Lost

[Tom Angel]

It's the standard PSB weakness isn't it - awfully curated albums - and singles with brilliant b-sides.

Even latter albums that do work - Fundamental for eg. would have been improved with Fugitive. But NIghltife is the worst

Hotspot not having An open mind and Decide on is madness. An open mind in particular is one of their fullest, best realised and contemporary sounding tracks of their entire career. Wedding in Berlin is just categorically shit in fact it's embarrassing, and yet an open mind isn't on it.

They have no idea of how to select tracks for albums. It's the achilles heel of their career. Too many 3 star albums that could have been 5 star. .

[jules]

Groovy is awesome, they could have replaced inner sanctum with i will fall.

[jules]

Groovy is awesome, they could have replaced inner sanctum with i will fall.
Wedding is a strange choice, unless it's a joke. Any other song would have been better to close the trilogy.

[telys]

I see nothing wrong with the tracks on Super. But considering the B-sides, Lost, Brick England and perhaps Agenda and Musik, there is room for different track lists making room for 2-3 (quite short) albums of different concepts released between 2016 and 2018/9.
2016 Super = dancey pop songs
2018 Agenda = social commentary
2019 (rereleased in 2023 with Living In The Past) Lost = war

[telys]

I see nothing wrong with the tracks on Super. But considering the B-sides, Lost, Brick England and perhaps Agenda and Musik, there is room for different track lists making room for 2-3 (quite short) albums of different concepts released between 2016 and 2018/9.
2016 Super = dancey pop songs
2018 Agenda = social commentary
2019 (rereleased in 2023 with Living In The Past) Lost = war

So here is my suggestion for LOST, an album released in 2018 or 2019 with the theme of War/Russia and how to deal with it. This album would had to been rereleased in 2023 with Living In The Past as an added bonus track and a charity single with proceeds going to Ukraine. Or they could've hold on to all these tracks until 2022/2023 or they could've released many of the songs already in 2015 as a commentary on the first invasion of Ukraine.

01 The Lost room 04:12
02 "The Dictator Decides" 04:50
03 "Pazzo!" 02:44 (a bit eclectic but it fits with the end of TDD and pazzo means fool in italian)
04 Mongrel 03:43 (yet more eclectic with Frances Barber singing but it fits with the theme and the history of Russian aggression, and maybe, just maybe, there's a Neil version unreleased on some shelf in a studio somewhere)
05 Skeletons in the closet 03:03
06 I will fall 04:38 (the human side of war and how to deal with it, love, probably the best PSB song ever IMHO)
07 "Into Thin Air" 04:17 (the human side of war and how to deal with it, love)
08 Dead can dance 02:57 (yet another historical theme but ghostly accurate for modern times as well)
09 Kaputnik 03:58
10 Living in the past 04:36
11 Wiedersehen 04:19 (somehow Wiedersehen feels like a more natural album closer)

[whateverman42]

Hotspot not having An open mind and Decide on is madness. An open mind in particular is one of their fullest, best realised and contemporary sounding tracks of their entire career. Wedding in Berlin is just categorically shit in fact it's embarrassing, and yet an open mind isn't on it.

I thought I was the only one who felt that way about An Open Mind, it doesn't seem to get talked about much here, or anywhere else as it was hidden as a b-side. To me it's nearly up there with West End Girls! I think it's their best song since Leaving, and like that song it would have been good enough to be on Discography. Decide is also better than any song on Hotspot. Just crazy they can create these songs but not be able to identify that they're much better than You Are The One, Hoping For A Miracle, or I Don't Wanna (why was that pile of mediocre released as a single?).

Man, An Open Mind is sooo good, it has this effortless feeling about it, I kind of thought they didn't have it in them anymore. Super and Hotspot as a whole were pretty underwhelming, if they didn't make An Open Mind I wouldn't have much hope for the next album. Anyways, what a missed opportunity not to release it as the lead single of Hotspot, it might have gotten attention. Everyone I play it to wants to know what it is and who its by.

[King1]

Hotspot not having An open mind and Decide on is madness. An open mind in particular is one of their fullest, best realised and contemporary sounding tracks of their entire career. Wedding in Berlin is just categorically shit in fact it's embarrassing, and yet an open mind isn't on it.

I thought I was the only one who felt that way about An Open Mind, it doesn't seem to get talked about much here, or anywhere else as it was hidden as a b-side. To me it's nearly up there with West End Girls! I think it's their best song since Leaving, and like that song it would have been good enough to be on Discography. Decide is also better than any song on Hotspot. Just crazy they can create these songs but not be able to identify that they're much better than You Are The One, Hoping For A Miracle, or I Don't Wanna (why was that pile of mediocre released as a single?).

Man, An Open Mind is sooo good, it has this effortless feeling about it, I kind of thought they didn't have it in them anymore. Super and Hotspot as a whole were pretty underwhelming, if they didn't make An Open Mind I wouldn't have much hope for the next album. Anyways, what a missed opportunity not to release it as the lead single of Hotspot, it might have gotten attention. Everyone I play it to wants to know what it is and who its by.

I agree An Open Mind and Decide should have Been on Hotspot but calling Hoping For A Miracle mediocre I definitely don't agree with one of their better slower songs in a long while

[joe stalin]

I love hoping for a miracle. The blade remix and video is incredible

[telys]

I love hoping for a miracle. The blade remix and video is incredible

*I met her in Oxford

[Spittingcat]

I love Hoping for a miracle as well.

[Danimal]

I just listened back through “I will fall” as it’s getting so much love. Very solid song that would have fit right on “Super” with the Stuart Price treatment. The released version is too soft-synthy and is badly in need of production.
I see why it took them so long to release “The Lost Room” as it’s a great track, but where would it fit in? Not mainstream enough to be a single and I couldn’t see it working alongside other tracks on an album, yet superior to many b-sides.

[Dreamland]

For what it’s worth, I LOVE Wedding in Berlin. So each to their own.

[Nicholas]

Hoping for a Miracle is the gorgeous Hotspot centrepiece! Of all the songs to consider removing…

[MikeyC]

For what it’s worth, I LOVE Wedding in Berlin. So each to their own.

Same!

[jasonjohn]

Hotspot not having An open mind and Decide on is madness.

I guess they were just warned off adding political songs to an album after Agenda got a toxic reaction from a loud minority? Decide is a very emotive track, works so well, but is of its time and not very Berlin.

An Open Mind is good too. But I think sometimes when something is relegated to a B-Side it might be because they are knowingly emulating a style, and I think in that case it was Coldplay? Maybe they just didn't want to put an experiment on an album? Pity though. Except it's maybe too uplifting for an album with a mostly sombre outlook?

I love Hotspot, but felt it needed one more punchy song at the start before it dropped off a continental cliff into The One. A Certain “Je ne sais quoi” would have worked well maybe with a bit more work, pity they didn't have a German equivalent expression - is there one?

But in any case, I like Hotspot for what it is. Glad they pointed Price in a different direction. It's got quite a distinctive "mood".