Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Birthday Boy is OK, but it's so slow that you really need to be on the right wavelength yourself to appreciate it... you can't be impatient. And yet, whilst there's some things I like about the arrangement, such as the way it changes when it's at risk of becoming too repetitive, by coming in at 6 and a half minutes it's a bit of a plodder.

It might have been better as the album closer in a similar way to how Love Is The Law closes off Nonetheless. When you're on the final track of the album, there's no impatience to hear what comes next and you're more than happy for a track to run overtime. Then, as a bonus, track three could have been I Didn't Get Where I Am Today.

Retro.

[Birthday Boy]

Personally I think this song is a masterpiece, it is one of my favourite songs for sure. I really love the lyrics because they sound quite intriguing, and I also love the way Neil sings this in all his different ranges. And then there is the chorus of course - absolutely beautiful.

Inspired by this thread, I listened to Release a few times during the last few days, and I was a bit surprised how much I like the first four songs of this album. Really unfortunate that it is a bit downhill after that very strong start (even though unlike with Nightlife, I do enjoy every song, even The night I fell in love).

[Sandy Shaw]

For those who haven't checked out Neil's inspiration for this track

http://www.geowayne.com/newDesign/release/birthday.htm

Neil was thinking of the terrible murders of Stephen Lawrence and Matthew Shepard.

[NotInvisible]

Track 140: Birthday Boy
Chronology: Release - Track 3

Absolutely gorgeous track, one of the best things they've ever done. I wish Neil would sing from this part of his vocal range more often. Three tracks in and Release is far better than its reputation would suggest. Let's see where it goes.

[Xakrij]

For those who haven't checked out Neil's inspiration for this track

http://www.geowayne.com/newDesign/release/birthday.htm

Neil was thinking of the terrible murders of Stephen Lawrence and Matthew Shepard.

Forshadowing their future Dedication of Fundamental to Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, the two Ahwazi Arab teenagers who were publicly hanged in 2005 in Iran after being accused of homosexuality.

[Lleonard Pler]

It's like the daylife version of Boy Strange. I love it, it's one of the best from Release.

[Patrick Bateman]

I genuinely don't see much difference between Birthday Boy and songs like It Couldn't Happen Here and King's Cross. They've always done this kind of soaring, euphorically sad epic, only now it was on their 'guitar' album.

[daveid]

Always loved BB and really hoped it'd be a single but it's far too long I suppose.

[NotInvisible]

I genuinely don't see much difference between Birthday Boy and songs like It Couldn't Happen Here and King's Cross. They've always done this kind of soaring, euphorically sad epic, only now it was on their 'guitar' album.

I mean, the bolded bit is the key difference. And one way to recognize just what a difference that makes is to reflect on how Release was received at the time and how delighted fandom was when they "went back to normal" with Disco 3. There's a weird "this isn't anything new" reappraisal happening - one which really only makes sense with the hindsight of Release normalizing a part of the subsequent PSB catalog (e.g. Burning the Heather and so on). At the time, this was a radical sea change that everyone was talking about - or more accurately, complaining about.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Yet, I'd argue that Kings Cross and It Couldn't Happen Here are very different from Birthday Boy. They're in an entirely different league.

The main problem is that Pet Shop Boys never really found a way to consistently integrate synths and guitars in a way that New Order successfully did. I suspect this is because Pet Shop Boys arrangements are more often chord-driven, and that Neil's voice typically serves as the lead instrument in its own right, rising above the backing. On Birthday Boy, we encounter a mix of guitar arpeggios and synth pads... and to my ear, it's a little bit muddy. Compare this with the majestic, wind-swept spaciousness of Kings Cross and the lush orchestral score of It Couldn't Happen Here.

New Order's arrangements are usually different in that they tend to involve an alternating sequence of lead hooks (no pun intended) by different instruments. Synth chords don't seem so prominent in the mix, and there's less layering. The exception to this rule is Regret, which showed that synth chords and guitars can be integrated well. I guess achieving this integration is easier in practice, when you have actual guitarists in your band who contribute to the writing of the songs, rather than just ring-ins.

Retro.

[withanattitude]

Thank God for this thread, that pushes me to give all those songs a listen that I have so long ignored. Being in the banging-and-lasers-party, I didn't care much about Birthday Boy and skipped it every now and then I heard into Release. Thanks to your comments I tuned in today and actually found it quite interesting. To my ears it is still a bit too slow, and very slow songs of the Boys tend to sound rather cheesy to me (part of it because here Neil always streeeeetches the last syllables of the phrases).

But the bridge brings a nice tension in, and there's a funny mockery of a guitar solo and at the end they go full Oasis with an impressive wall of sound . And yes, this is also my favourite pitch of Neil's voice, as someone wrote earlier. So after all, quite a good listen.

[davidctecno]

The first 4 songs on Release are very good. Birthday Boy is my favorite song on the album. The Samurai and Here are good but they don't fit on the album (although they do on DISCO 3). Love is a Catastrofe is not bad but the rest E-mail, You Choose and The Night I feel in Love are very weak and boring songs. Sexy Northerner and I Didn't Get Where I'm Today are better tracks.

[rathound]

I like BB. It has a kind of druggy hazy feel to the first few mins. Does go on a bit long though

[Straight_Talker]

The first 4 songs on Release are very good. Birthday Boy is my favorite song on the album. The Samurai and Here are good but they don't fit on the album (although they do on DISCO 3). Love is a Catastrofe is not bad but the rest E-mail, You Choose and The Night I feel in Love are very weak and boring songs. Sexy Northerner and I Didn't Get Where I'm Today are better tracks.

I kind of agree here. Everyone has their fave “playlist” based on albums these days, indeed I have my own version of Hotspot and Nonetheless. Thinking about Release, if “I didn’t get where I am today” and “Sexy Northerner” replaced “The night I fell in love” and “Email”, it would elevate the album for me. In fact, I’m going to do just that now..! Each to their own and all that!

[NOBODY75]

I might be wrong. If so, someone please correct me... But didn't they already have "I Didn't Get...", "Between Two Islands, Always," and "Sexy Northerner" written? The chosen tracklist is incomprehensible to me.