Pet Shop Boys Community

Gabby wrote: Fri 01 Mar 2024, 12:04 pm

CompleteWeirdo wrote: Fri 01 Mar 2024, 9:50 am Different tastes. Different feelings. Nobody is right. Or wrong. Indeed, one might say how we define the wilderness is deeply subjective.

That was sort of the point of the original post - to find out if and when anyone had had their own wilderness period over PSB's long a lustrous career. It really didn't have anything to do with a discussion about specific albums.

✈

If somebody is desperate to misunderstand then they will misunderstand.

Great discussion.

It was Disco 2 that sent me away, and Ab Fab. Part of it was me, early twenties at uni discovering other things but I felt they'd lost it by this point. Especially with Ab Fab being a charity record after years of saying they didn't do that kind of thing.

I came back for Miracles and Pop Art.

I tend to dip in and out how usually when they're releasing something of course.

Still don't listen to Bilingual and Nightlife era stuff. Though I do love Drunk.

I used to be a fanatic, and that fanaticism got in the way of clear and objective thinking about their 'Very' onwards stuff. In recent years the fanaticism has abated and I've seen things more clearly.

IMHO, they were absolutely imperial up to and including 'Behaviour'. After that, for me, they've been very hit and miss. A couple of great highs, a fair smattering of mediocre and one stinker ('Yes' - I still hate it).

Looking forward to what the new album brings, although, sadly, I'm not a huge fan of 'Loneliness'.


StevePSB

StevePSB wrote: Mon 04 Mar 2024, 7:36 pm I used to be a fanatic, and that fanaticism got in the way of clear and objective thinking about their 'Very' onwards stuff. In recent years the fanaticism has abated and I've seen things more clearly.

IMHO, they were absolutely imperial up to and including 'Behaviour'. After that, for me, they've been very hit and miss. A couple of great highs, a fair smattering of mediocre and one stinker ('Yes' - I still hate it).

Looking forward to what the new album brings, although, sadly, I'm not a huge fan of 'Loneliness'.


StevePSB

You hate Yes?? Pandemonium? The Way It Used To Be?? Did You See Me Coming??? You hate Yes??!! Madness

And I'm not a fanatic in any way. I have everything they've done on my flac player and I've collected their albums on vinyl but I'm only into them since 2005 as my ex is a fanatic. As an outsider who'd only ever heard a few singles before 2005, I honestly can't tell the difference between early and later stuff. Every album has a few I'm not wowed by but they also have amazing songs. I'm confused by the Yes hate though.

Kaputnik wrote: Mon 04 Mar 2024, 7:47 pm You hate Yes?? Pandemonium? The Way It Used To Be?? Did You See Me Coming??? You hate Yes??!! Madness

Lol, I don't understand how anyone can use the word hate for any PSB period. I always find a vibe I can gel with.

Guess I'm pretty lucky!

jasonjohn wrote: Mon 04 Mar 2024, 10:30 pm

Kaputnik wrote: Mon 04 Mar 2024, 7:47 pm You hate Yes?? Pandemonium? The Way It Used To Be?? Did You See Me Coming??? You hate Yes??!! Madness

Lol, I don't understand how anyone can use the word hate for any PSB period. I always find a vibe I can gel with.

Guess I'm pretty lucky!

Hate's strong but "Yes" never gelled for me. I tried to revisit it last year and it just doesn't do anything for me, and some tracks rub me completely the wrong way. Definitely a PSB low point for me.

Wilderness started with Nightlife (Bilingual b-sides were too good) and ended when Electric came out. Went back into wilderness with Super and currently still in the woods. Still going to buy every new release and support them. That period from Behavior to Very and then Bilingual was their strongest songwriting period IMO.

Bilingual b-sides I meant. The bilingual album itself was 75% nonsense.

The Agenda EP put me off from PSB for a few months but the Hotspot album brought me back, listened to that album so many times and the b-sides were very exciting for us fans. Decide was killer (Chris vocals!), An Open Mind and New Boy which was a song written in the 80s along side Rent. Since then it's been a bit quiet, Annually has been a bit of a let down the last couple of years. Not too many big surprises but I've enjoyed the Dreamworld screening and am looking forward to the 2024 album.
Though at the moment, we're in a new era of weak-voice Neil. People are claiming he has now lost his voice for good.
In interviews he sounds afflicted. The Piano Room performance was very concerning.
I wouldn't say it's quite the Wilderness at the moment, with a new album in a month's time which might be very good, and a new music video in the hopper with Neil on-screen looking very artful. But this current period is a bit dry.
They could be doing more to drum up excitement, in my opinion. Though the zoetrope vinyl and upcoming re-recorded classic hits are quite exciting. I feel in 2 months time I personally will be much more excited about PSB.
At the moment I'm somewhat apprehensive of the upcoming album, and it genuinely seems Neil's voice is gone.
I want to see more Chris fashion. Annually 2023 is coming but to me I have very little interest this time around.

It wouldn't surprise me if Neil's just had a bad chest infection. There's been a lot of colds and viruses going round the UK since the autumn. I've had three in this time - the latest of which caused me to lose my voice and sound croaky just like Neil does now as I was recovering. Took weeks getting over it.

verbow79 wrote: Tue 05 Mar 2024, 1:43 am Bilingual b-sides I meant. The bilingual album itself was 75% nonsense.

Interestingly Bilingual was the album that restored my faith in the Boys. I had found Behaviour a dismal experience (except the majestic This Must Be the Place...) and Very way too jubilent and joyous for me to like it; it was rather a plastic, artificially happy experience (except the first two singles and the magnificient Young Offender). Some members say hate is a strong word but I may hate Yesterday...What a bullshit. On top of that thinking that it was released as a single ...anyway.

After Very, Alternative was the album that saved the day for me. As we had no single releases in my country, until that point, apart from a few numbers, I was new to all those b-sides. To this day, A Man Coult Get Arrested, Do I have To, Too Many People and Miserable are among their crowning achievements for me, better than half of Fundamental and Nightlife together.

What Very lacked musically was made up by the fact that the Boys were everywhere again like in their imperial times. Go West was a staple of radio and TV channels, and anyone who was even remotely interested in music knew who they were. I was proud and happy...Those good old days <sigh> Unlike core fans, Go West is still among their most loved songs to this day among non-PSB fans.

I first gave a cold shoulder to Bilingual...but then I fell in love with Discoteca, To Step Aside, A Red Letter Day, and in particular, Up Against It. I had always liked Before from its first release day. Years later, Hit and Miss would fly to my top 20 PSB songs list.


I did not care for Nightlife (interestingly Boy Strange is one of my favourites) and Release was something I could understand and appreciate. Then Fundamental came...and I was sorely disappointed. Along with Elysium it is their least-listened album on my side. Yes was quite good; after Fundamental, it was a fresh breath. More Than a Dream and Building a Wall are favourites.

Skipped Elysium. Then Electric was released and it is another story, especially, Last to Die is fantastic.

So I guess I was in wilderness in patchy times, somehow between Bilingual and Yes...between Yes and Electric.

But never too far away. They have been, are and will be my most favourite acts forever.

TwizzleUK wrote: Tue 05 Mar 2024, 8:14 am It wouldn't surprise me if Neil's just had a bad chest infection. There's been a lot of colds and viruses going round the UK since the autumn. I've had three in this time - the latest of which caused me to lose my voice and sound croaky just like Neil does now as I was recovering. Took weeks getting over it.

It’s so odd , as since we all got vaccinated we’ve been more frequently ill.

Always loved them, more or less.

Tom Angel wrote: Wed 06 Mar 2024, 2:47 pm

TwizzleUK wrote: Tue 05 Mar 2024, 8:14 am It wouldn't surprise me if Neil's just had a bad chest infection. There's been a lot of colds and viruses going round the UK since the autumn. I've had three in this time - the latest of which caused me to lose my voice and sound croaky just like Neil does now as I was recovering. Took weeks getting over it.

It’s so odd , as since we all got vaccinated we’ve been more frequently ill.

More likely our immune systems became less accustomed to colds, viruses and bacteria as a result of not mixing with others for a long time. We're probably still experiencing that whilst our immune systems build up again over time as we've all been mingling as we used to.

Apologies for veering a bit off topic!

Tom Angel wrote: Wed 06 Mar 2024, 2:47 pmIt’s so odd , as since we all got vaccinated….