Pet Shop Boys’ Pop Report Card: We Grade Their 12 Albums Released Prior To ‘Super’
Nightlife (1999)
Three years had passed since their previous studio album, but that doesn’t mean it was pencils-down at PSB HQ. As with Bilingual before it, Nightlife had the tendencies of a concept album from the jump, and for very good reason: Much of the record had been written for the Boys’ first foray into musical theater, Closer To Heaven. Opening track “For Your Own Good” puts the pair amidst the frantic, handbag-house sound of collaborator Rollo (Faithless, Dido, Kristine W), setting a mood of late-night paranoia, jealousy and deep, dark drama.
First single “I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Anymore” continued the dark-night-of-the-soul theme, while follow-up “New York City Boy” took things in an opposite direction, recalling the camp glory of “Go West.” From there the proceedings delved into Bowie Studies (“Boy Strange”) and Advanced Kylie Minogue (“In Denial”), making Nightlife a playful, if sometimes jarring, affair. Still, its charms are hard to fault when evaluated individually: “You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk” wins both in terms of a quintessentially Pet Shop Boys title as well as a simply perfect pop song. Grade: B-
Key cuts: “Radiophonic,” “You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk,” “For Your Own Good”
Extra credit: “Break 4 Luv,” a one-off single with New York house DJ Peter Rauhofer (credited simply to The Collaboration) was a cover of Raze’s 1988 dance hit and released only in America. — JOHN HAMILTON
Release (2002)
When you’ve mastered every rule in the the pop textbook, naturally there’s the tendency for artists to want to reinvent themselves. Such was the case when Neil and Chris set about recording their first album of the new millennium. Not interested in trendy producers or the best London sound facilities this time around, the pair decamped to Tennant’s home studio in the English countryside and made organic, down-tempo album Release. It was more guitars, introspection and Britpop than drum loops handclaps and euphoria. Release was also an album strangely out of step with the synthesizer renaissance that was happening in pop at the time via the electroclash movement — a genre that, we like to think, wouldn’t exist without the influence of the Pet Shop Boys!
Release arrived in spring 2002, following now-classic lead single “Home And Dry.” Like with Behaviour 12 years prior, Johnny Marr laid down some handy guitar work on this album, and Tennant and Lowe produced the entire project themselves. (Do not miss the two rare electronic moments: the self-referential “The Samurai In Autumn” and the sincere, lovely “Here.”)Alas, “stripped-down” just wasn’t what fans were looking for in a Pet Shop Boys album, and only one further single from the project, “I Get Along,” was issued in most territories. “A” for effort overall, lads, but we’re giving two strikes for Eminem send-up “The Night I Fell In Love” alone. Grade: C
Key cuts: “Home And Dry,” “The Samurai In Autumn,” “Here”
Extra credit: Was it coincidence that, after Release saw the PSBs going down a more low-key path, the all-inclusive (save for “Was It Worth It?”) singles collection PopArt was trotted out the following year? An essential set for fans and casual listeners alike, the double-disc compilation contained two back-in-fine-form singles, “Miracles” and “Flamboyant.” — ROBBIE DAW
Fundamental (2006)
If you look at back-to-back album eras throughout the history of the Pet Shop Boys, like Behaviour and Very, or Nightlife and Release, a pattern starts to emerge: These guys don’t give a toss about the old adage of sticking with what ain’t broke. In fact, Neil and Chris seem to almost have a compulsion to rebel against the sonic nature of each of their albums with every subsequent record. And so the only way for the duo to go after dialing down the synths with the self-produced Release was to hit the studio with the legendary Trevor Horn and craft an over the top pop manifesto, complete with a political twist.
Fundamental gave the world a trio of pleasing Pet Shop Boys singles, including “I’m With Stupid,” a tongue-in-cheek number that re-purposes the quagmire that was George Bush and Tony Blair‘s political relationship in the midst of the Iraq War as a misunderstood love affair (“I have to ask myself like any lover might / Have you made a fool of me, are you not Mr. Right?”) and the Diane Warren-penned “Numb,” which was, of all things, originally offered to and rejected by Aerosmith. Neil and Chris also demonstrated that they still had the skills to whip up a haunting electro-ballad in the vein of “King’s Cross” and “It’s Only The Wind” with “I Made My Excuses And Left.”Now 20 years into their output, Fundamental remains an overall solid effort from Tennant and Lowe slightly hindered by half the tracks being ballads. Grade: B-
Key cuts: “I Made My Excuses And Left,” “Minimal,” “I’m With Stupid,’ “Integral”
Extra credit: Neil and Chris moonlighted in 2006 as producers and featured artists on two songs for Robbie Williams‘ Rudebox album — the My Robot Friend cover “We’re The Pet Shop Boys” and “She’s Madonna,” an unabashed moment of ’00s pop bliss. — ROBBIE DAW
