. "The Truck Driver and His Mate", "Hit and Miss", "Delusions of Grandeur", "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" all rank up there.

yes, those tracks are better than many of the album tracks.

"The Truck Driver..." is fantastic.

Yeah, that's one of my fave b-sides.

I was just listening to Format the other day thinking they had some great B-sides from that era. The Truck Driver and His Mate is might just be my favourite PSB song that came out after Very. Wonder how it would have gone down as a single?

Truck Driver is one of their top ten b-sides ever for sure, so good that they put it in the live set for the Somewhere residency. (If only it had been at a dance-based show...) (or pls put it back in the tour this year guys)

WILD TO THE POINT OF MADNESS

http://www.chartrigger.blogspot.com/2013/07/us-chart-roundup-pet-shop-boys-electric.html

what a fucking terrible top 10

also highlights how patently impossible it will be for anything off of this album to chart here, especially not anything as arch as "Love Is A Bourgeois Construct"

I seriously love everything about this album, I cannot stop playing it. Inside a Dream is my current favourite.

bourgeoi-bourgeoi-ziee

I'm coming around to Bourgeois. It's still a bit clunky but once you hear the lyrics enough times they have stopped being distracting.

There still isn't a song on here I don't enjoy. Shouting in the Evening might be my least favourite but I don't ever feel the need to skip it.

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

otm

'Shouting In The Evening' makes me wanna strip to my waist, slather myself in baby oil and twerk like a motherfucker, before waving my finger in the air and shouting "C'MOWN!" a lot.

You've just described Peter Hook's stage presence.

Truck Driver is one of their top ten b-sides ever for sure, so good that they put it in the live set for the Somewhere residency. (If only it had been at a dance-based show...) (or pls put it back in the tour this year guys)

not looking at actual setlists because I want to be surprised, but man what an amazing dance-focussed setlist you could imagine Price producing for this tour:

DJ Culture
In The Night
The Truck-Driver and His Mate
Paninaro
The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On
Tonight Is Forever
Disco Potential
anything off Relentless
Euroboy
I Want A Dog
I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)
So Hard
We All Feel Better In The Dark
Music For Boys
Try It (I'm in Love with a Married Man)
Fugitive

And they're in America and on stage they look like this part of the time, god love them for it:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WiiyZaRTtRw/UjNBfpEQaVI/AAAAAAACkPE/la0rUWixd7A/s1600/Pet_Shop_Boys_Concert_Review_Miami_2013d.jpg

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrokc7IoTjA

Driving to Atlanta to see them tonight!

Realizing I really should go to the LA show at this point -- thankfully tickets still available and vaguely affordable, also on a Saturday. Will be figuring out something.

have you been listening to the album yet

Not yet! I haven't said anything on here but I've been doing a run up to it by going through the entire back catalog (well, the main albums and comps at least) on Twitter one a weekday as a kind of exercise. Just taking in the whole sweep of their career -- something I've never done before -- has really been something. Then I'll finish next week sometime with the new one at last (and afterwards play it to death, by all accounts).

I missed their show on Thursday night because I had to work late and had to pack for a weekend trip, but the kids who went (in their mid twenties and straight) said it was fabulous.

I'm seeing them here next week. The ticket says 8pm, but do they go on at 8 sharp or closer to 8:30?

they're fairly punctual. Stuart Price opened down here!

But there's no opener here. So there it was 8pm sharp ... but with an opener, meaning they went on closer to 9. I wonder if they'll split the difference here.

Can't wait for their show in Montréal next tuesday !!

Stuart Price opened down here!

Is Price playing in the live band oh please oh please

In Atlanta the doors were at 8pm and there was no opener, and they went on at 8:45.

Very excited about the Windsor show in a couple weeks. Closest to me was either that or Chicago so hey why not go to Canada?

I was a huge fan all through the 80's and 90's but then fell off after Nightlife. I love the new album, and I've never had a chance to see them live.

Loved the show tonight. Those dancers deserve a raise.

Weirdest thing: I had shockingly good seats, second row (that in and of itself is not the weird part), but there was this dude, maybe in his early '50s and well over six feet tall, singing along to every song front row center next to his wife or girlfriend the whole night ... except for the two minutes when he got in some big fight with the little guy behind me (somehow), who he basically threw ten feet, yelling at him, before the little guy chucked a drink back at his head! After things had settled down, the guy next to me leaned over and said "that is the absolute last thing I ever expected to see at a Pet Shop Boys show."

Love the Kirby-esque keyboard stand! My friend took some more pics here:
http://www.soundspike.com/photos/2324/1/pet-shop-boys-in-oakland-ca/

okay yes and lol:

https://twitter.com/petshopboys/status/461513740035579904

hahahahaha well done! :D

Obviously the greatest thing to happen to you in 2014.

He should tell 'em how he feels about 'Domino Dancing' next! :D

Ha, that's really awesome.

:D

Electric tour came to a former train repair shed, now arts venue, in Sydney this weekend (and nowhere else in Australia). Sound was pissweak, and the setlist verrry close to what I saw in Boston nine months ago, but interestingly a few of the arrangements and versions have been retooled along the way - I wonder if they've gone back into the studio properly with JLC during a fallow month, or if they and Gleadall can tweak that kind of detail on the road. Most notable changes: Memory Of The Future swapped for Bourgeois, coming up to a total of five Electric songs in the show; Being Boring added (to the beginning of the encore, enabling a build up to Go West); and Sterling Void getting a small APRA payment at the end of Vocal - first Neil singing some of the chorus over the Vocal music, and then some of the tune coming in on the sequencers after the PSB leave the stage.

Also: lots more "you sing this!" choruses and call & responses from Neil than just him trolling Dan in the trailout of Domino Dancing.

This album is holding up very well. It probably won't happen, but if their next album is in a similar vein to Electric I wouldn't complain in the least.

I've just seen on the Pet Shop Boys' official Facebook page that they'll be having a quick break and then back to work with Stuart Price on the follow-up to Electric ... album is due for release in March/April 2016, apparently.

Looks like it might be this:

http://whatissuper.co/

...It was!

New upcoming album, Super, is out April 1. And today there's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNLkcOqQSBM

Okay I am 100% in favor of this

Yeah, this sounds great

this is lovely

Totally great. Starting new thread!

As promised:

Pet Shop Boys -- Super (another Stuart Price production)

this is gonna be a massively unpopular opinion but some days I kinda think this is the best album these Pet Shop Boys ever did

I'm too much of a Please/Actually partisan to agree but I could pretty easily say it's top 5; sometimes depending on my mood it's top 3.

for me it's this, Behaviour and Very in the top 3, then Actually, then idk Bilingual Introspective and Please

damn y'all

This and Fundamental are both top tier Pet Shop Boys, IMO, and as good as anything they did 1986-1993. Bilingual remains criminally misunderstood, too.

"Thursday" is one of their greatest songs.

Yup, still love Chris' bit on that. Also, when those synths kick in on 'Vocal' ...

I still like Super a lot... perhaps not as much as Electric, but there's a hell of a lot of good stuff on there.

Thursday and Pop Kids are probably the PSB songs I've listened to the most in the past decade. Love them both.

Except Hey Headmaster. Whenever I can't think of something to listen to, I'm like "Fuck it I'll listen to Hey Headmaster again."

It is a ridiculously strong album, this.

the nervous breakdown on "Shouting in the Evening" is so good

'Shouting in the Evening' fucking bangs... love that track. Wish it was longer.

total PSB dilettante here but damn if LIABC isn't one of the tracks of the last decade most firmly seared into my brain, as well as one of the most successful interpolations of classical music in pop history

yeah its exactly what I hoped they'd be doing since I heard the "Go West" cover

I played the shit out of that track so much in 2013 that it should be beyond overplayed to me by now, but I still love it. I love how clean the production is on Electric ... Super sounds muddier for some reason.

A friend burned this for me when it came out that I listened to once and filed away. Picked up a CD copy from a local store this morning and listened to the whole thing in the car for the first time since then. Didn't make much of an impression on me then, still doesn't. "Thursday"'s pretty good.

daaaamn does this album jam, especially after a few listens to the new one.

Easily one of their best. Had another go at Super recently and just couldn't bear it though, what a drop-off.. Hotspot was much more back on track

Super's a drop-off, but Hotspot hasn't got a single memorable track.

Not even Will‐o‐the‐wisp? Love that one

I don't remember anything from Hotspot either. Super was kinda fun but yeah not great. Electric on the other hand is definitely one of their best, up there with Behavior and Very for me

I really enjoyed Super, particularly the last three tracks

This is a jam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1nUIN_Vp3c

^^^ exactly what I’m talking about

I soured on ILM favorite "The Pop Kids" fast, though. It scans awkwardly.

(from the new Record Collector interview)

At the closing ceremony of the London Olympics, a global audience watched them being cycled around the Olympic stadium on chariots. Also appearing at the ceremony was George Michael, who had remained friends with Pet Shop Boys ever since Tennant interviewed Wham! for Smash Hits. “There was sort of a panicky rehearsal,” recalls Tennant, “because all the people working there were volunteers. There were a lot of selfies going on with One Direction. And so, we went back to our dressing rooms for a quiet half-hour before getting ready to do it live. The person in the dressing room next to ours was playing music really loudly on a stereo system, and I said to our tour manager, ‘Can you go and tell them to turn that down, or preferably turn it off?’ He said, ‘It’s George Michael,’ and I said, ‘Well, you can still tell him to turn it down!’ Next thing we know, the door’s flung open, George Michael comes in and says, ‘Did you ask me to turn my music down?’ I said, ‘Yes, I fucking did!’ And he said, ’Give me a hug’ – very sweet – then he went back to his room and played West End Girls very loudly.” It would be the last time they met. “He reminded me a bit of me, slightly geeky,” Tennant decides. “He once came up to me in the Wag Club when Opportunities came out. He said, ‘I think you should have the middle bit in twice.’ I immediately thought, He’s right.”

In the first Chris Heath book, George Michael is spotted by the soundstage dancing enthusiastically and shouting back the words to "Left To My Own Devices."