Pet Shop Boys Community

I lost interest in Very quite quickly. Those were my clubbing days, and I wasn't going to PSB-style clubs... I really enjoyed Bilingual, and its B-sides, but it likewise did not stay with me so long as the Imperial albums (for me, Very is not an Imperial album...).
Nightlife and Release were the lowest point, but even then, I got incredibly and childishly excited in the build-up, and listened to both albums a fair amount. I was starting out on my career and got married and became a father during those years, so music took a bit of a backburner.
Fundamental was the big return for me. I remember listening to that instrumental of Psychological for months on end (ironic, really, because it rivals Numb as the weakest track on the album). There was something about Fundamental that felt like being pulled back into PSB World... Luna Park did that, especially (although when I listen to Luna Park now, it doesn't do as much for me).
Ever since then, it's been a thrill ride with everything feeling like a bonus! Yes is their best post-Imperial album for me, because I can listen to the whole thing and enjoy it. While I am still a complete, giggling fanboy, I am old enough now to accept that some tracks don't need listening to again, and I think every album post-Yes has 'skippers'...Elysium most of all, but Leaving, Invisible and Everything Means Something are all top bracket PSB in my book. I've really enjoyed the Price years, but shiny dance tunes do sort of keep the listener at arm's length. Burning the Heather showed the sort of songwriter's craft that I now crave....

I am ready for something with a photo and a white cover.... something that will live alongside their great albums, or, at least, pull me deeply back into PSB-world, like Fundamental did.

My wilderness years were quite lengthy between 2003 and 2012. I absolutely love Release but somewhere afterwards I lost interest. I totally ignored Fundamental and Yes. I wasn’t interested in the singles from either and bought nothing. There was quite a lot of publicity in advance of Elysium and I was hooked by Invisible. 2012 was a remarkable year because in a way I had 4 new albums to listen to. Fundamental, Yes, Format and Elysium and I loved them and everything since.

Elysium has never been one of my favorite albums

I became a fan with Very and so was desperate for the release of their next studio album after that one... which took three years (an absolute lifetime when I was 15) and was led by a single which I now appreciate but which didn't have any of the stuff I loved about Very, really. Ultimately I did love Bilingual when it was released, but it did feel like they became very unfashionable at exactly the point I adopted them.

Nightlife came out when I started uni and I was very interested in what they were getting up to but I was far less keen to be identified as a Pet Shop Boys fan. I liked the album overall but there were chunks of it I had no time for and it didn't sound remotely as accomplished as all the stuff up to Very (to my ears... and those of many reviewers, as far as I could tell).

I hoped Release would turn things around but it was even less what I was after from them, and of course I was still interested in hearing it, and I bought it, and I enjoyed the graphic design and all that, but they definitely felt like they running out of ideas and enthusiasm... and then PopArt was released with two fantastic new songs and everything felt a bit revitalised.

And then they vanished for two and a half more years and returned with Fundamental which definitely had a real sense of anticipation beforehand which had been lacking from the previous three studio albums (possibly due to Trevor Horn's involvement). I dunno if it entirely lived up to that, but it was definitely a cut above the previous few releases. Yes was even more exciting (sonically and visually) and during the 2006–2010 period they definitely took on national treasure status in the UK which seemed to make much of their press coverage from that point a lot warmer (even if their fans can still be incredibly horrible about them).

Elysium felt like a dip (to me) and I did wonder if they were going off the rails again, but the rapid turnaround of Electric quickly allayed those fears. And everything since has felt at least a bit great. And I'm 42 now so frankly it doesn't bother me in the slightest what the wider consensus is regarding any of the music I listen to, which feels both liberating and incredibly middle-aged.

I'm excited for the new album and I just want something that looks and sounds like 'them' and doesn't feel half-arsed in terms of the music or the design. And I'm much more patient and grateful now than I was 20–30 years ago so I'll likely find things to love about it regardless.

I have never been out in the "wilderness". Always liked everything they've done (apart from the ballet which I've never been able to find the time to sit down and properly listen to, and of course Neil's pop vs rock bullshit). No matter what. Became a fan some time after the release of Suburbia. I've never been in doubt about any album.

Andie wrote: Wed 24 Jan 2024, 8:51 am Elysium has never been one of my favorite albums

I always said from the get go that "Elysium" was a grower, not a show-er.

Overall I really like it, but admit it's not one I go back to a lot - perhaps it's not one that really fits my mood, but whenever an Elysium track pops up on Spotify I enjoy it.

I think time will be kind to this album.

I have been a fan since West end girls. There have been definite dips in quality, which is to be expected over so many years.
Each album has had just enough tracks to keep me a fan. The low point was around Nightlife / Release as I thought there were some wrong single choices and boring b sides.
Elysian again I thought was a low point, very dull, but they came back with Electric.
As the last 3 albums have been quite ‘up’ I imagine the new album will be another low key affair…we will see!

Elysium might be a weaker entry in their oevre (imho) but it bought me an absolute highlight of their career: the Salford concert. PSB with classical orchestra sounded so good.

So for me, that era was no dip either. And it helps that I find Electric top 3 PSB album quality.

Never a dip in quality . Never. My taste is a different thing. But there were always great bsides and mixes if the album tracks weren't to my palate. No wilderness. I feel very fortunate to have found PSB so early in their career and in my life. Neil has always been my favourite english teacher.

Gabby wrote: Wed 24 Jan 2024, 7:58 pm

Andie wrote: Wed 24 Jan 2024, 8:51 am Elysium has never been one of my favorite albums

I always said from the get go that "Elysium" was a grower, not a show-er.

Overall I really like it, but admit it's not one I go back to a lot - perhaps it's not one that really fits my mood, but whenever an Elysium track pops up on Spotify I enjoy it.

I think time will be kind to this album.

Hopefully it will!

telys wrote: Thu 25 Jan 2024, 7:34 am Never a dip in quality . Never. My taste is a different thing. But there were always great bsides and mixes if the album tracks weren't to my palate. No wilderness. I feel very fortunate to have found PSB so early in their career and in my life. Neil has always been my favourite english teacher.

I would echo this for my tastes too. I discovered PSB when I was 13 with Very and spent the rest of my teenage years following their new music obsessively and tracking down all I could from their back catalogue. The only album that I was concerned wouldn't be to my taste was Release because the genre didn't match the sort of music I was interested in and didn't seem like the sort of thing I thought PSB would do. However I loved that album a lot, and it really helped me appreciate PSB's more reflective "ballad"-like songs.

As I've gotten older my general music tastes have expanded, and whilst PSB are still closest to my heart, there's always plenty of other music to keep me going during their quieter times.

before wrote: Thu 25 Jan 2024, 9:10 am

telys wrote: Thu 25 Jan 2024, 7:34 am Never a dip in quality . Never. My taste is a different thing. But there were always great bsides and mixes if the album tracks weren't to my palate. No wilderness. I feel very fortunate to have found PSB so early in their career and in my life. Neil has always been my favourite english teacher.

I would echo this for my tastes too. I discovered PSB when I was 13 with Very and spent the rest of my teenage years following their new music obsessively and tracking down all I could from their back catalogue. The only album that I was concerned wouldn't be to my taste was Release because the genre didn't match the sort of music I was interested in and didn't seem like the sort of thing I thought PSB would do. However I loved that album a lot, and it really helped me appreciate PSB's more reflective "ballad"-like songs.

As I've gotten older my general music tastes have expanded, and whilst PSB are still closest to my heart, there's always plenty of other music to keep me going during their quieter times.

A great companion through life. Back in the 80's or even beginning of the 90's I had no idea of or hope of PSB longevity. I guess around Bilingual/Nightlife I suspected that they would be around for a long. And when Fundamental came out it was 100 % sure, there'd be music as long as they're alive and kicking.

I’d argue the wilderness years were Bilingual and Nightlife… both albums have their moments, but they’re unfocussed and a hodge-podge of styles, both portraying a post-imperial, post-big hit band struggling to find where they fit in the contemporary pop world. Somewhere reeked of desperation and the costumes of Nightlife were very “let’s do Very again”. New York City Boy threatened to send them to camp irrelevancy. Don’t get me started on the Legz Akimbo-esque musical….

Not a huge fan of Release, but artistically, it feels like the first step back to a more sure-footing… “This is what we’re going to do, and this is how we’re going to do it…” We’ve got a plan and it involves more Johnny Marr.

By the time we get to fundamental, we’re back on track and heading for proper Elder Statesmen of Pop status…

I became disappointed with PSB during the VERY era: I did not enjoy any of the late singles: I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing (excessive, with a non convincing single mix, that indeed would have been retouched by PSB for PopArt), Liberation (unnecessary reworking of Being Boring), Absolutely Fabulous (unlistenable) and Yesterday, When I Was Mad (a single mix that was a bad copy of Young Offender (Jam & Spoon Trip-o-Matic Fairy Tale Mix), which should have been their thrid single from Very!).

Paninaro '95 got again my attention.

Then I fell back in love with them thanks to Hallo Spaceboy, Before and Se a vida é!

I don’t get the comparison between ‘Liberation’ and ‘Being Boring’, they sound nothing like each other.