Very

I am a huge fan of this band, loving their dry deadpan lyrics, spoken vocals and great synth melodies. I wouldn't say that this is my favorite, preferring their first two albums, but whats not to like about an album with a song about passive aggressiveness on it.

Their first two album's names were chosen so people could walk into a record shop (remember that) and say "I'd like the Pet Shop Boys, Please" and "The Pet Shop Boys, actually" and in their tradition this is VERY Pet Shop Boys:)

It's pretty chill, ambient electronic music. Makes me think of Moby, but a lot more vocals. It's also its own thing, kind of pop-y. Young Offender, what video game did they sample for this song??

Very nice

I find most everything about this unbearable. It earns a single star in my book because I can acknowledge some moments of genuinely solid lyricism, but other than that, this production and overall style of music is so far removed from anything I find remotely enjoyable. Additionally, although I'm sure that Neil Tennant is a very nice, good man, his vocals have to be among my least favorite ever committed to tape. I did not need to hear this before I died, and I most certainly did not want to hear this before I died.

1/5

Another one that isn't really my thing, probably won't go back to, but I appreciate that it has its own unique sound as opposed to sounding like a million other bands I've heard. Probably appreciate it a bit more so than the other 4s I've given recently.

Really enjoying the spacey sounds on this album. Giving me racing video game space level song vibes, like from Diddy Kong Racing (there's a pull, haha).

But yeah, this was a nice breath of fresh air after yesterday's Screaming Trees album. Not that I didn't like that album, just that it sounded like a lot of grunge I had heard before (just with psychedelic rock slapped on top). It's cool to get an album that you hear and go "Yeah. I could pick a Pet Shop Boys song out of a lineup after hearing them once" whereas I couldn't do that with Screaming Trees.

Edit: Thinking back, this is feeling more like a 3.

It's a fun sound, but gets tiresome after a while. Probably best heard as the occasional single on the radio.

Ehh, this didn't really do it for me. I think PSB probably peaked at West End Girls. This felt pretty generic and forgettable to me.

Ehhh. Overproduced and sanitized, too pop. Somehow, despite the correlation with Neil Tennant coming out of the closet shortly after this album was released, it feels... bland and inauthentic? Probably the production giving me that vibe.

80s Disco meets 90s synthie Pop. Whats not to like?

I’m at a 5.

It’s only been about 10 days since we got “Walking Wounded” by Everything but the Girl, and my main thing with that album was that it didn’t really commit enough to the sort of electronica / drum & bass feel it was going for, at least for my tastes. It’s my closest analog to this album, since we’re dealing with artists doing a radically different sound from an 80s album in the 90s. Well, OK, maybe not AS “radically” for the Pet Shop Boys, but we’ve thrown out 80s synthesizers & drum machines for the 90s UK house brand of booming orchestra hits, advanced spacier electronica, & more upbeat dance numbers.

In this case, since they went full throttle in committing to this soundscape throughout the whole thing, it pays off way better for me here than it did on “Walking Wounded”. I’m not saying that to be harsh on the album, but the difference in commitment is night and day to me – obviously, 1996 drum & bass is different from 1993 UK house-driven synthpop, but the Pet Shop Boys lean fully into it. It’s a natural evolution for the sound on “Actually”, and it’s played in an overly catchy & commercially safe way, but it really clicked for me, just because it’s a super fun listen.

It also helps that the songwriting chops present on “Actually” are refined and arguably even better on here – so much of this album is written with the context of the gay experience, from both a closeted and open experience, and it creates a sort of intimate & personal vibe that both contrasts and works really well with the wide open dancing soundscape of the album. Occasionally, that lyricism / vocals are a little buried in the mix, or overshadowed by the synth work, but when it comes to the forefront (ESPECIALLY so on “The Theatre”), it feels really, really nice.

Ultimately, it’s a 5 for me, but the reason I enjoyed this is a two-sided coin; since they did fully lean into this style, if it’s something you’re predisposed to hate, then this is gonna be a repetitive “video game-y” 2 for you, but if it’s something you love (like me!), then it’s a perfect blend of early 90s SEGA-esque Roland synth work that calls back to stuff like Sonic CD or Daytona USA, while blending the songwriting chops and production sensibilities of the Pet Shop Boys, which were already on great display on “Actually”. It really, REALLY worked for me, and I think it’s a great album – hence, a pretty easy 5.

Pet Shop Boys can be quite hit or miss for me, even on what is arguably their best album. While there are a few songs that stand out as both lyrically and musically impressive—such as "The Theater," "Liberation," and "Can You Forgive Her?"—there are also several tracks that feel flat and overproduced, lacking the clever or cheeky lyrics that I can so appreciate from the Pet Shop Boys.

This album is a vibe, just feel-good queer bops
Highlights: liberation, go west

Very mid.

I <3 SYNTHPOP

'I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing' - also, I wouldn't normally like this kind of thing. But I do. Because it's more than the sum of its heartstrings - and it has lyrics like 'to free in me / the trust I never dared.' It takes balls to feel good - and the music got those in droves. 'Then, when I was lonely / I thought again / and changed my mind.' That's good. 'Looking for love and getting / nothing that's worth regretting.' And so is that. 'Together.' Why not? Whitman's Calamus, I hear it, read it, happily, finally, all over again.

Synth Pop past it's prime. Nothing I would choose to listen to on my own, but not terrible. 2/5

The Good: Non-abrasive music
The Bad: makes me wonder what the point is of this album
The Ugly: having to sit through an entire album of Neil Tennant singing…

Yes, I understand that all people have their biases, and mine is that I like rock n roll related music more than pop or dance music. Which makes me wonder why I have to listen to this album, as even the wikipedia description does not give me enough reason to understand.

Is it because Mr. Tennant finally came out of the closet? Is this the same reason why people should like Queen? What does admiting being gay, which everyone already believed, have anything to do with me having to listen to this album?

Go West was okay to listen to, and all the “songs” that came before too, but they are all bland, and all pretty much sound the same to me, just like their previous musical endeavors… so, again, why do I have to listen to this?

2* because I didn’t hate it, but I refuse to give this the 3* it probably deserves… because I don’t understand why this album did make it on the list, but the album Magnolia by The Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies did not...

Hyvä tanssilevy! 4/5

Pish

Didn't really like this one much, although it is a bit better than "Behaviour". Very little memorable about it other than the cover of Go West, which I have very negative feelings about due to its use in an annoying as for rice pudding about 15 years ago. Don't think these guys deserve multiple albums in the book.