Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

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jasonjohn
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Re: Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

#46 Post by jasonjohn »

Absolutely agree Disco is a cohesive listen, and a terrific one. It immediately transports me to the 80s.

Though ironically it's probably by accident, given it's a mix album with no central production.

Probably a product of its time, with many different mixers channeling the vibe of the era and more restricted technology available to them.

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jamie1978
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Re: Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

#47 Post by jamie1978 »

Introspective and Release are very cohesive, as is Electric.

Behaviour, Yes, Fundamental, Very, and super also quite cohesive and have identifiable moods.

Bilingual, Elysium, and Nightlife are all over the place.

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Re: Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

#48 Post by domino »

jamie1978 wrote: Tue 06 Aug 2019, 11:39 am Introspective and Release are very cohesive, as is Electric.

Behaviour, Yes, Fundamental, Very, and super also quite cohesive and have identifiable moods.

Bilingual, Elysium, and Nightlife are all over the place.
Even in Please you've got told a life's story.
A blues would be in B flat, pain defining wisdom,
but the soul is in the high hat, programmed in the system.

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Re: Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

#49 Post by y3potential »

I resequenced Elysium since the Further Listening has been released and for me it's a much more enjoyable (dare I say cohesive) listening experience..

Side 1

A Face Like That
One Night
Invisible
Memory of the Future (single version)
Baby
Breathing Space

Side 2

Requiem In Denim & Leopard Skin
In Slow Motion
Listening
Winner (Dawson Happy/Sad mix)
Leaving
In His Imagination

Everyone will have their own preferences, of course, but for me this flows a lot better than the official album..
There is beauty in ugliness and ugliness in beauty.

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Re: Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

#50 Post by jasonjohn »

... except it has very little in common with the original album?

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Re: Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

#51 Post by y3potential »

jasonjohn wrote: Thu 08 Aug 2019, 1:58 am ... except it has very little in common with the original album?
I'd respectfully suggest that's the point! although my tracklist still contains 7 songs from the original album. All I've done is replace some album tracks with b sides from the same recording sessions and Further Listening era. It's not like I"ve swapped Hold On for Suburbia..
There is beauty in ugliness and ugliness in beauty.

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Re: Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

#52 Post by BlueSwan »

Old Soak wrote: Fri 17 May 2019, 2:10 pm Breathing space is one of their best ever. At the time of release I was going through some difficult times/major life crossroads decisions and it really resonated with me as a result and helped a lot. Beautiful, evocative song.
How different we are. I find it to be their worst ever album track. Just offensively bland.

I was never a fan of Elysium. There's half of a good album there and Dawson actually does his thing, but the album is all over the place. There were some really great B-sides like Way Into The Woods and In His Imagination that would have improved the album a lot.
http://www.soundcloud.com/blueswan (Blue Swan tracks, my solo tracks and remixes)

http://soundcloud.com/groups/inspired-by-pet-shop-boys (A collection of various artists PSB covers, PSB remixes and original songs inspired by PSB - anyone interested can contribute tracks)

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Re: Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

#53 Post by mhvbear »

I pull out 'Elysium' every couple of weeks to listen to. The vinyl has a very warm and laid back California sound. Being an older gay male (65), the songs possibly might have more meaning to me than someone younger.
When I met Neil and Chris at the meet & greet in New Jersey on the Super tour I mentioned this to them and Neil's comment was exactly what they had intended.
Just a comment from a long time fan. Bought the 'West End Girls' 12 inch in 1986 on EMI Records here in the US.

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Re: Today I listened to Elysium for the first time since 2012...

#54 Post by jasonjohn »

Old Soak wrote: Fri 17 May 2019, 2:10 pm Breathing space is one of their best ever. At the time of release I was going through some difficult times/major life crossroads decisions and it really resonated with me as a result and helped a lot. Beautiful, evocative song.
Agreed. It's a classic in its own right but probably incongruent with the bangers and lasers crowd.
NotInvisible wrote: Fri 17 May 2019, 5:18 pm
telys wrote: Thu 16 May 2019, 9:20 pmThe fact is that Ego Music and Your early stuff are not album material - the sounds and the lyrics are b-side-material, no arguement about that.
Your Early Stuff is sublime and the perfect example of an album track. Ego Music is unlistenable and should have been swapped out for In His Imagination. I think the album suffers from fan expectation more than anything, because many of the songs are great and the production is superb.

Another problem is that there are some solid tracks that would work better with other singers. We all hate Winner but it's actually a superb pop song - I mean at the end of the day you can picture Take That singing it at Wembley as their latest Top 10 hit. Gary Barlow would kill to have written in. And yes that's damning based on what we expect from Neil and Chris, I dislike it as a PSB track too.

Similar thoughts about Hold On and Give It a Go, especially the latter, which is one of my favorite PSB tracks that someone else should have sung. Put this in the hands of Kate Nash and it works, great songwriting but of course the kind of person who just wants electronic stompers is going to disregard it. Hold On would have had better reception as a B side I think.

The one-two punch of Your Early Stuff and A Face Like That is a terrific pun moment, but I suspect a lot of fans subconsciously take it as a criticism. And I've never understood how the same fans who rate Footsteps or The Only One can have an issue with Breathing Space, which is a better track.

The bigger issues IMO (aside from Ego Music derailing the album) is that Memory of the Future and Everything Means Something are huge misfires. The former is an album track gussied up as a single and it just doesn't work. You can hear the ABBA influence and that's fine, but somehow the song never really gets off the ground. Everything Means Something lacks melody, which is the biggest crime here.

But overall I think fan reaction has been ridiculous. Leaving, Invisible and Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin are absolute classics. They've certainly recorded worse albums.
:up: Absolutely agree. There's a vibe that takes me to a certain place and keeps me there. That's why I see it as a cohesive album.

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