Interesting read, thanks very much (in a way more revealing than the Imagine docu
). In the aftermath of the documentary and the upcoming release, I have listened to all their albums back-to-back, which made it clear to me again how strong their discography is. Having said that, the discussion on what a dud is and what not is also an interesting one. The ranking of the Record Collector is much in line with many 'professional' critics' rankings of the PSB backcatalogue. I always find it remarkable that their first 2 albums get high rankings, but not the
highest. To me personally though, these 2 albums are the Ultimate Pet Shop Boys: everything is perfect: the production, the uptempo vs ballads, the placing of the songs in the track list, the songwriting. While later albums also include iconic PSB songs, the albums
as a whole rarely reach the peak of those first two IMO. I do agree with the critics that their imperial phase was from 1985-1988, but I would extend their royal phase until 1997, so including Bilingual. Songwriting and production of their first 6 studio albums is top notch, with only an occasional filler. After 1998 though, things become more mixed IMO: still great songs (sometimes even iconic), but fillers come with the deal (Footsteps, Radiophonic, Wedding in Berlin) or tracks and singles that are simply not great (songs like Psychological, a single like Love etc., Burning the heather).
So after listening to all albums again, I list my own ratings here with a one-line motivation. It's my ranking of albums as a whole, also based on how much pleasure I get listening to the full album. It's also a
relative ranking: what I rank as 1.5 stars for a PSB album may still be much superior to albums by other artists I love (Duran Duran Pop Trash anyone?):
Please ★★★★★ Everyhting is near-perfect on this album for me
Actually ★★★★★ Here, the songs and production are even better, but a 5-star album cannot be surpassed in stars
Introspective ★★★★ I love 12" mixes but Disco is much much better to my ears; I do not like the Always in my house mix (yes I get it, 'house' is that new and hip dance trend) and not a fan of It's alright
Behaviour ★★★½ Probably get slaughtered for this but this is not their best album; it has grown on me over the years though
Very ★★★★½ Almost back to Please/Actually quality, add Relentless and you have a 5-star double album
Bilingual ★★★★ Iconic, brings me back to that period in my life instantly
Nightlife ★★★ The first 'dud'; the singles are excellent, but half of it is filler (and I do like the musical!)
Release ★★ Oasis territory. Not bad, but not great either. One of their albums with the least number of great songs on it
Fundamental ★★★½ A bit like Nightlife but less filler; Minimal, Indefinite leave and Integral stand out
Yes ★★★ Did you see me coming? is the track I really love and a few others are lovely, but there are too many mid-tempo songs that are plodding along for my taste
Elysium ★½ No bangers = no Pet Shop Boys album; a collection of mediocre B-sides to me, my least favourite as I revisit it even less than Release
Electric ★★★★½ Wow, this was (and is) such a return to form
Super ★★★★★ Most rank it lower than Electric, but I prefer Super slightly more
Hotspot ★★★ Veering dangerously into Release/Elysium direction on some tracks, and Wedding is awful, but still very enjoyable as a whole
Nonetheless ★★★½ The singles did not overwhelm me, based on the first listens so far I rate it slightly higher than Hotspot, but again too many Release/Elysium type of stuff
And then there's the Discos:
Disco ★★★★★ Ultimate PSB, I'm with Start Price here; still spin it every week, never get tired of it
Disco 2 ★★★½ Unlike most, I do like the megamix, it was never intended as a collection of the individual mixes
Disco 3 ★★★½ A bit uneven as an album, but great songs; Release should have been the Relentless to this main album
Disco 4 ★★★★ Even though its not them performing most tracks, I love the concept and the collection works great
[edited to include my rating of Nonetheless]
