Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[Patrick Bateman]

Love the start of Bilingual. They've made a Spanish album and it sounds bloody fantastic. Discoteca right up there with their finest album openers and it segues seamlessly into Single. Oh yes, they're back back back, what could possibly go wrong...

[richwill]

Yes, but the complaceny that comes from that (Electricity notwithstanding) first run of excellent tracks was undermined by the knowledge that the seriously anodyne Before was on the way...

[Patrick Bateman]

Yes, but the complaceny that comes from that (Electricity notwithstanding) first run of excellent tracks was undermined by the knowledge that the seriously anodyne Before was on the way...

Oh, I like Before. My problem is track three...

[telys]

Over the years I've come to realise that of all PSB almbums Bilingual is the album that I mostly prefer to put on an listen from start to end. I've tried to figure out why and my conclusion is:
The production is different from the polished pop they used to do. So that the production is still interesting after many listenings. Even Electricity which on any other album would have been the "Wedding in Berlin" actually works in the context of Bilingual. I have no problems with it and the chorus is great.
Neil's lyrics reached a high point on Bilingual.
And Discoteca is a perfect example of Happy-Sad, it's a track that truly defines what PSB is.

[PSBForTheMasses]

Over the years I've come to realise that of all PSB almbums Bilingual is the album that I mostly prefer to put on an listen from start to end. I've tried to figure out why and my conclusion is:
The production is different from the polished pop they used to do. So that the production is still interesting after many listenings. Even Electricity which on any other album would have been the "Wedding in Berlin" actually works in the context of Bilingual. I have no problems with it and the chorus is great.
Neil's lyrics reached a high point on Bilingual.
And Discoteca is a perfect example of Happy-Sad, it's a track that truly defines what PSB is.

One of my friends, who prefers Metal and Rock over any pop song, once told me that the happy and poppy "pop music" in the album did not match the great depth of the excellent lyrics, which were somehow lost in the transition. He used to love this album just for the lyrics, just wished it was released in a rock and metal sound.

[CafePicasso]

Bilingual was released the same time I met my husband. And it was "such a cold winter".
I had a flat with no central heating, no private bathroom but I fell in love and we played Bilingual non-stop.
I'm still saying to him: "I'm an artist, honey. You gonna get me a drink?" from time to time (works most of the time)
So, yes, I love this album.
But I still don't like the last song.

[Disco.]

Yes, but the complaceny that comes from that (Electricity notwithstanding) first run of excellent tracks was undermined by the knowledge that the seriously anodyne Before was on the way...

Oh, I like Before. My problem is track three...

I really really like Before, and what a collection of remixes, no wonder it was a U.S #1 dance track, fantastic!

[jasonjohn]

What track are we on again?

[markus]

What track are we on again?

Discoteca and Single as one song.

[jasonjohn]

Discoteca and Single as one song.

Ah, that's an easy one. Terrific stuff. I don't feel Bilingual is especially scattered (well, not in an unindenting failing way), and the title itself suggests different worlds are co-existing; it delivers.

Discoteca is an immediate contrast to the rounded synths of Very - they were conscious of "every song sounds the same" criticism (not true, but it had a patterned production for sure!). Discoteca blows all that away.

Probably the most melancholy of all album openers? Leaving and Loneliness have sadness, but less desperate.

[petshopgrrl]

Track 87: Girls and Boys (Live in Rio)

Chronology: Very, Further Listening, Track 16

Inessential filler. I have no interest in live audio recordings. Pet Shop Boys are a studio band who put on visually spectacular shows. This is best enjoyed on Discovery.

Drico.

Well I'm going to throw in a vote for this one. (Girls and) Boys just want to have fun. I think DiscoVery showed the playful side of PSB that Neil still touts to this day (see: David Bowie Forever) and hadn't seen too many outings by this point (except maybe I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing?). Also it's one of their least spectacular tours, isn't it??

[petshopgrrl]

Tracks 88 and 89: Discoteca/Single

Chronology: Bilingual, Tracks 1 and 2

Single holds a special place in my heart because it's the song that got me into PSB after a thirty-year hiatus. It was the drums that hooked me and I still think of it as the "Hawaii Five-O" song. The lyric is fantastically tart and snarky and the video is a hoot. I've been on that super-cringey corporate dance floor. Neil does have some comic acting chops, whatever he thinks. Chris seriously missed a career calling with UK Border Control.

The album version of Discoteca isn't my favorite but the lyric is heartbreaking when you understand the context. I much prefer the remix on the Bilingual Special Edition and the new version on Format.

[richwill]

Yes, but the complaceny that comes from that (Electricity notwithstanding) first run of excellent tracks was undermined by the knowledge that the seriously anodyne Before was on the way...

Oh, I like Before. My problem is track three...

Ah sorry no I'm firmly on Team Metamorphosis. It's one of their Barnum songs, I felt it was about me, even though it's obviously about coming out.

[NotInvisible]

PSB fans fell in love with a synth-pop / dance act.

You can't speak for all PSB fans, don't be absurd.

Electronic, dance and synth-pop largely appeal to the same crowd.

Not really. Most people into the EDM scene weren't buying Erasure records.

They were part of that continuum in the ’80

They were absolutely not part of the Italo disco scene, that's as ludicrous as your assertion that they don't write political songs.

[NotInvisible]

Ah sorry no I'm firmly on Team Metamorphosis. It's one of their Barnum songs, I felt it was about me, even though it's obviously about coming out.

I wouldn't have put it on the album, but the music's great. It's one of those tracks you privately blast in your car while driving at high speeds on a sunny day. With the windows rolled up, obviously.