Very

It was an ok listen. Not outstanding but ok.

I like Go West, but unsure why we need yet another Pet Shop Boys album on the 1001 list.

Could never get into the Pet Shop Boys and couldn’t get into this

Reasonably nice electronic pop. Recognizable. You can't fault the Pet Shop Boys, can you? I mean they're no Led Zeppelin, but that would be apples to oranges now wouldn't it? Anyway, a heavy heavy ABBA influence here, mixed with Depeche Mode (if they were trying to be legitimately endearing and entertaining). The album has a nice, romantic feel throughout, some unique synth sounds and orchestration, and Neil Tennant has a distinctive, rather pleasant voice (if slightly nasally).

Also CONGRATULATIONS TO ME for passing the theoretical halfway point in the list!

This is really great for what is. Good songwriting, melodies, variety, and beats.

4.0/5.0: Great

this was fine. some of the songs felt familiar though im fairly certain ive never heard them before.

Synth pop. So what.

i still really dont like 90s pop. I was vibing tho. Low3

Поважаю пет шоп бойз, місцями не дуже класно постарішав сінті-саунд, але в мене є певні ностальгічні відчуття коли я чую їхню музику, тому альбом послухав з задоволенням.

I was VERY pleasantly surprised by this album. I had never heard of this group before, but I liked each and every song. First, "Can You Forgive Her?" Is such a banger. The first taste of this album is truly the best you'll get here. It did leave me disappointed that no other song could reach that high, but other songs, like "Dreaming of the Queen" and "Young Offender" were also really good. At points, I felt like the music and vocals didn't belong on the same track, but both are still good. The positives outweigh the negatives here.

I think of this as being the point where my musical tastes and one of my childhood favourites well and truly diverged.

That may be a bit harsh in retrospect as ‘can you forgive her?’ And ‘go west’ were always great.

‘I wouldn’t normally do this kind of thing’ is a bouncy enjoyable PSB track. ‘Liberation’ reminds me of the heady days of ‘surbia’ but older, wiser and more reflective.
Things take the turn i have been dreading with ‘a different point of view’ which strays too far into dancy PSB for me. You can feel its similarity to ‘getting away with it’ by Electronic and Neil Tennant but i much prefer the latter.

After that the underlying dance oriented music is not for me until of course we reach go west!

I have probably not heard Can You Forgive Her in 20 years before today, yet I still remembered all the words. Why is valuable space in my rapidly deteriorating middle-aged brain, still being filled with lyrics to a song that came out before I was even a teenager?

Still, I do still love it. And Go West too (I enjoyed the Guardian quote that said it distinguished "itself by making the Village People original seem flagrantly heterosexual").

The Theatre has a synth on it that sounds almost exactly like I'm Going Slightly Mad by Queen, a song I have always loved.

As for the rest, I mostly found it kinda dull, which was disappointing. There's now a few artists I would have said I liked before starting this project, but now I've listened to a full album it turns out I like the big singles and not much else.

This is getting a 2 and that's made me a bit sad.

2/5

A lot of very great songs on this, some others are a bit boring but mostly a great album

VERY 80s pop. Not for me.

Not bad, but "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing." Another one of those cases where I enjoy the songwriting, but don't really like the way the songs are rendered. It's cool that they have a distinct style, but I wish there was more variety here.

instant 1. Holy shit this is terrible.

This came out one week after In Utero, just for a reference for how dated it sounded at release.

As a big fan of the Pet Shop Boys, I was really looking forward to listening to Very—and it didn’t disappoint.

This album is pure fun: upbeat, danceable, and packed with witty lyrics and catchy melodies. It leans into a campy charm that's completely intentional and totally effective. While it may not feature as many massive hits as some of their other albums, it stands out for its consistency—every track feels strong, making it one of their most cohesive and complete records. I think this might actually be my favourite PSB album.

Favourite track: “Can You Forgive Her?” is fantastic.
Least favourite track: Every song earns its place.
Album artwork: Simple, but very cool—bold and iconic.

Really didn't click at any point, but was enjoyable enough.

Pet Shop Boys, one of my beloved childhood bands.

It’s Pet Shop Boys … enjoyable enough but not the best Pet Shop Boys album.