Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[NotInvisible]

Here's my reformatted Release, sticking to 10 tracks and trying to keep the vibe:

Side 1
Home and Dry
I Didn't Get Where I Am Today
Birthday Boy
I Get Along
E-Mail (Chris Zippel radio version)

Side 2
Always
Sexy Northerner
London
Love is a Catastrophe
You Choose

Single release order:
1) I Didn't Get Where I Am Today b/w Between Two Islands
2) Home and Dry b/w Here
3) I Get Along b/w The Night I Fell in Love
4) London b/w The Samurai in Autumn

So many great songs in this period, but the album doesn't work as a whole. Get ride of the autotune gimmicks. Really market the departure in sound by kicking off the whole campaign with I Didn't Get Where I Am Today with an ironic rock video.

I really think the whole thing would be remembered in a very different, much more positive light.

[Lleonard Pler]

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.

They did but they discarded I didn't get... Because it didn't feed the mood, apparently. I think otherwise, it would be a terrific opening or closing number (with the line "Why did I listen to that music, it made me feel so sad" linking it to the other songs in the album). Should have been the lead single.

Always I guess they found it similar to other songs in the album but it was a superior choice. And Sexy Northener I understand but it was just too good to be left out of a main album. Not even including it unremixed on Disco 3 was harsh.

[NOBODY75]

Here's my reformatted Release, sticking to 10 tracks and trying to keep the vibe:

Side 1
Home and Dry
I Didn't Get Where I Am Today
Birthday Boy
I Get Along
E-Mail (Chris Zippel radio version)

Side 2
Always
Sexy Northerner
London
Love is a Catastrophe
You Choose

Single release order:
1) I Didn't Get Where I Am Today b/w Between Two Islands
2) Home and Dry b/w Here
3) I Get Along b/w The Night I Fell in Love
4) London b/w The Samurai in Autumn

So many great songs in this period, but the album doesn't work as a whole. Get ride of the autotune gimmicks. Really market the departure in sound by kicking off the whole campaign with I Didn't Get Where I Am Today with an ironic rock video.

I really think the whole thing would be remembered in a very different, much more positive light.

I pretty much agree with your opinion. For me, those were the four singles, and in that order. However, I would never have left out Between. Nor The Samurai. It's true that it doesn't fit the album's sound as well, but I don't think Sexy Northerner does either.
I would definitely have removed the last three and included I Didn't Get, Between Two Islands, and Always. For the tenth, I'm torn between Here and Sexy.

But in short, we agree that it could have been a much better album because they had the songs to be.

[rathound]

It's all subjective of course, but they have made some odd choices over the years regarding b-sides, singles etc. Even up to Nonetheless where I generally much prefer the b-sides to the album tracks

[Lleonard Pler]

It's all subjective of course, but they have made some odd choices over the years regarding b-sides, singles etc. Even up to Nonetheless where I generally much prefer the b-sides to the album tracks

I think in Release that feeling is stronger because other albums had a couple of album worthy bsides, but here we had up to 4 or 5 album worthy songs, and some of them even with single potential, but they were left out in favour of Email or The night I fell in love.

[Morse]

Here's my reformatted Release, sticking to 10 tracks and trying to keep the vibe:

Side 1
Home and Dry
I Didn't Get Where I Am Today
Birthday Boy
I Get Along
E-Mail (Chris Zippel radio version)

Side 2
Always
Sexy Northerner
London
Love is a Catastrophe
You Choose

Single release order:
1) I Didn't Get Where I Am Today b/w Between Two Islands
2) Home and Dry b/w Here
3) I Get Along b/w The Night I Fell in Love
4) London b/w The Samurai in Autumn

So many great songs in this period, but the album doesn't work as a whole. Get ride of the autotune gimmicks. Really market the departure in sound by kicking off the whole campaign with I Didn't Get Where I Am Today with an ironic rock video.

I really think the whole thing would be remembered in a very different, much more positive light.

I pretty much agree with your opinion. For me, those were the four singles, and in that order. However, I would never have left out Between. Nor The Samurai. It's true that it doesn't fit the album's sound as well, but I don't think Sexy Northerner does either.
I would definitely have removed the last three and included I Didn't Get, Between Two Islands, and Always. For the tenth, I'm torn between Here and Sexy.

But in short, we agree that it could have been a much better album because they had the songs to be.

As fabulous as those songs are, I can see why Neil and Chris (and Parlophone) kept Always, Sexy Northerner, and I Didn't Get Where I Am today off Release. Always and Sexy Northerner aren't guitar sample driven, and I can see why Parlophone queried the inclusion of I Didn't Get Where I Am Today on it as it doesn't quite fit the mood of the album. Sexy Northern and Always are very Pet Shop Boys songs.

Neil and Chris openly say that Between Two Islands should have been on the album. I happen to agree with them. Release sounds good as it is. A moment in time for me.

[Lleonard Pler]

Here's my reformatted Release, sticking to 10 tracks and trying to keep the vibe:

Side 1
Home and Dry
I Didn't Get Where I Am Today
Birthday Boy
I Get Along
E-Mail (Chris Zippel radio version)

Side 2
Always
Sexy Northerner
London
Love is a Catastrophe
You Choose

Single release order:
1) I Didn't Get Where I Am Today b/w Between Two Islands
2) Home and Dry b/w Here
3) I Get Along b/w The Night I Fell in Love
4) London b/w The Samurai in Autumn

So many great songs in this period, but the album doesn't work as a whole. Get ride of the autotune gimmicks. Really market the departure in sound by kicking off the whole campaign with I Didn't Get Where I Am Today with an ironic rock video.

I really think the whole thing would be remembered in a very different, much more positive light.

I pretty much agree with your opinion. For me, those were the four singles, and in that order. However, I would never have left out Between. Nor The Samurai. It's true that it doesn't fit the album's sound as well, but I don't think Sexy Northerner does either.
I would definitely have removed the last three and included I Didn't Get, Between Two Islands, and Always. For the tenth, I'm torn between Here and Sexy.

But in short, we agree that it could have been a much better album because they had the songs to be.

As fabulous as those songs are, I can see why Neil and Chris (and Parlophone) kept Always, Sexy Northerner, and I Didn't Get Where I Am today off Release. Always and Sexy Northerner aren't guitar sample driven, and I can see why Parlophone queried the inclusion of I Didn't Get Where I Am Today on it as it doesn't quite fit the mood of the album. Sexy Northern and Always are very Pet Shop Boys songs.

Neil and Chris openly say that Between Two Islands should have been on the album. I happen to agree with them. Release sounds good as it is. A moment in time for me.

If they made Samurai fit, I don't see why any of the other songs wouldn't fit too.

[NOBODY75]

Here's my reformatted Release, sticking to 10 tracks and trying to keep the vibe:

Side 1
Home and Dry
I Didn't Get Where I Am Today
Birthday Boy
I Get Along
E-Mail (Chris Zippel radio version)

Side 2
Always
Sexy Northerner
London
Love is a Catastrophe
You Choose

Single release order:
1) I Didn't Get Where I Am Today b/w Between Two Islands
2) Home and Dry b/w Here
3) I Get Along b/w The Night I Fell in Love
4) London b/w The Samurai in Autumn

So many great songs in this period, but the album doesn't work as a whole. Get ride of the autotune gimmicks. Really market the departure in sound by kicking off the whole campaign with I Didn't Get Where I Am Today with an ironic rock video.

I really think the whole thing would be remembered in a very different, much more positive light.

I pretty much agree with your opinion. For me, those were the four singles, and in that order. However, I would never have left out Between. Nor The Samurai. It's true that it doesn't fit the album's sound as well, but I don't think Sexy Northerner does either.
I would definitely have removed the last three and included I Didn't Get, Between Two Islands, and Always. For the tenth, I'm torn between Here and Sexy.

But in short, we agree that it could have been a much better album because they had the songs to be.

As fabulous as those songs are, I can see why Neil and Chris (and Parlophone) kept Always, Sexy Northerner, and I Didn't Get Where I Am today off Release. Always and Sexy Northerner aren't guitar sample driven, and I can see why Parlophone queried the inclusion of I Didn't Get Where I Am Today on it as it doesn't quite fit the mood of the album. Sexy Northern and Always are very Pet Shop Boys songs.

Neil and Chris openly say that Between Two Islands should have been on the album. I happen to agree with them. Release sounds good as it is. A moment in time for me.

Are you saying it was Parlophone that vetoed the inclusion of "I Didn't Get..." on the album?

[minimal]

The Release era as a whole is much better than its reputation suggests.

As for the B-sides, most of them are terrific. 'Always', 'I Didn't Get Where I Am Today' and 'Sexy Northerner' are all among my favourite post-2000 songs, but 'Between Two Islands' is outstanding. In fact, on some days it might very well be my favourite track of theirs post-2000 — it creates such an immersive atmosphere. I can really feel the music and lyrics. The guitar playing is fantastic. It has a terrific ending. When I was 15, I took the CD single to Spain for my summer holiday, and it was the perfect vibe.

I wish they had included it in Obscure.

m+

[NotInvisible]

If they made Samurai fit, I don't see why any of the other songs wouldn't fit too.

I'd argue they didn't make Samurai fit, they just stuck it on like anyway.

[NotInvisible]

However, I would never have left out Between. Nor The Samurai. It's true that it doesn't fit the album's sound as well, but I don't think Sexy Northerner does either.

I think Sexy Northerner fits it better than the rest of those tracks, with the "football and fags" riff. But it's difficult to sequence. That's why I started Side B with Always, because it effectively gives you a fresh start for sound, and then Sexy Northerner becomes a bridge track. The effect wouldn't work on CD or Spotify.

Between Two Islands is great but it just has nothing tying it to Release as an album. It would have been brilliant on Bilingual. Ditto The Samurai in Autumn, which would have been more welcome on Nightlife. And as much as I adore Here, it's better suited for Very or Fundamental.

[NOBODY75]

However, I would never have left out Between. Nor The Samurai. It's true that it doesn't fit the album's sound as well, but I don't think Sexy Northerner does either.

I think Sexy Northerner fits it better than the rest of those tracks, with the "football and fags" riff. But it's difficult to sequence. That's why I started Side B with Always, because it effectively gives you a fresh start for sound, and then Sexy Northerner becomes a bridge track. The effect wouldn't work on CD or Spotify.

Between Two Islands is great but it just has nothing tying it to Release as an album. It would have been brilliant on Bilingual. Ditto The Samurai in Autumn, which would have been more welcome on Nightlife. And as much as I adore Here, it's better suited for Very or Fundamental.

I agree that "Sexy" fits better than "Samurai" because of the riff. And I also think "Samurai" would have fit better on *Nightlife*. Where I differ is regarding "Between"; to me, it fits perfectly with the *Release* sound. Even though I don't fully share your view, I understand your reasoning for that tracklist and order... But if they include "Samurai" or "Email" and leave out "I Didn't Get," then I just can't take the idea of ​​a cohesive sound for the album seriously anymore

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

To stop us getting too stuck on the album than the song, I'm going to kick us forward to...

Track 141: London
Chronology: Release - Track 4

All I'll say on this is there's actually a good song here underneath the ill-conceived and badly-dated production techniques, which serve only to strangle it. You get a better sense for the song and its potential in the Genuine Piano mix which appears on Disco 3, even though it retains some of the needless effects.

Retro.

[Lleonard Pler]

My favourite song from the album. The melody is lovely and the vocoder helps to elevate it imo, even though it sets the song in stone as a "post-Believe" production. The Genuine Piano Mix on Disco 3 is beautiful too (if I recall correctly, Disco 3 was meant to be titled London, thus the cover).

The lyrics are Neil at his best of mixing History and personal.

What a great start to the album those 4 tracks are.

[VRIDD]

London is a very great song and I am very happy with it as it is. I am very lucky!