Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[richwill]

Home and Drab.

[daveid]

Home and Drab.

Best song from Release

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Track 130 : Tall Thin Men
Chronology: Nightlife, FL-CD1:10

I'm no midget nor lardo, but I'm certainly not one of those tall thin men who likes show tunes.

Sounds like an off-cut from the musical, and most likely was.

Retro.

[Lleonard Pler]

A leftover from the musical. They had more material for a potential CTH Further Listening than for Nightlife Further Listening itself.

[Morse]

Two versions of it - the studio version (on Nightlife Further Listening) and the demo.

I quite like them both. Certainly a leftover from the Closer To Heaven musical, and they probably could have done a Closer To Heaven Further Listening. Needless to say I can't see it fitting onto Nightlife or any other studio album.

[telys]

A leftover from the musical. They had more material for a potential CTH Further Listening than for Nightlife Further Listening itself.

These are the leftovers I know of (from the top of my head):
NIghtlife
Tall Thin Men
A Little Black Dress
The Night Is a Time to Explore Who You Are
You've Got to Start Somewhere
Run Girl Run

Anything else?

[Xakrij]

Love this cheeky little camp ditty as I agree with the protagonist's view of the musicals mentioned in the lyrics.

[NotInvisible]

It didn't, it was bland and uninspired with exception of a couple of songs

lmao

Why is it so hard do grasp that Chris didn't understand the importance of live drums, a proper drummer.

Chris disagreed with you about the importance of live drums, more like.

The fact that they only used programmed drums is proof that they didn't widen their scope enough, that they didn't dare enough and therefore was left with something half-arsed, an inferior product.

lmao

[ahafan02]

It didn't, it was bland and uninspired with exception of a couple of songs

lmao

Why is it so hard do grasp that Chris didn't understand the importance of live drums, a proper drummer.

Chris disagreed with you about the importance of live drums, more like.

The fact that they only used programmed drums is proof that they didn't widen their scope enough, that they didn't dare enough and therefore was left with something half-arsed, an inferior product.

lmao

You are the reason most people don't post here.

[babi7808]

As I said before, neither Nightlife, CTH nor Release were daring enough. This was a phase were they could've widened their scope

Cackling at the idea that Release didn't widen their scope...

Why is it so hard do grasp that Chris didn't understand the importance of live drums, a proper drummer. The fact that they only used programmed drums is proof that they didn't widen their scope enough, that they didn't dare enough and therefore was left with something half-arsed, an inferior product.

Then show us how it could have been done better. How do you make an album successful nearly 20 years after a band's debut? Do you really think you could have done a better job than two talented musical geniuses?
The arrogance of some fans is unbelievable. I'm not surprised Chris stopped reading forums. He'd probably be horrified by some of these comments. They spend years working on an album, and in your opinion it's just garbage. That's how you judge their work.

[Patrick Bateman]

I do quite like Release, even if it is patchy. It's a warm album. But it's not really the Pet Shop Boys though, is it? It's only with Disco 3, the PopArt singles and finally Fundamental that everything seems okay again.

[NOBODY75]

It didn't, it was bland and uninspired with exception of a couple of songs

lmao

Why is it so hard do grasp that Chris didn't understand the importance of live drums, a proper drummer.

Chris disagreed with you about the importance of live drums, more like.

The fact that they only used programmed drums is proof that they didn't widen their scope enough, that they didn't dare enough and therefore was left with something half-arsed, an inferior product.

lmao

I honestly find it quite disrespectful to laugh at other people's opinions. In this case, I don't think the problem was using a drummer. There are some very weak songs. The unfortunate thing is that they had much better songs that they left out. Changing three songs for three b-sides would have been a great album in my opinion. In the version I listen to, it is. As it was released, it's a minor album in their discography. However, I also think it greatly enriches their catalog.

[telys]

Cackling at the idea that Release didn't widen their scope...

Why is it so hard do grasp that Chris didn't understand the importance of live drums, a proper drummer. The fact that they only used programmed drums is proof that they didn't widen their scope enough, that they didn't dare enough and therefore was left with something half-arsed, an inferior product.

Then show us how it could have been done better. How do you make an album successful nearly 20 years after a band's debut? Do you really think you could have done a better job than two talented musical geniuses?
The arrogance of some fans is unbelievable. I'm not surprised Chris stopped reading forums. He'd probably be horrified by some of these comments. They spend years working on an album, and in your opinion it's just garbage. That's how you judge their work.

I just told so in several postings: by replacing the programmed drums with live drumming, the quality of the album would have improved while simultaneously putting them on new musical grounds.
I never said it was "garbage", I said it was an inferior product (compared to the level they usually hold) and "half-arsed" as they didn't go far enough with their "new sound", they didn't dare to.
I sincerely hope I don't have to explain what a drummer can add to a song or a sound.

[NotInvisible]

You are the reason most people don't post here.

Bye!

I do quite like Release, even if it is patchy. It's a warm album. But it's not really the Pet Shop Boys though, is it? It's only with Disco 3, the PopArt singles and finally Fundamental that everything seems okay again.

This is what I mean when I say Release blew the template wide open and allowed them to carry on for the next two decades. Because it is the Pet Shop Boys, it's a different side of the Pet Shop Boys than the one they were used to, the box they'd been operating in led them to Nightlife and all their most interesting recent tracks had been the ones that bucked against the formula.

Fundamental was back to the platonic ideal model but with a twist - suddenly there was room for I Made My Excuses and Left, there was room for Casanova in Hell, there was room for Indefinite Leave to Remain. And that's carried on ever since, really, with a more expansive Pet Shop Boys, one that can result in Legacy and Cricket Wife and Soup and Burning the Heather and Feel.

In this case, I don't think the problem was using a drummer. There are some very weak songs. The unfortunate thing is that they had much better songs that they left out. Changing three songs for three b-sides would have been a great album in my opinion.

I agree with this. It's sequenced poorly, and some of the best songs are left off the album. I Didn't Get Where I Am Today never should have been relegated to a b-side. Always and Sexy Northerner should have been on the album.

I just told so in several postings: by replacing the programmed drums with live drumming, the quality of the album would have improved while simultaneously putting them on new musical grounds.

It wouldn't really have made any difference, which is why they didn't do it. They'd used real drummers before, of course.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Track 131 : Somebody Else's Business
Chronology: Nightlife, FL-CD2:1
Chronology: Nightlife, FL-CD2:12 (Extended Mix)

As first heard by us on the Disco 3 compilation. I adore this song. It's got such a great energy to it.

After so many bemusing head-scratchers we finally had a song on our hands to get excited about! It probably wouldn't make many people's Top 40 lists of their favourite Pet Shop Boys songs, but in the context of Disco 3 it heralded the beginning of their revival, and the end of the wilderness years, which we've been collectively slagging off here for pages on end.

It was as if they'd *finally* stopped being difficult for difficult's sake and it was a great relief to see them move beyond it.

Retro.