Pet Shop Boys -- Super (another Stuart Price production)

Apparently, this record is supposed to be a follow on from Electric and then they're planning to make another album with Price which is to be more in their ballad-heavy mode.

I'm sure no one will agree with this but

"The Pop Kids" < "In Bits"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLPP0nAJxBo

I love everything about Happiness.

That is some straight-up EDM, but... I like it?

if that were made by anyone but the Pet Shop Boys I would have turned it off after 45 seconds...

Yeah probably.

CHRIS: that were made by anyone but the Pet Shop Boys I would have turned it off after 45 seconds...

NEIL: Yeah probably.

first part of a 4 hour (!) docu series starting as we speak

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b073qwf8

Wow -- they actually (heh) discuss songs ("Violence," "Two Divided by Zero," "Kings Cross").

wow shit yeah, and Young Offender!

I haven't heard any of that documentary yet, but haven't they talked about those songs in detail a million times before? At this stage, I'm more interested in how the songs take shape musically and their methods of building up a track in the studio than I am about what the songs are about or the inspirations for the lyrics.

You can read that in the liner notes of the 2001 reissues.

Next part on now!

Actually laughed out loud when Chris started talking about 'Hold On' ... "The fans didn't appreciate the effort that went into this, because the fans don't like this do they? That's why they're wrong. Where they're wrong."

I wondered if they might address how much people hated Winner and that record in general. Couldn't believe they picked Hold On, terrible song.

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/musicians-richard-marx-chris-lowe-neil-tennant-and-billy-idol-pose-in-picture-id117056640

Well, put it this way: how many times have you ever heard PSB slag off one of their albums? Or even, apart from the odd B-side, one of their songs?

Chris did on the documentary. He doesn't rate So Hard and thinks it spoils the flow of Behaviour. I'm sure I read they're not that keen on Red Letter Day too.

That opinion on So Hard is complete and utter madness

Definitely. It's probably in mt top five PSB songs. As for it spoiling the flow of the album, wouldn't How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously be a similar problem for him?

They're barking mad about Elysium, which sounds as tentative and wan as ever.

highlight of part 2 was Neil bursting into I Have Confidence from The Sound Of Music and Chris pissing himself. i don't know of 2 bandmates who can make each other laugh so much or appear to get on so well.

Yeah, 'So Hard' is one of my favourites and I don't think it spoils the flow of Behaviour at all, and I think their "issue" with 'A Red Letter Day' is more in the recording rather than the song itself, but it's very rare you'll hear them slag off their work. If anything, they (particularly Neil) get really defensive about their post-Very work.

Oh come on, Chris takes the piss out of literally everything they do, especially when Neil takes himself too seriously.

(Having said that - a friend of mine was a backing dancer during the Yes tour. Apparently the Boys got fairly miffed when the dancers all openly slagged off Winner after it was first played to them.)

well, how can you dance to that drivel?

So, this definitely isn't as good as Electric. Anyone else heard it yet?

This album has exceeded my expectations so far. I'd say the only thing still bothering me is Price's "cold" production. I know it's not a good word to describe it, but I can't think of a better one atm. I think probably any other producer would have done a better job. I wonder how good this could've been in the hands of Greg Kurstin, for instance.

This one's my favorite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J50nLCeTHIk&index=10&list=PLxFN5K79aSHDQYsre_8b_nQW2Mvru_waR

A couple of tracks excepted, this is smashing. I love "Twenty-Something" and "Groovy."

I still haven't heard it yet, but what I've read/heard about it seems to be mostly positive.

So, having my first listen to this now... the intro to 'Twenty-Something' sounds like it could soundtrack a 16-bit side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game from the early '90s...

like "Young Offender"?

Ha, yeah!

I'm not too far into the album yet, but one thing that's striking me so far is that I don't think this record sounds as good as Electric production-wise.

I was not expecting "Sad Robot World" to sound like an Air pastiche

This has been growing on me a lot over the last few days. Pazzo and Groovy are a bit throwaway but I'm enjoying the rest. The Dictator Decides is my current favourite. Brilliant lyrics. I really love Undertow too. The chorus reminds me so much of New Order.

"The Dictator Decides" reminds me of "Hairstyle Of The Devil" by Momus.

Oh yeah, that's a great comparison.

I cannot get Happiness out of my head. I just keep repeating "it's it's it's it's it's it's" over and over to myself.

Gave it a first listen tonight -- I like it but it feels like more of a grower than Electric. But that said I'm also glad they didn't simply do Electric Part 2.

Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too. I'm having a second listen to it now and it's sounding a little better than the first listen. Unsure at this stage at where I would rank it in PSB's discography... but I will say that at the moment I'm not feeling it as much as Electric, Fundamental or even Bilingual. It may grow on me further, though.

It pains me to say it, but I'm thinking at this stage that I'd rate this album roughly about the same as Yes.

you need more you need more

I like it about as much as Nightlife. I definitely prefer it to Yes.

Yeah, after another couple of listens to this I'm fairly comfortable with ranking this one about the same as Yes, in that I'd rank it higher than Nightlife, Release and Elysium, but it doesn't touch Bilingual, Fundamental or Electric. There's some brilliant moments on Super, but I was expecting a little more from the production this time around because Price did such a wonderful job on Electric. I'm also getting a kinda weird hollow feeling from this record. Here's hoping the next one, which is meant to be ballad-heavy, is a bit of a better effort.

I'm rating this as marginally better than "Yes" and a significant improvement over "Electric," which didn't do much for me (I know I'm in the minority here).

I hope someone talks them out of a ballad album.

I only realised recently that the second half of Yes really isn't that strong. The Way It Used To Be is probably my favourite song they've done in the last fifteen years but apart from that, it just passes me by.

Yeah, a ballad album doesn't excited me at all.

Well, it depends on the ballads for me. If it's stuff like "Always" or "The Crying Game" I'm down. If they're more "Numb" or "Winner," no thank you.