Friday 27 February 2009
Legends.
This post started out being a top ten-like list of reasons why you should love Pet Shop Boys. While that may have made for compelling reading for some, I doubt very many of you would have gotten too far into it. So I asked myself this question: how you you distill the allure and legacy of Pet Shop Boys in the spirit of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s long, illustrious career as one (if not the) most successful musical duos in history? The answer was glaringly obvious: you do it in one word.
Since their debut in 1986, each Pet Shop Boys release has borne a title no longer than one single word, each one an insightful and succinct snapshot of what the album therein contained.
Please is a modest and polite introduction to the clean modernist music that would become the band’s calling card, then sophomore album Actually put the world on notice that Tennant and Lowe were no one hit wonders.
Introspective was a look into the burgeoning house music culture and how it could be outwardly projected to the pop music world, and then Behvaiour turned the microscope inward, examining the human condition and why we do those stupid things we do, epitomized in one of my all-time favourite PSB songs, “So Hard”.
Very was quite literally so very Pet Shop Boys there couldn’t possibly be a better title.
Alternative, while not a studio album, was aptly named as a collection of b-sides from all the band’s singles to date, and showcased just how much songwriting talent they had to spare.
Bilingual added a spicy new flavour to their signature electronic sound, with flourishes of latin dance, while Nightlife embraced a new generation of dance and club music.
Release was the first time guitars were allowed to play a significant part in the music, loosening the grip and restrictiveness of only synthesized and processed instrumentation, and then Fundamental harkened a back-to-basics approach after the experimentation of Release.
And now, we have the imminent release of their newest album, Yes, promising some of their best work in over a decade. The timing couldn’t be better; at the recent Brit Awards, Tennant and Lowe were honoured with the Outstanding Contribution To Music Award, for a career that has spanned more than 25 years, sold 50 million records worldwide, garnered them 39 Top 30 UK singles.
So, how do you sum up Pet Shop Boys in one word? Legends.
MP3: Pet Shop Boys “Love Etc.” (from the forthcoming Yes)
Video: Pet Shop Boys (featuring Lady GaGa and Brandon Flowers) at the Brit Awards, 2009 performing a medley of their greatest hits
Facebook: Pet Shop Boys
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This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under MP3, ViDEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Elliott BROOD
