Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[y3potential]

It wouldn't surprise me if Electricity was performed at the Obscure shows...

[NOBODY75]

I don't hate it. But it's a B-side from "Manual" that made it onto the album when others like "The Boy Who," which is not only a much better song but also fits in much better, are left out. It would have been better suited to the Latin style they wanted for the album.
SE A VIDA E ASI

[telys]

I think you misunderstand what a b-side is.
Electricity is exactly what an album track is supposed to be. I wouldn't want 12 super polished tracks all supposed to be like singles. Electricity has a lot of interesting musical stuff going on. Neil sings in three different 'voices'. And the song is a good story telling. And it has no ambition of being polished/beautiful etc. Compared to other album tracks that play the same role ( Happiness, Wedding in Berlin, Your early stuff etc) Electricity doesn't pretend to be anything else than what it really is.
I had a listen to Electricity this morning and I still like a lot. You think the chorus goes "It's the greatest show since..." but then Neil gives us "It's all about the wonder and power...", beautiful.
A whole album of songs like Electricity? Yes, please.

[NotInvisible]

Electricity is brilliant, but it does bring the album to a standstill. I agree it's more album track than b-side. Oddly enough, it'd make a great opener for a different album. The vocals and production are great.

[markus]

I don't hate it. But it's a B-side from "Manual" that made it onto the album when others like "The Boy Who," which is not only a much better song but also fits in much better, are left out. It would have been better suited to the Latin style they wanted for the album.
SE A VIDA E ASI

I guess it’s “Latino” in an LA, West Coast, gangsta-rap sense. Samba de Janeiro or Mi Chico Latino probably felt too easy, so they chose the harder route instead. Lambada and La Isla Bonita were maybe just too pop.
Bilingual is a fine-arts project for Neil and Chris; the rest of us associate “Latin” with sun and tequila.

[NOBODY75]

Well Telys, I think I'll understand what a B-side is just as well as you do. The difference is that you seem to think "Electricity" is a much better song than I do, which is perfectly respectable. That's why you think it's a song that belongs on the album, and I don't.

[Patrick Bateman]

Clearly b-side material saved by some great lyrics and Neil's singing in character. I used to like it, but I grew tired of it.

Yeah, it's a b-side, rather than an album track. With this and Metamorphosis, they showed they had feet of clay. Look at how strong the first side of Very is - as many people have pointed out, Bilingual could have been similarly strong with an alternative track list. As it is, Bilingual has a massive dip early on and is therefore fatally flawed as an album.

[petshopgrrl]

It wouldn't surprise me if Electricity was performed at the Obscure shows...

It would surprise the heck out of me but I would respect the hustle!

Electricity is brilliant, but it does bring the album to a standstill. I agree it's more album track than b-side. Oddly enough, it'd make a great opener for a different album. The vocals and production are great.

Funny you should mention this because this is exactly what happens with the fourth track on the next album too. But that’s a debate for several weeks from now.

[NotInvisible]

I guess it’s “Latino” in an LA, West Coast, gangsta-rap sense.

Er...

[markus]

I guess it’s “Latino” in an LA, West Coast, gangsta-rap sense.

Er...

A long shot doesn’t mean you won’t hit something.

[Gabby]

Can we please get back on...

Track 92: "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)"

Chronology: Bilingual, Track 5

A cover...sort of. PSB have a knack of inserting themselves seamlessly into other peoples songs!

I like it, but don't have anything to say - I'll let others have a go at it.

[markus]

“Se a vida é” was as much a falling-in-love song in my confusing life. I had a strange crush on a friend who could offer me nothing more than friendship, and yet—oh my God—what a bromance we had. That summer and autumn, wisdom and guidance came from Neil, from the bittersweet melancholy of That’s the Way Life Is. It was my song. It was our song, even though he never knew.

[Drico One]

I like Electricity - but there's no denying they followed the superb Discoteca/Single segue with two very weird songs and strangled the Latin concept of the album at birth in the process. By track 4, things have taken a bizarre turn. On its own terms, Electricity is louche and funky. Having come out on Metamorphosis, we are now being interrogated about being in San Francisco. Samples, electric squiggles, a smoky Neil holding court whilst demanding alcoholic stimulation... "What does it mean?" indeed.

One thing's for sure, though, playing live has really had an impact on Neil. We had Yesterday, when I was mad on Very and now we're hearing tales of "costume changes performed with poise, dancing in formation with a couple of boys". That's DiscoVery. "The greatest show with the best effects" appears to reference Performance. Meeting his audience and drinking in their adulation seems to have brought Showbiz Neil to life. At this point, nobody could really have predicted how "waddling pompously around the world like overweight middle-aged men" would transform Pet Shop Boys from studio boffins with a shelf life to eternal touring behemoths.

Then we're back south of the border with Se a vida e...

My head is spinning.

Drico.

[NotInvisible]

Track 92: "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)"

Chronology: Bilingual, Track 5

There's not a lot to say about this one. The drumming is terrific (again), but the lyrics are thin on the ground for Pet Shop Boys. Wasn't a fan when it came out, especially since it had its work cut out for it advertising the album after the tepid Before. I've grown to like both songs a lot more over the years, and this one makes regular summer appearances on the playlist...

[NotInvisible]

A long shot doesn’t mean you won’t hit something.

If you think before typing you won't have to rely on long shots.