Behaviour: the ultimate English pop album?

[FreshDebesh]

Behaviour is a nice album, but I always thought its "greatness" was exaggerrated. I'm with Zeus in that Please, Actually and Very are indeed better for the crown of best English pop album.

[psb-freak]

Bilingual is the best.
Not so fond of some songs on Behaviour, like Only the Wind. Nervously is absolutely the best song on Behaviour.

[Janet Street-Porter]

Behaviour is their most complete album. It is autumn; leaves are falling and there's a chill in the air but it is bracing and we are reinvigorated.

If Please was their embryonic urban joyride, Actually the assured shopping mall soundtrack and Introspective the idiosyncratic Raj of their Empire, then Behaviour and Very are collectively the confirmation of their genius; a Janus presiding over the gates of pop perfection.

[Zeus On The Loose]

Not really, Please was their musical manifesto, Actually was their musical manifesto set inside the rules of the commercial game, Introspective was their imperial peak, Behaviour was their losing it for a bit, Very was their triumphant retun to pop brilliance, Bilingual was their losing it totally, Nightlife was their trying too hard to find it again and Release was their cynical attempt to appeal to a MOR Coldplay/Dido loving adult audience.

[Joemoz]

In my view, Please was their first, tentative steps into megastardom - great but still a bit trying. Actually their imperial highlight - a classic album of hits and fillers. Introspective was a strange but marvellous sidestep. Behaviour initially had some doubting if they'd lost it, but of course with a lasting value far ahead of its predecessors. Discography summed up the fantastic first phase of their career - an achievement unlikely to ever be surpassed.

Yet, with Very they astonishingly managed to once again reach - and even surpass - their artistic and commercial peak. The fact that the modern classic of Go West is a filler on that albums testifies to its brillance, and the gems tucked away on Relentless is evidence of a band with so much extra genius they hardly know what to do with themselves. Bilingual could only disappoint - and it did - but was still a fully qualified album. With Nightlife, however, there were too many cracks in the surface for it too pass completely unnoticed, and with Release, Pet Shop Boys released an album that would have been a career greatest release by Coldplay or even Oasis, but which just didn't cut it within their own standards.

Hopefully, with their next album, Neil and Chris will once again surprise everyone and deliver a return to the old form - certain songs of recent years prove that they still could...unfortunately it could also go the other way.

[BlueSwan]

IMO, most artists first albums are also their best. Like someone said: "You have your whole life to write your first album". I agree with Zeus that Please was their musical manifesto. In terms of songwriting and charm, I think "Please" is easily their best album to date. The only threat is "Introspective", but that is in large part due to the incredible production.

"Actually" was great in the same sense that "Please" was, but had two major duds on it, that has always ruined it a bit for me (Shopping and Hit Music).

Still, those first three albums along with "Disco", still stand as the quintessential PSB for me.

Then came Behaviour, which is a marvellous album. It did, however, signal a change of times. No need to cry about that, bands HAVE to change to remain relevant. But for me, they'll never recapture the magic of the first three albums. I don't complain, since I love their recent material as well, it's just never gonna match my love for the PSB I knew in my childhood.

Very, to me, is too bubblegum-ish, particularly production-wise. Don't get me wrong, I actually LIKE bubblegum-pop. I always have. I just prefer classic PSB to bubblegum PSB. I also think that "Very" gave PSB a bad name with the public. It was this album that introduced the "camp" PSB. Before "Very" PSB had a certain mystique about them. It was the pop band that it was OK to like for rock fans.

Bilingual was a mess. Contained a few great songs, but that's about it. I'm always surprised at how much I actually enjoy it when I from time to time put it on. Still. I maintain that it is PSB's weakest album.

Nightlife was brilliant in 1999. Loved it to bits. The probem of making a club-ish album is that it's gonna grate on the years a few years after. Likewise with this. A top 3 PSb album for me in 1999 - nowhere near that now.

Release was better than it's reputation and works really well as an album. Not enough truly strong songs on it, though.

The ever-changing list of fave PSB albums:

1. Please (always in the top 2, currently at number one)
2. Introspective (often number one, currently number two)
3. Behaviour
4. Actually (higher now than it used to be)
5. Very
6. Nightlife
7. Release
8. Bilingual (always at the bottom)

I'm enough of a PSB Stan to rate any PSB album higher than most other albums I own.

[Zeus On The Loose]

My list is:

1.Please
2.Actually
3.Introspective
4.Very
5.Behaviour
6.Nightlife
7.Bilingual
8.Release

[Glenny4]

I always remember first getting Behaviour and playing BB, i was thinking what the hell are these guitars and this strange drum beat then this beautiful sound came in and the best lyrics i've ever heard.

It was a bit strange to see no electro pop on it apart from So Hard but the PSB talent i was blown away with on this album.

[XTZ1969]

[thomashenry]

My list is:

1.Please
2.Actually
3.Introspective
4.Very
5.Behaviour
6.Nightlife
7.Bilingual
8.Release

Snap

[Janet Street-Porter]

1 Behaviour
2 Very Relentless
3 Actually
4 Please
5 Introspective
6 Bilingual
7 Nightlife
8 Release

[Undertaker]

Actually 10/10
Please 9.5/10
Very 9/10
Introspective 8/10
Behaviour 8/10
Nightlife 7/10
Release 7/10
Bilingual 4/10

Disco. 9/10
Disco 2. 1/10
Disco 3. 6/10
Very Relentless 7/10

Dave

[Henrik Powers]

Not really, Please was their musical manifesto, Actually was their musical manifesto set inside the rules of the commercial game, Introspective was their imperial peak, Behaviour was their losing it for a bit, Very was their triumphant retun to pop brilliance, Bilingual was their losing it totally, Nightlife was their trying too hard to find it again and Release was their cynical attempt to appeal to a MOR Coldplay/Dido loving adult audience.

Same thing here!

[dVTB]

Behaviour and Very are not only their two most consistent albums, but also the only albums that don't feature weak or 'weaker' songs. The overall quality and the total concept of Behaviour are slightly better than Very, which sounds overproduced at some points. Thus: 1. Behaviour, 2. Very

Nightlife is another album that doesn't feature weak songs, although a few 'weaker tracks'. It's therefore slightly better than Bilingual, which features some of the Boys' best tracks ever, but also the awful Electricity. Thus: 3. Nightlife, 4. Bilingual (Had 'Betrayed been track 4 on Bilingual, than Bilingal would have been 3 or even 2)

Release is an OK album. The overall quality is not as good as their four 90's albums, but with the exception of the lyrics of The Night I Fell In Love, there are no really weak moments on it either. And it's pretty consistent. Thus: 5. Release

This leaves Please and Actually: Actually features one very weak track (Hit Music),
Please doesn't. So: 6. Please, 7. Actually

(I normally don't rank Introspective, since it's just a 6-track mini-album, featuring just 3 new songs. If I had to put it somewhere, it would be just behind Bilingual. Most tracks are very good, one track is weak)

[BlueSwan]

Behaviour and Very are not only their two most consistent albums, but also the only albums that don't feature weak or 'weaker' songs. The overall quality and the total concept of Behaviour are slightly better than Very, which sounds overproduced at some points. Thus: 1. Behaviour, 2. Very

Nightlife is another album that doesn't feature weak songs, although a few 'weaker tracks'. It's therefore slightly better than Bilingual, which features some of the Boys' best tracks ever, but also the awful Electricity. Thus: 3. Nightlife, 4. Bilingual (Had 'Betrayed been track 4 on Bilingual, than Bilingal would have been 3 or even 2)

Release is an OK album. The overall quality is not as good as their four 90's albums, but with the exception of the lyrics of The Night I Fell In Love, there are no really weak moments on it either. And it's pretty consistent. Thus: 5. Release

This leaves Please and Actually: Actually features one very weak track (Hit Music),
Please doesn't. So: 6. Please, 7. Actually

(I normally don't rank Introspective, since it's just a 6-track mini-album, featuring just 3 new songs. If I had to put it somewhere, it would be just behind Bilingual. Most tracks are very good, one track is weak)

I object to ranking albums on the basis of whether they contain weak tracks or not. Surely that's a rather negative perspective. Shouldn't they also be judged on the number of brilliant tracks or the overall feel of the album?

Introspective, for instance, includes one weak track (It's Alright), but the five remaining tracks are so bloody brilliant that the weak track is unimportant - especially seeing as it's the last track and hence easily skipped.

I also disagree about Very not including weak tracks. I think "One And One Make Five" and "A Different Point of View" are weak by PSB standards.

"Please" only contains one weak tracks IMO and like with Introspective, it's the last track on the record.

I do think that Actually suffers from the two weak tracks in the middle of the album. They should have been substituted for A New Life, Do I Have To or I Want A Dog and it would have been a near perfect album.

I do agree that Behaviour is very consistent and doesn't feature particularly weak tracks at all. This is a strength, but I just think the tunes on Please are better.