Tag: Pet Shop Boys

Posted in Album Reviews

Pet Shop Boys – Bilingual/Further Listening 1995-1997 (2018)

Posted on by Michael

Released in 1996, Bilingual was the first Pet Shop Boys album released while much of the UK was enthralled with the Britpop sounds of blur and Oasis, the former having tapped PSB to remix their hit single “Girls and Boys” a few years earlier. The album still saw the synth duo enter the Top 5 in the UK album charts and have 3 of its singles reach the UK Top 10. PSB worked with several producers on the album including DJ Danny Tenaglia on first single, the house sounding “Before”.

With a slightly slower beat, the Latin sounds of “Se A Vida e (That’s The Way Life Is)” are as joyous as they are catchy.  “A Red Letter Day” is an immediately upbeat pop dance tune but with a dash of the duo’s melancholy.  The drums from first track “Discoteca” then carry “Single-Bilingual” that has an elegant strut about a businessman moving throughout the continent.  Mixing their dance pop with some Latin touches, Bilingual is a good album with plenty of tracks to carry the day.

The extra disc on this Essential Listening version contains the usual mix of B-sides, rarities, and extended sounds including two versions of “Discoteca” and the expanded single version of “A Red Letter Day”. The duo reaches behind for the throbbing beat of “Paninaro ’95”, originally released as a single for their Alternative B-side album released the year before.  Several terrific songs from the period appear including the fun of “The Truck-Driver and His Mate”, the instrumental version of the hi-energy “In the Night (1995)”, the simplicity of “The Calm before the Storm” and the grand sounds of “Delusion of Grandeur”. The second disc is frequently very good and at times outperforms the main album for memorable tracks.

Bilingual – 7.5/10

Further Listening – 8/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Pet Shop Boys – Nonetheless (Deluxe) (2024)

Posted on by Michael

Even though they haven’t released a studio album since 2020, Pet Shop Boys never seem far away from the music pages.  A tour with New Order, a Soft Cell collaboration, a Noel Gallagher remix, an EP, etc. Nonetheless started its campaign with the strings and classical swirl of first single “Loneliness” before it ends with a throbbing dancefloor ready beat.  Neil Tennant sings that “you make me feel like nobody else can” on “Feel” over a bed of synths and a melody that sounds like a sped up ballad.

Working with superstar producer James Ford, this was the highest charting UK album for the duo since the mid 90s.  Many of the tracks look inward including “Why Am I Dancing” that has ecstatic horns to start as an old raver wonders why they are dancing/celebrating while being alone.  Tennant raps a verse on “New London Boy” that captures the joy and hardships of joining the gay scene in the big smoke in the 70s.

Nonetheless is a well produced album that sees Tennant and partner Chris Lowe expertly record their sound in 2024.  As the album goes on, a few of the songs are just OK.  “A New Bohemia” is a sweeping ballad and “The Schlager Hit Parade” adds a strummed acoustic guitar and a chorus that is the most immediate on the album. It’s not revelatory but instead works as a solid outing for this electronic royalty.

The deluxe version adds 4 redone classic tracks for about an extra $10.  For the most part, the reworkings take out the personality and punch that made the originals classics to begin with.  The hard beat of “Heart” is washed out and the story behind “Being Boring” disappears. Best of the bunch is “It’s a Sin” that for better or worse updates the sound to a more modern approach.

Nonetheless – 7/10

Deluxe Extras – 6/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Council Skies (2CD Deluxe Edition) (2023)

Posted on by Michael

With the new release of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ album, Council Skies, the singer embarked on a new round of media arguing with other singers. This time the foe is Matt Healy of the 1975 who responded with the brilliant retort, “The difference between me and Noel is I do a series of interviews to promote an album, whereas he does an album to promote a series of interviews.”  And while the statement may have truth in it, the interviews have been great and the album is a good one.

Guitarist Johnny Marr appears on first single, “Pretty Boy”.  The electronic beat underlays the gender bending lyrics of “there was a girl like me/there was a boy like you”. “Open the Door, See What You Might Find” adds strings and bells ringing to a belter of a chorus.  The title track is a midtempo number who’s string section makes it sound vaguely like a James Bond theme whereas the horns kick in on “Love is a Rich Man” on that track’s easy spirit while adding joy, and lightness.

The album really shines on second single “Easy Now”.  The stellar anthem of a chorus sees the Chief sing, “I’ll be there/I’ll wait for you I swear”.  The verses and chorus dovetail into one another, producer Paul Stacey adds a guitar solo on one of Gallagher’s most uplifting post Oasis songs. With the announcement of Noel’s split from his wife of 12 years, the dreamy ballad “Dead to the World” takes another meaning as he sings, “I’ll bend over backwards for love”.  On Council Skies, little by little Gallagher continues to stretch his sound with additions to his repertoire that result in a solid album for the 56 year old.

The 2CD deluxe version adds an additional 14 tracks made up of new tracks, radio sessions, instrumentals, and remixes. “We’re Gonna Get There In the End” and “Flying on the Ground” continue the lightness of touch.  Remixes by Pet Shop Boys and David Holmes adds a spacey club dimension to the sound before Robert Smith adds his touch to “Pretty Boy”.   The second disc closes with a radio session version of Oasis classic, “Live Forever”. Thankfully Gallagher’s recent airing of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is not included.

Council Skies – 8.5/10

Deluxe Edition Extra Disc – 7/10