NONETHELESS - The reviews of the members of Pet Shop Boys Community

[rashomon]

Great review Remark!

Wonder if the mods can merge this with the main thread …

[oakey]

"No oomph", I think that's indeed an excellent description of what is lacking here.
I rate the album slightly higher but these first days of listening do not really predict whether I will revisit an album often. Time will tell.

But I do agree, Nonetheless is far removed from allbums like Bilingual, Very, Please or Super.

[stussyboy]

It’s always a problem trying to label an album - Neil has called it both a lockdown album and a queer album, but I think it’s neither.

For me it’s a nostalgic album, both in sound and lyric, and I mean that in the most positive way. As Neil ages, and us with him, he is looking back on his life (with no sense of shame anymore) and celebrating the adventures, relationships and maybe a few regrets on the way too.

The tracks that work best for me are the baroque lush orchestrations of A new Bohemia and Love is the law, maybe the least ‘traditional’ PSB tracks. Neil and Chris may prefer the lounge to the disco now, but they can still remember what it sounds like, or rather what it feels like.

The boys themselves appear more content than ever, confident to appear on the sleeve and accepting of their age and status. Hotspot was maybe the final fling of the Price relationship and the barely there cover seemed to allude to a reluctance to own the work, this time is different.

They are still the Pet Shop Boys, nonetheless.

[Tom Angel]

My review on substack -

https://open.substack.com/pub/tomed/p/p ... paign=post

[PSBForTheMasses]

I have been very harsh on PSB albums after Bilingual with the notable exception of the fantastic Electric and to some extent, Yes and Hotspot, but upon a superficial initial listen, this albums sounds really good, way above my expectations. Community members liken it to Behaviour, Release and Elsyium, which are quite low in my ranking, but oddly and pleasently surprisingly I like very much what I have heard so far. The songwriting sounds quite strong and they are at last not trying to create a "chart hit" wishing to appeal to masses to visit their hey-days. Finally I may have found a PSB album that I will listen from the start to the end after all these years (but I am still giving a cold shudder to Loneliness).

[CroMagnon]

My review on substack -

https://open.substack.com/pub/tomed/p/p ... paign=post

A great review, apart from the (IMO) ridiculous both-sides-ism of the Biden comment. Narcissus is about Trump, and could only be about Trump. It’s silly to imply otherwise.

[PSBForTheMasses]

And finally and ultimately, a version of Being Boring that I can happily fall in love deeply (I never liked the sound of wah wah pedal, never and ever, which singlehandedly ruined Behaviour for me). though it would've been better if I never had listened to this version of Always on my mind. Heart is passable but It's a Sin is also impressive.

[oakey]

And finally and ultimately, a version of Being Boring that I can happily fall in love deeply (I never liked the sound of wah wah pedal, never and ever, which singlehandedly ruined Behaviour for me). though it would've been better if I never had listened to this version of Always on my mind. Heart is passable but It's a Sin is also impressive.

LOL, glad to see that someone agrees with me on the BB version. Better than the original indeed. I would not go as far as stating that it ruined Behaviour for me, but it was always very low on my list of favourite songs. I do like the lyrics though, but a great poem alone does not make a great pop song.

Also agree on Always on my mind, they should have kept that in their vault.

[oakey]

It’s always a problem trying to label an album - Neil has called it both a lockdown album and a queer album, but I think it’s neither.

It's very much both I would say. They have never been this explicit about their sexuality and isolation is written all over.

For me it’s a nostalgic album, both in sound and lyric, and I mean that in the most positive way. As Neil ages, and us with him, he is looking back on his life (with no sense of shame anymore) and celebrating the adventures, relationships and maybe a few regrets on the way too.

The tracks that work best for me are the baroque lush orchestrations of A new Bohemia and Love is the law, maybe the least ‘traditional’ PSB tracks. Neil and Chris may prefer the lounge to the disco now, but they can still remember what it sounds like, or rather what it feels like.

The boys themselves appear more content than ever, confident to appear on the sleeve and accepting of their age and status. Hotspot was maybe the final fling of the Price relationship and the barely there cover seemed to allude to a reluctance to own the work, this time is different.

I also agree with Nonetheless being nostalgic and that they are very confident. But is it really in a good way? It does remind me a bit of Bowie's later output (post 1995), when he was very confident and looking back at his past. These albums from Earthling until and including Blackstar always got excellent reviews at the time, but they are so boring and actually quite uninteresting! And the're not even bad (well maybe Earthling which sounds very dated IMO). I am a big Bowie fan who grew up in the 90s musically [not exactly dancing to Roxy and Bowie at the time] but I never listen to these later albums anymore. I still listen to albums like Station to Station, Ziggy or (!) even Tonight or NLMD a lot though! There's more to enjoy for me. Even mediocre songs like Dancing With The Big Boys are more interesting to listen to than Heathen (The Rays)...

I must say that compared to this later Bowie output, the later PSB's albums are much more intersting (interesting coincidence that Neil currently has Bowie's age when he passed away), but the Release/Elysium/Hotspot/Nonetheless slow and mid-tempo songs all are very much plodding along and musically not always very interesting. Same for Agenda and Lost. I think that is what people here who are not immediately overwhelmed comment about. Songs like A New Bohemia and Love Is The Law are songs that illustrate what I mean.

They are still the Pet Shop Boys, nonetheless.

But I do agree with that! Still looking forward to the physical copies and listening to Nonetheless on my headphones for the zillionth time as we speak.

[le petit corbusier]

I have been very harsh on PSB albums after Bilingual with the notable exception of the fantastic Electric and to some extent, Yes and Hotspot, but upon a superficial initial listen, this albums sounds really good, way above my expectations. Community members liken it to Behaviour, Release and Elsyium, which are quite low in my ranking, but oddly and pleasently surprisingly I like very much what I have heard so far. The songwriting sounds quite strong and they are at last not trying to create a "chart hit" wishing to appeal to masses to visit their hey-days. Finally I may have found a PSB album that I will listen from the start to the end after all these years (but I am still giving a cold shudder to Loneliness).

While I don't share your thoughts about Behaviour and Elysium, I totally agree with most of what you say. By now I think this album is one of their best. One of their many best, that's it.

I don't really see the similarities to Behaviour or Elysium, really. Actually I consider Elysium their weirdest album and for exactly that I love it. Invisible is one of my all time faves.

Nonetheless is super elegant but there's a very powerful energy beneath all the reminiscing, whity lyrics and big orchestration.

It's been on repeat since 26/04 00:00h, which certainly didn't happen with hotspot.

Agenda and Lost EPs where certainly good indicators that they were supercharging for something big.

At least, that's my impression.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

1. Loneliness: It's got some really nice parts, but it still doesn't hang together cohesively as a whole for me. The first "When you gonna not say no and make the answer yes?" section is probably my favourite segment of the album, but the song is too stop-start and jarring, self-sabotaging itself at the first sign of any momentum. [7/10]

2. Feel: I'm just not feeling it. Aside from the orchestra, the music sounds like it's a MIDI file being pushed through an old Sound Blaster. [5/10]

3. Why am I dancing?: This is a very sweet song, and the highlight of the album, for mine. It's the only song here that actually gets my hips moving and my toes tapping. The serene cousin of Love Is A Bourgeois Construct. [8/10]

4. New London Boy: A poor man's King Of Rome, complete with incongruent rap and shades of Legacy. Another one, like Loneliness, that suffers from being too piecemeal. [5/10]

5. Dancing Star: Still feels like a Please-era b-side, albeit with messer production. The section with the list of places is good enough though to push this from a 6 to a 7. [7/10]

6. A New Bohemia: Quite good once it gets going. The orchestra actually adds something useful here, and Neil's voice is probably at its best here. Strong Elysium vibes abound. A sensible choice for 3rd single. [7/10]

7. The Schlager Hit Parade: I had never heard of Schlager previously so perhaps I'm missing some useful context. From other reviews I was worried this was going to be a novelty track that would stick out like a sore thumb, but it's not so bad and the chorus is naively endearing, which I suspect is how they see "Schlager". [5/10]

8. The Secret of Happiness: Meandering and not particularly interesting. Reminds me of a distant cousin to Love Is A Catastrophe... but not so dire. More breezy Elysium vibes. [5/10]

9. Bullet for Narcissus: Not particularly interesting, but doesn't jar as much as I was expecting based on the other reviews. If it were up to me, this would be relegated to a b-side, and replaced in the tracklist by If Jesus Had A Sister, given the full production treatment, consist with the rest of the album. [5/10]

10. Love is the Law: Plod, plod, detuned discordant piano, moodiness etc. Side B of this album seems to drag a bit and there's nothing here that proves to have been worth waiting for. Interesting to see how highly some rate this. Perhaps you need to be in the mood for it? [5/10]

Conclusion: The album has quite a cohesive sound palette, but is let down by tinny percussion and a lack of any real vigour. I prefer it to Nightlife, Release and Super, and I'd place it roughly on par with Elysium as equal 11th best Pet Shop Boys album, but with less pronounced highs and lows. It's a cringe-free 6 from me. [6/10]

Retro.

[stussyboy]

We all age, and our tastes can change and age too. I loved Always on my mind in 1987, but when they remake it in 2023 (ie. Purple Zone) it does nothing for me. Don’t get me wrong, I still like a banger with lasers and Vocal is always the live highlight for me, but a new album of lush melancholia with strings and downbeat vibes is exactly what this PSB fan wants right now.

[ChoonHound]

Did anyone else wince when, in the guardian interview, Chris said that his drum sounds will date a record yet his drums have sounded the same for 30 years? To my ears anyway. There is definitely a Chris “drum kit” that he uses over and over and over.

[Nickname]

NONETHELESS

PSB felt confortable with Elysium. They thought they had an age for this kind of album but they also had many dance records and they found a fan called Stuart Price like producer, younger than them, who made them go deeper into dance tracks even more than they probably thought. But with Hotspot they came back to that older sound.

James Ford did a better job like a producer with a more cleaned work than Stuart and the orchestra works really fine. In fact, they are as protagonist of the album as PSB themselves and it made this album could sound a bit better than it could work.

I'm not going to talk about the lyrics because everything was said about them on interviews.

1. Loneliness: The opener it's a bit like "Will-o-the-Wisp" for me. The intro and outro are good this is not a bad track but not impressive either, the real big momentum is at the end with the trumpet sound after the chorus and just before the outro. [7/10]

2. Feel: I love this song, it has a young feeling in the way Neil sings. I love the emotional sound of the music. It's very touching and I feel good listening that. [8/10]

3. Why am I dancing?: I remember when I listened "You've Got to Star Somewhere". I thought the song was quite good to take part of an album with a good rework. In fact, this song has very similarities. A bit anthemic with that feeling of happy/sad and a good hook, this time with a trumpet. [8/10]

4. New London Boy: The chorus doesn't work for me and the rap is fun but not particulary interesting. I don't like the way Neil sings here. Fortunately the trumpet's sound at the ends gives the song a bit of soul, Bowie rescued them. [6/10]

5. Dancing Star: Hello Bobby "O", we didn't expect it. It could have been a song from that early days of the hi-NGR. It has a bit of Doming Dancing and Go West, this last one because of the sea sounds. I miss a bit of more producting and a bridge, anyway. [7/10]

6. A New Bohemia: It's not my cup of tea, it reminds me the songs of a songwriter and Spanish singer called José Luis Perales, even in the way Neil sings, a 60's vibes. The orchestra does a good job given a melodramatic feeling song but quite old. [6/10]

7. The Schlager Hit Parade: Schlager is fun, it sounds more cheeky and quirky than a Christmas song of PSB. With a bit of guitar on it and added vocals at the end of the song, it works to give a glimpse to the "Very" era. [6/10]

8. The Secret of Happiness: The nightmare of Neil Tennant like Sean Connery playing the role of James Bond being of a ship full of girls around wanted to have sex with him. This song has surprised me, it's very Elysium but I like that sound of a Bond's theme. It has a mistery on it and the song is well built. [8/10]

9. Bullet for Narcissus: Apart from the guitar at the back it doesn't have anything interesting. Basically the story of the lyrics but I don't pay too much attention to it. It sounds like a b-side [5/10]

10. Love is the Law: The problem of this album is I think the last two songs of it are weak and I'm not the only one who thinks that. I know many people love the song but I think is difficult to get into it. The usual melodramatic song tone of Neil doesn't impress me too much. The best part of it is the outro that works perfectly with the intro of the whole album. [5/10]

Nonetheless is a bit like an Elysium 2 but they keep on balance a bit better the final product giving a bit of the Bobby "O" ("Dancing Star"), Please (the rap of "London Boy"), Very (The Schlager Hit Parade) and a bit more of Release ("Bullet for Narcissus") and a lot of Elysium which are considered their two worst albums. I think they put on balance different parts of their sounds from their long career trying to give a bit of everything to everyone.

The musical aspect of the songwriting is quite good, not impressive but good. The orchestra support the weak parts of the album and fill the gaps on it. If the melody doesn't convince to you. the orchestra will do.

Nonetheless is a good album. I think they have done something good on it. But they are not able to give us a new classics, like Neil Tennant said a new "Billie Jean". A song everyone could say: what a track!. Even in the album Furthermore the classics don't sound as well as the original versions.

Are Pet Shop Boys not able to create as catchy tunes as they created in the 80's?, are we missing Julian Mendelssohn, Trevor Horn, Stephen Lipson, etc?, the problem here is they are old and we are not teenagers anymore but we are not old than then?. A bit of everything, I suppose

Anyway, I'd like they try to back to Suburbia before they retire.

The rating of Nonetheless is a 6'6 but I think the whole feeling is a 7.

[ea39]

I love it. It's taken a few listens to fully appreciate, and I think on every further listen I'll love it more. It's very different to the Price trilogy, but a welcome change. As much as I loved Electric, I found Super and Hotspot a little disappointing. This feels fresh, and the production is more spacious and less compressed. The songwriting is strong, with some gorgeous chord progressions, unusual melodies and thoughtful lyrics. James Ford has done a brilliant job with the orchestral arrangements and Neil's voice is in fine form. 40 years on and they can still surprise and impress. We are very lucky.