"SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

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Old Soak
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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#166 Post by Old Soak »

Pet Shop Boys return with their 13th studio album - and show there's still life in the old dogs yet. The mood of the album is decidedly 'Up' with one eye firmly on the dance floor with only one exception.

Opener 'Happiness' comes as a huge surprise and sounds like nothing else in their considerable canon. Sparse lyrics are delivered with an almost country and western twang in a style very reminiscent of Rednex's 'Cotton Eyed Joe'. "It's a long way to happiness / A long way to go / But I'm gonna get there, boy / The only way I know" sings Neil several times, almost the only lyrical content in this track. The title is spelt out almost as a nod to one of their early tracks 'Shopping' in the 30th anniversary since the release of debut album 'Please'. Once you are over the stylistic shock it's a real grower.

Lead single 'The Pop Kids' is a warm look back at past glories gained during the 90's club scene and a great choice to promote the album. It sums up the duo as elder statesmen of pop reflecting on a time when the protagonists of the song knew all the words to the big hits of the era; whilst giving a sly nod to Neil's former role as Smash Hits editor. His duties included scribing the words to the current week's new releases - then the only place you could find this information.

'Twenty-something' is a bouncy, infectious track that surely must be in the running for a future single. It describes the struggles of the 20-something generation trying to make ends meet in a big city run by "Decadent greed" and is really an updating thematically from 'Opportunities' as well as the Thatcher-era commentary of 'Actually' through the eyes of an older generation realising that times have grown tougher for those just starting out. It's that juxtaposition of upbeat music with deeper lyrics that highlight this as classic Pet Shop Boys territory.

'Groovy' is much lighter in intent, though perhaps acts through its seemingly shallow lyrics as a commentary on the 'Me Me Me' attitudes of some of today's minor 'celebrities' who possess little discernable talent: "Look at me / I'm just so look at me / I'm just so look at me / I'm just so groovy!" opines Neil, taking the role of the mocked subject of the song. Again there's a huge dance beat going on disguising the mickey taking going on underneath. As with many PSB tracks you can take it at face value too, and this is also an upbeat dance track with tongue firmly in cheek.

'The dictator decides' is top drawer PSB. Based around a Vivaldi composition, Chris' keyboards twinkle in another example of PSB utilising classical themes in their canon. Taking the persona of an unnamed dictator, Neil bemoans the challenges and loneliness of life as undisputed leader of an autocracy. "I live each day / Like a sad beast of prey / For I have to appear to be strong" is just a sample of the lyrical playfulness on show here. This is my favourite track on the album, one of a long line of tracks based on social commentary that shows what a master lyricist Neil is.

By contrast 'Pazzo!' is a lightweight piece of fluff - and that isn't in any way meant in a derogatory sense. Part of the mastery of PSB is the sheer breadth of their output over 30 years. In two tracks you pretty much have both ends of that spectrum. The second almost instrumental track on the album, 'Pazzo!' is Italian for Crazy, Chris' nickname given to him by two Italian friends. It's a showcase for Chris, experimental in nature with keyboards producing many strange, eclectic sounds. It's a four-to-the-floor dance track that would work well in a club.

'Pazzo!' and next track 'Inner sanctum' form a bridge between the two halves of the album, because what comes next is some of their strongest ever work. released as a teaser track for the album, 'Inner sanctum' is almost devoid of lyrics save for "In the inner sanctum / You're a star / The girls, the guys / They all know who you are". One could imagine 'The Pop Kids', introduced earlier, in an exclusive area of a nightclub. This euphoric track ups the dance theme of the album to new heights.

'Undertow' has to be another candidate for a future single. "There's an undertow / Pulling me to you / There's an undertow / Dragging me down" begins the lyrics, backed by driving keyboards. Seemingly about falling in love (or lust), this isn't the deepest lyrically, it's just a great upbeat track.

The only ballad on the album, 'Sad robot world' started life as a lyric following a tour of a VW factory in Germany. Neil thought of the title after watching "The mechanical ballet" of the machines. It's almost a commentary on some of the challenges faced in 'Twenty-something' - increasing automation making jobs harder to find for today's generation trying to enter the workforce. It's absolutely gorgeous musically, but as so often with PSB there's social commentary in deeper layers bubbling under the surface.

'Say it to me' begins a huge dance-themed three-track closing run to the album. Almost techno in style, this is serious dance music, thematically explained by the opening couplet "My predicament is simply this / You're an enigma even when you kiss" describing the relationship of a misfiring couple, one partner seemingly expecting the other to second guess their requirements. "Tell me what you want from me" sings Neil, taking the role of the simpler soul searching for an explanation. It a real grower.

'Burn' has many thematic similarities to The Trammps 'Disco Inferno', a nod to the mid-70's disco era. "We're gonna burn this disco down / Before the morning comes" states the chorus, revealing another song based in a nightclub. Originating from a 20 year-old demo, 'Burn' is pure dance music, almost irresistibly so. It's a joyous, uplifting track with Chris' keyboard stabs to the fore. A triumphant foot-stomper.

Closer 'Into thin air' is based around the theme of escape, something Neil has explored before in a very different mode on 'Elysium' in 'Leaving' and 'Invisible'. It could have many interpretations: It could be about getting away on a short break holiday; about eloping; or a darker, craved for escape from life and its problems - that's the beauty of PSB when they produce a song with more layers than an onion. An absolutely top drawer PSB track, a close second to 'The dictator decides'.

That PSB can produce such a rounded, staggeringly adept album 30 years on from 'Please' just cements their status as Britain's greatest, most successful pop duo. This is quite simply, their best work since 'Very'. Despite there being some lightweight tracks it's quite deliberate that they are lightweight - there isn't a weak track here. An absolute triumph.
Last edited by Old Soak on Thu 07 Apr 2016, 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nervously
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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#167 Post by Nervously »

Old Soak, you misquoted the lyrics of both "Happiness" and "Groovy"

It's "I'm gonna get THERE boy, the only way I know"
and "I'm just so 'look at me'"

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#168 Post by Old Soak »

Nervously wrote:Old Soak, you misquoted the lyrics of both "Happiness" and "Groovy"

It's "I'm gonna get THERE boy, the only way I know"
and "I'm just so 'look at me'"
Apologies, I'm working with my admittedly old hearing and memory capability, not the lyric booklet! Updated.
And at the end/ Your funny Uncle staring / At all your friends / With military bearing

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#169 Post by NikacP0kac »

Life reassuringly good album. Listened to it today, after a couple days of absolutely terrible turn of events at college, work etc. and it really made me forget for these 45 minutes all of my problems and has had a super positive effect on my mood.

Favourites: Twenty-Something, Undertow, Into Thin Air.
Have a look at my taste in music:
http://www.last.fm/user/NikacPokac

That’s the thing about negative energy, about hatred. It can be positive. It throws into relief all the things you know you like. It tells you, by elimination, what you’re about. Sometimes you can only define yourself by what you hate. Hatred becomes an inspiration; it makes you think, “What I’m doing now I totally believe in, and I don’t care what other people say.” Guided by hatred, you don’t have to follow the herd. - Neil Tennant

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#170 Post by PSBee »

Been working away so only listened to it yesterday and today.

I really like it. For me, many of their albums have absolute highs and some real lows (tracks you skip). Super is far more 'level'. I don't see me skipping tracks as there are none that are terrible. But the best tracks perhaps don't quite reach the absolute highs from other albums.

Favourites ATM - Dictator Decides, Burn, Twenty-something and Into Thin Air.

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#171 Post by Waffleon »

Groovy ~ Wiggle It, 2 in a Room? Just me?

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#172 Post by Ramzy »

For anyone who still cares I've got a Super review on the Repeater Books blog... http://repeaterbooks.com/culture/a-long ... oys-super/
I must disengage your recreational music.

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#173 Post by Andie »

Ramzy wrote:For anyone who still cares I've got a Super review on the Repeater Books blog... http://repeaterbooks.com/culture/a-long ... oys-super/
Thanks Ramzy, I really liked your review, especially this - which I thought was a very interesting interpretation.

"And while Neil Tennant sneaks bits of himself into all his protagonists, only on closing track ‘Into Thin Air’ does it feel like he’s telling his own story: for four minutes, just like the dictator, he really does want to pack it all in. ‘Too much ugly talking; too many bad politicians’, he sings, perhaps describing the rabble to whom he has dedicated the rest of Super. If we didn’t know a third Stuart Price collaboration was already in the making, it would be tempting – and frightening – to see this as Tennant’s answer to ‘I Can’t Give Everything Away’, the song in which Bowie laid bare his own premature flight schedule."
Don’t be scared, for only the dark can show you the stars

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#174 Post by Ramzy »

Cheers! Not my best effort - I rushed it off after three days so it's not the most considered thing I've ever written but I guess it says basically what I wanted it to.
I must disengage your recreational music.

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#175 Post by Andie »

Which is the main thing!! The part I quoted really appealed to my imagination!
Don’t be scared, for only the dark can show you the stars

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#176 Post by bohemians. »

I started to enjoy The Happiness so. Its so great to dance to.I imagined that I was back in heaven, same with 20some + Say It To Meeeeeeee .

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#177 Post by DJAMIX »

Listening to Sad robot world I miss ballads like King's Cross or King of Rome (a major hit in Brazil, by the way).
One can't find the way to peace. Peace is the way itself. (Gandhi)

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#178 Post by daveid »

DJAMIX wrote:Listening to Sad robot world I miss ballads like King's Cross or King of Rome (a major hit in Brazil, by the way).
King of Rome and King's X are utterly beautiful. Far too good for singles

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#179 Post by Gabby »

So having has some time to listen through the new PSB album "Super" here are my thoughts - it's definitely a grower - not a slow burn, but it takes a few goes to really get those hooks into your head.

There's something about it that feels incomplete though - an extended mixes edition akin to New Order's "Music Complete" would not go amiss here. "Say It To Me" just fades out and leaves you thinking there should be more. The catchy tunes like "Happiness", "Groovy" and "Pazzo" need longer mixes just to allow the songs to breathe. "Groovy" in particular reminds me of those dance mat video games where the song just ends and I half expect a big "Game Over" sign to appear.

Taken as a whole it owes a lot to the mid-late 80's and early 90's music scene. There's threads of former PSB tracks in here, and a smidge of mid eighties New Order.

When it does stop to catch its' breath you have tracks like "The Dictator Decides" and "Sad Robot World" to reflect on. What would happen if Kim Jong Un decided to just pack it all in? Do androids real dream of electric sheep?

Ending with "Into Thin Air" a reflection on literally cashing in your valuables and disappearing (or is it a more sinister story about suicide terrorism?), the sombre themes are, as usual from PSB, juggled effortlessly with fun, danceable pop tunes.

Lead single "The Pop Kids" seems almost like filler compared to some of the tracks, although as a statement about the direction of the whole album, it's pretty much spot on. The only real musical muscle flexing I perceive is from the song "Twenty-Something" with it's Latino/Caribbean styled beats and pithy yet twee lyrics.

I said on first listen that it sounded like "Pet Shop Boys by numbers" and I stand by that statement. There's nothing new to see or hear here, yet it does somehow manage to sound interesting and fresh. That's by no means a bad thing - I actually think this is a great album, but it feels like there were missed opportunities (no pun intended) to make some of these 3 and 4 minute musical wonders into something really great.

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Re: "SUPER" - album reviewed by forum members

#180 Post by gx2066 »

Not sure if it firs here. Found it in an Amazon review:

Please (1986): Fundamental pop 3 1/2***
Actually (1987): Genius pop 4 1/2****
Introspective (1988): Baroque pop 4****
Behaviour (1990): Melancholic pop 5*****
Very (1993): Hi-NRG pop 4****
Bilingual (1996): Blissful pop 4****
Nightlife (1999): Futuristic pop 3 1/2***
Release (2002): Nostalgic pop 3 1/2***
Fundamental (2006): Political pop 4­****
Yes (2009): Optimistic pop 4****
Elysium (2012): Reflective pop 4 1/2****
Electric (2013): Rebooting pop 3 1/2***
Super (2016): Visionary pop 4****

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