Bring back the long drawn synth sounds of West End Girls

[Wolverine]

Going to be honest here, the early PSB sounds is what they are all about.
The PSBs to me is West End Girls --> Was It Worth It.
How can anyone match the fantastic sounds of the Synth sound of West End girls and Opportunities, the haunting sounds of Love Comes Quickly, to the cracking synth sounds of It's A Sin, Always on My Mind and chilling orchestral sounds of Left To My Own Devices, and It couldn't happen here. True magnificence.
Please is the foundation of the great sounds, Disco is the far best Album ever created, Actually is a piece of uplifting history, with Introspective being what the PSBs mean to this industry.

Now, I am really pleased to hear rumors that they are going back to the warm, haunting synths of the 80's, this is the greatest news I have heard for ages, and to be honest, thought I would never hear.

If you were too young to remember there sounds of the 80's, pick up some Depeche Mode, Erasure and PSBs CD's from 1985 to 1992 as this is what is all about.
The chart positions spoke for themselves...

Welcome back Neil and Chris!

[Lush]

Personally, I am not as concerned with which sounds they use as I am with them getting back to the essence of their early material. How I long for those grandiose pop tunes always balancing accessible pop with a touch of melancholy. For me, "Miracles" and "Flamboyant" were a step in the right direction.

[Zeus On The Loose]

Bringing back good song-writing is my main concern, really.

[glennjridge]

I think they are making far better music now. and better sounding also.

[adampsb]

I think that their early stuff was brilliant I remember being hooked by Love Comes Quickly, Opportunities & It's a Sin but I do love the new stuff too. remixes of West End girls by Sasha, The Hacienda mix of Violence have progressed these old sounds. Progress can be good if they didn't change it we'd be complaining that it all sounded the same.

[joncool5]

Going to be honest here, the early PSB sounds is what they are all about.
The PSBs to me is West End Girls --> Was It Worth It.
How can anyone match the fantastic sounds of the Synth sound of West End girls and Opportunities, the haunting sounds of Love Comes Quickly, to the cracking synth sounds of It's A Sin, Always on My Mind and chilling orchestral sounds of Left To My Own Devices, and It couldn't happen here. True magnificence.
Please is the foundation of the great sounds, Disco is the far best Album ever created, Actually is a piece of uplifting history, with Introspective being what the PSBs mean to this industry.

Now, I am really pleased to hear rumors that they are going back to the warm, haunting synths of the 80's, this is the greatest news I have heard for ages, and to be honest, thought I would never hear.

If you were too young to remember there sounds of the 80's, pick up some Depeche Mode, Erasure and PSBs CD's from 1985 to 1992 as this is what is all about.
The chart positions spoke for themselves...

Welcome back Neil and Chris!

West End girls - Was It Worth It? Surely you mean West End girls - DJ Culture!! 99% of the stuff they have released since 1991 is better than Was It Worth It! Your being a little retro to be honest although I get your general point..

[Wolverine]

I think that their early stuff was brilliant I remember being hooked by Love Comes Quickly, Opportunities & It's a Sin but I do love the new stuff too. remixes of West End girls by Sasha, The Hacienda mix of Violence have progressed these old sounds. Progress can be good if they didn't change it we'd be complaining that it all sounded the same.

The Hacienda mix of Violence is a superb remix, I agree totally there with you. Like a previous reply, Miracles and Flamboyant is a huge step back into the right direction.

To summarise, Having It's A Sin at #1, with What have I.... at #2 in the same chart week is what the PSBs and their music means to me. Rent came crashing into the top 10 after, and Always on my mind made it a great Christmas to remember at #1.
Could it get any better? yes it could, Heart thumping in at #1.
Happy days...

Have the PSB's got it in them to bring out great numbers like these again? I say, never say never....

[beastman]

yes synth, synth and more synth please - more emphasis on the old electro sound is what I would love to see. Sometimes I think their emphasis has been on the song and not the tune. I hope they have been listening to some of Goldfrapp's new stuff!

[jamie1978]

Wolverine, I can't agree with you I'm afraid.

I dont think there is anything to be gained by re-creating West End Girls etc, it will only serve to re-inforce a stereotype that the PSB's are firmly stuck in the 80's, which I don't think is really true.

It will be nice to see them returning to the 'electro-pop' fold but in a new and cutting edge way, rather than getting out the old Korg. As a few people have mentioned, what has let them down recently (post-1993) is self-indulgent song-writing which is fairly detached from their original pop manifesto, and does not have a broad appeal beyond hardcore fans like us.

That said, I think Nightlife absolutely pisses over their first few albums.

[DJ Fairborne]

Going to be honest here, the early PSB sounds is what they are all about.
The PSBs to me is West End Girls --> Was It Worth It.
How can anyone match the fantastic sounds of the Synth sound of West End girls and Opportunities, the haunting sounds of Love Comes Quickly, to the cracking synth sounds of It's A Sin, Always on My Mind and chilling orchestral sounds of Left To My Own Devices, and It couldn't happen here. True magnificence.
Please is the foundation of the great sounds, Disco is the far best Album ever created, Actually is a piece of uplifting history, with Introspective being what the PSBs mean to this industry.

Now, I am really pleased to hear rumors that they are going back to the warm, haunting synths of the 80's, this is the greatest news I have heard for ages, and to be honest, thought I would never hear.

If you were too young to remember there sounds of the 80's, pick up some Depeche Mode, Erasure and PSBs CD's from 1985 to 1992 as this is what is all about.
The chart positions spoke for themselves...

Welcome back Neil and Chris!

I would probably agree with most of what you said above, but I've always thought PSB were superb & untouchable from "West End Girls" right upto "Paninaro '95". Fantastic singles such as "West End Girls, "Left To My Own Devices, "Can You Forgive Her" & others are the reasons why they are the most successful duo ever of all-time! "Please", "Disco", "Actually", "Introspective", "Behaviour", "Discography", "Very" & "Alternative" have all been regularly played on my various hi-fi's, discmans' and computers over the years, and even though "Disco 2" isn't totally great it still had a few good mixes on it, and for years it was the only CD I had the Brothers In Rhythm mix of "We All Feel Better In The Dark" on, which is a great mix. All the singles from West End girls TO Was it worth it? are superb, I like all of them. After, "Discography" I like many other PSB fans were worried that Neil & Chris would go 'down the dumper', but when they returned in '93 with the fantastic "Very", I was pleasantly surprised! 5 fantastic singles, and even thought I'm not that keen on "Go West", it does fit in well as the last track on the album. Also, "Relentless" the bonus album was superb too and even though the charity single, "Absolutely Fabulous" wasn't brilliant it did have a kitsch novelty appeal to some and was a top 10 hit. Finally, in '95 they released "Alternative", which was great to have all the b-sides together on one album at last. Also, they re-recorded "Paninaro" as a single and we got to see them perform it on "TOTP", with Chris singing the lead vocals!

Where it went wrong for PSB was the "Bilingual" album. 3 of the 4 singles were poor, with "A Red Letter Day" being one of the worst songs PSB have ever recorded in my opinion. "Single-Bilingual" was the only decent single from this album, why "The Survivors" wasn't released as a single I'll never know! Even PSB agree about this now. "Somewhere" was alright, but wasn't a real 'return to form' as it comes close to being a bit over-produced and therefore slightly average. "Nightlife" was a slightly better album, and had some great tracks such as "Vampires", "Radiophonic" and "Closer To Heaven" on it, and the comeback single, "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore" was superb, but sadly the 2 other singles off this album were average, as was the rest of the album. Of course, the gaps between albums were getting longer, we'd waited 2 years for "Nightlife" and then after that, we had a 2 1/2 year wait until "Release" was er... released. Comeback single, "Home And Dry" was good (even if the video sucked) but "I Get Along" was a crap choice for the 2nd single, as along with A red letter day are the only 2 PSB singles I really detest. "London" was a far better song, and it was a real shame that the single of this was withdrawn, as it was one of the best tracks on the album, "Release", along with "E-Mail", "The Samurai In Autumn" & "Love Is A Catastrophe" (which truly is an amazing song, Neil's lyrics really make you realise the despair he was going through, at this point in his life!). The rest of the album wasn't so good, with "The Night I Fell In Love" being the worst track, embarrassingly cringeworthy in places! However, "Disco 3" was brilliant - well the new tracks I mean. I love "Positive Role Model" (should've been a single), "Somebody Else's Business" & "Try It (I'm In Love With A Married Man)" (which sounds sooo controversial when a man sings it! lol). The other 2 new tracks are great too.

Anyway, the real 'return to form' for PSB (as far as I'm concerned anyway) was when they returned in 2003, with "Miracles" which is an absolutely fantastic single in my opinion and fully deserved it's Top 10 position, shame it didn't go any higher as it's a great song! "Flamboyant" was a good single too.

As for the future of PSB, well who knows? I'm looking forward to the new album next year and if it's anything as good as "Miracles", then I think we're all in for a good time! Shame that by the time it's released, we would've had to wait 4 years for it though...

[DJ Fairborne]

I must admit though I am looking forward to hearing the "Battleship Potemkin" soundtrack album, roll on next Monday!

[dVTB]

The post below is a typical example of one person's opinion, which is certainly not representing a wide audience.

Where it went wrong for PSB was the "Bilingual" album. 3 of the 4 singles were poor, with "A Red Letter Day" being one of the worst songs PSB have ever recorded in my opinion. "Single-Bilingual" was the only decent single from this album, why "The Survivors" wasn't released as a single I'll never know! Even PSB agree about this now. "Somewhere" was alright, but wasn't a real 'return to form' as it comes close to being a bit over-produced and therefore slightly average.

Bilingual gave the boys 4 UK Top 10 hits, one more than Very did. "Before", hated by so many PSB fans, hit #7, Se A Vida E went to #8, A Red Letter Day (which *I* consider PSB's best single ever) hit #9 (very good for a 4th single from an album!) and so did Somewhere. The song you call the only decent single, is in fact the only one to MISS the UK Top 10. The Survivors (my all-time favourite PSB song) is perhaps not single material.

"Nightlife" was a slightly better album, and had some great tracks such as "Vampires", "Radiophonic" and "Closer To Heaven" on it, and the comeback single, "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore" was superb, but sadly the 2 other singles off this album were average, as was the rest of the album.

Errr... superb? Then why did it only hit #15 in the UK? Previous lead singles Can you forgive her? and Before both made #7. I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more is the biggest commercial flop of their career, ruining the potential of a very good album.

Of course, the gaps between albums were getting longer, we'd waited 2 years for "Nightlife" and then after that, we had a 2 1/2 year wait until "Release" was er... released.

This is, in fact, totally untrue. The gap between Bilingual and Nightlife was approximately 3 years. The gap between Nightlife and Release was indeed 2½ years.

Anyway, the real 'return to form' for PSB (as far as I'm concerned anyway) was when they returned in 2003, with "Miracles" which is an absolutely fantastic single in my opinion and fully deserved it's Top 10 position, shame it didn't go any higher as it's a great song! "Flamboyant" was a good single too.

As for the future of PSB, well who knows? I'm looking forward to the new album next year and if it's anything as good as "Miracles", then I think we're all in for a good time! Shame that by the time it's released, we would've had to wait 4 years for it though...

Agreed here. Although you shouldn't forget that the new material on Disco 3 plus the new material of the PopArt era is enough to fill an album with.

[Very]

For me, the PSB sounds mean album "Very"

[Yisraelee]

I like the Hi NRG beats of Always on My Mind, Left To My Own Devices, Where the Streets Have No Name, Somewhere, Red Letter Day, that kind of thing to me is the PSB branded electronic trademark and I really hope they return to these styles of superb synth-pop!

[jamie1978]

I like the Hi NRG beats of Always on My Mind, Left To My Own Devices, Where the Streets Have No Name, Somewhere, Red Letter Day, that kind of thing to me is the PSB branded electronic trademark and I really hope they return to these styles of superb synth-pop!

Yeah, that was very 'in vogue' in the late 80's, but it just doesnt cut it anymore.

The lacklustre chart runs of RLD (dropping from 9 to 42 after 1 week) and Somewhere prove this.

They don't need to go back to hi-nrg, its been done a million times before, but they do have a chance to create something new, exciting, electronic and cutting-edge. Which is what I hope they will do, without forgetting their pop sensibilities of course.