I know Disco 4 is listed as a PSB release, and it's part of the "Disco series," after all. But I have trouble evaluating it as part of the PSB discography. It's a collection of mixes of other people's work. If we were going to go down that route, we should have had discussion of Liza Minnelli's Results album way back in the Actually discussion. It's way more interesting than this compilation. But yes, I appreciate this release for what it is.
Hey! I'm just giving the masses what they want..............cake....and lots of it. A long time ago my Gran sat me on her knee and told me something I'll never forget, "I go both ways".....wait!!! that wasn't it.....it was "No matter what you do, someone will usually be mad at you so you'll have to get good at telling people to piss off." Sage advice for a 6 year old, my Gran had a way with words. You're not mad at me.....are ye Morgan?
I was kind of thinking that should be thrown in for a kind of smorgasbord "not so grand" finale. All the stuff I may have left out that people want to talk about. I think the Minelli release is definitely more interesting than most of the Discos, especially 4 even though sonically it's more interesting than 2.
LOL of course not! I know people were asking for this to be included and I salute you for making it happen. I just can't muster anything worthwhile to say about it. We're all picky and choosy here. I think Results is a bonafide PSB album and yet I can't be bothered to discuss Disco 4. But I'm sure there are others here who feel the opposite. Heck, based on the last couple of pages, I think there are a lot of folks who don't even think Elysium should be counted as a PSB album.
Sorry, I'm backtracking a little. I don't know Elysium well enough to remember the song titles so I had to wait til I got home to check them out. I loved Yes but went into a bit of a PSB slumber again after they released Together and Winner as the next two singles. They won me back with Leaving though. Great song and a return to gorgeous Mark Farrow artwork! I agree with several others in that there are three contenders for worst PSB song on this album: Winner, Hold On, and Give It a Go. Sorry, but I don't like happy Pet Shop Boys tracks! Sue me. I do like Invisible even though it's not really my style of song. Ego Music is a song which I thought I would hate on first listen but I've really taken to it, especially those biting lyrics. I think it takes Seriously to the next level. It's humbling. I kind of like Breathing Space but every time I hear that chorus I'm thinking of Sting's "The Soul Cages". Memory of the Future is the other standout track for me and I also like the last two tracks. I'm glad some of you mentioned the single mix of Memory. I bought the MP3s a long time ago but never listened to them for some reason. I like that mix and the Ulrich Schnauss mix too. I have all the b-sides but haven't gotten around to them yet. For me Elysium was a step down from Yes but still better than their dark ages albums.
At least "Give It A Go" is catchy in a not totally annoying way. Next to "Winner' and "Hold On" it's practically "Being Boring"... I've got nothing against happy tracks, but "Winner" and "Hold On" are just embarrassing series of cliches. I blame them on a delayed reaction to being exposed to Diane Warren while making Fundamental...
Doh! I meant "Island of Souls" on Sting's Soul Cages album. It's really only the first notes of the chorus that remind me of the song but it's enough to make me think what a great song "Island of Souls" is and reach for my Squeezebox controller.
There are parts of Elysium that are right up there with some of their best work. But as others have noted there is also some god awful duds on there too.. To that end, I re-sequenced it, replacing the (in my opinion) crap tracks and replacing with B sides from the same campaign/era This is my Elysium: A Face Like That Invisible Your Early Stuff Baby In His Imagination Listening Breathing Space I Started a Joke One Night Memory of the Future (Single Mix) Requiem in Denim & Leopard Skin Leaving To me it 'hangs' together much better and is a much more satisfying listen.
I like "Give it a go". Maybe the chorus isn't that great but the verses are great and that middle instrumental bridge is sublime.
Format 2012 The second B-sides compilation from the kings of the B-side. Another very worthwhile release although not quite as good as Alternative but this may follow the same pattern of the second half of their career being not quite as innovative and exciting as the first. 1. "The Truck-Driver and His Mate" 3:34 2. "Hit and Miss" 4:07 3. "In the Night (1995)" 4. "Betrayed" 5:19 5. "How I Learned to Hate Rock-and-Roll" 4:38 6. "Discoteca" (new version) "3:43 7. "The Calm Before the Storm" 2:46 8. "Confidential" (Demo 9. "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" 6:05 10. "Delusions of Grandeur" 5:04 11. "The View from Your Balcony" 3:45 12. "Disco Potential" 4:07 13. "Silver Age" 3:33 14. "Screaming" 4:56 15. "The Ghost of Myself" 4:03 16. "Casting a Shadow" 4:37 17. "Lies" 18. "Sexy Northerner Disc two: 2002–2009 No. Title Featured on Length 1. "Always" "Home and Dry", bonus USA Release disc 5:03 2. "Nightlife" "Home and Dry", bonus USA Release disc 3:53 3. "Searching for the Face of Jesus" "I Get Along" 3:27 4. "Between Two Islands" "I Get Along" 5:06 5. "Friendly Fire" "I Get Along", bonus USA Release disc 3:23 6. "We're the Pet Shop Boys" "Miracles" 4:55 7. "Transparent" "Miracles" 3:51 8. "I Didn't Get Where I Am Today" "Flamboyant" 3:37 9. "The Resurrectionist" "I'm with Stupid" 3:10 10. "Girls Don't Cry" "I'm with Stupid" 2:34 11. "In Private" (7-inch mix; duet with Elton John) "Minimal" 4:11 12. "Blue on Blue" "Minimal" 3:12 13. "No Time for Tears" (7-inch mix) "Minimal", original on Battleship Potemkin 3:35 14. "Bright Young Things" "Numb" 4:55 15. "Party Song" "Numb" 3:40 16. "We're All Criminals Now" "Love etc." 3:55 17. "Gin and Jag" "Love etc." 4:29 18. "After the Event" "Did You See Me Coming?" 5:16 19. "The Former Enfant Terrible" "Did You See Me Coming?" 2:51 20. "Up and Down" "Did You See Me Coming?" 3:43
Some really excellent songs here, including the best song ever written about gravediggers in "The Resurrectionist" I love putting this album along with Alternative as a playlist and playing it on a long car ride. The consistent quality of B-sides from 1985 to 2009 is astounding.
I think this one is a huge step down from Alternative, although you could say the same thing about most of this phase of their career apart from Yes (which didn't seem to generate much in the way of solid B-Sides). Highlights are the cheeky "The Truck Driver And His Mate" and "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" (which unfortunately isn't quite as good as it threatens to be), the sweepingly dramatic "Delusions Of Grandeur" and frantic "Screaming" (wish they'd re-recorded these with Trevor Horn during the Fundamental sessions), the obvious Britney Spears rip-off "The Ghost Of Myself (which works in spite of its total unoriginality), "Nightlife" (which would have been one of the better cuts on that album), "Between Two Islands" (that almost sounds like something from Bilingual and melodically harks back to classic PSB), "Friendly Fire" (their Bowie song - lyrically probably the best cut on the collection), and "I Didn't Get Where I Am Today" (more '60s revisionism from Neil). There are also a few more tracks that are probably as good as most of the album cuts on Bilingual, Release or Elysium. "Hit And Miss", "How I Learned To Hate Rock And Roll", "Silver Age", the trancelike "Lies", "Sexy Northerner", "Always", "Searching For The Face Of Jesus", their hilariously deadpan cover of "We're The Pet Shop Boys", the vocoder exercise "Transparent", and the memorable "Girls Don't Cry". Many of the cuts though fall into a large "meh" bucket - typical B-Side fodder, either with one interesting idea run into the ground ("Disco Potential"), that just never really amount to much ("The View From Your Balcony"), or that were perhaps just ill-conceived to begin with. Did we really near to hear the Boys and Elton cover "In Private"? It pales in comparison to Dusty's original... Fundamental surprisingly generates the largest percentage of these mediocre cuts - perhaps it's better than its immediate predecessors because the best material from the sessions all made the record. Then there are the cuts I never needed to hear and never need to hear again, like the '95 mix of "In The Night", or "Party Song". I was hoping the Yes B-Sides would be the exception, given how solid that record is, but only "We're All Criminals Now" is really album-worthy (although "The Former Enfant Terrible" is at least an amusing experiment). It's handy to have so many cuts collected in one place, but I think there's only one disc worth of material here that's really worth listening to. And even some of that is weaker than almost anything on Alternative.
I agree with previous posts but do enjoy Format. Heck I'm just grateful to have it, since it wasnt looking too promising for us Yanks for awhile. I like the album artwork too.
Bilingual and this run of B-Sides is why I got off the bus around this time. Tracks 1-3 are from the 'Before' single - a song I didn't like - and none of them struck me as particularly good. All of these songs strike me as... lesser tracks. Where someone of the 'Alternative' songs are worthy singles or album tracks in their own right, these ones sound like B-Sides. There's an unfinished, slightly-directionless quality to them, which matches the waning mojo of the actual 'Bilingual' tracks. Of these 10 songs, I'd only rate 'Delusions Of Grandeur' as 'Alternative'-worthy, and even then, it's just another "It's A Sin" or "Shameless", but where they could have effortlessly-pulled it off earlier in their career, this one sounds... mercenary and desperate, like it should be better than it is. "A Red Letter Day" is the last single in my PSB collection. They got their mojo back for me with 'Fundamental'. What are the B-sides like from there?
Wow, really disagree, I think at least half the songs are as good as the songs on Alternative. The B-sides from Fundamental would be songs 9-15 on Disc 2
Not that great, as I outlined in my post. I think with both Fundamental and Yes, they chose the album cuts wisely and didn't leave the wrong tracks out in the cold. With Bilingual, Nightlife and Release, that wasn't the case in my opinion - they left a few superior tracks off those records, so even though the albums are inferior, a few of the B-Sides are surprisingly good.
I must admit that I have only listened to Format two or three times since it came out and it didn't really do much for me; whereas I play Alternative in its entirety quite regularly. I should probably dig Format out again and give it another spin...something to do over the Easter weekend!
I'm right there with you. Format just didn't have the same impact, following the pattern of how the releases where the Very/Bilingual divide was definitely where the trajectory changed and the B-sides sort of followed that. Alternative is the best B-sides compilation I think I own with the OMD set not far behind. Admittedly it's a tough act to follow but Format just did not retain the quality.
