The Pet Shop Boys Music of the 2000's

The Release, Disco 3, Pop Art, Fundamental and Disco 4 Years

Dec 14, 2008

Shifting their sound again, The Pet Shop Boys experimented with rock before returning to the disco in the 2000's.

In 2002 The Pet Shop Boys worried fans with early details of their forthcoming album Release. Neil Tennant, in interviews, called it “rock music” sending out shock waves felt from the bowels of Calcutta to the beaches of Ibiza.

While their first album of the new millennium could hardly rival Bruce Springsteen for rock cred, it did steer away from the techno/ rave sound fashioned on 1999’s Nightlife.

Once the rock phase was out of their system, the boys returned to the disco and emerged with several dance albums.

The Pet Shop Boys in the 2000’s

Breathing new life into their sound, lead single “Home and Dry” sounds every bit as pop/dance as the PSB ever had. Even the inclusion of scarce guitars didn’t deter this track from their unmistakable sound. Acoustic guitar lead “I Get Along” strums along softly and became a hit as did the post 9/11 social commentary “London”, though only in Germany.

Release deserves credit if only for the track “The Night I Fell in Love”, a fictional tale of a man-on-man love affair with Emenim, who was busy gay bashing during that period. “Hey man, your name isn’t Stan is it”, the rapper character asks before hopping into the sack with the song’s singer.

Disco 3, released in 2003, proved to be everything Release wasn’t – a hard hitting, ready for the floor danceathon filled with club ready remixes, thick electronics and cybertronic voiceovers. Culling most of the material from the previous year’s album, Disco 3 also includes remixes of that era’s B-Sides including the Superchumbo mix of “Sexy Northerner”.

Ironically, or not in the case of the Pet Shop Boys, they chose to include a stripped down piano version of “London” on this package. The original track contained perhaps the most electronic bleeps and twirls of any of the tracks on Release.

It had been nearly 15 years since the boys released Discography, their first greatest hits collection and another one was in order. Unlike the former package, the double disc Pop Art separates their singles into two categories; Pop contains the more mainstream hits, reaching back to their Please era while Art collects their more experimental musical offerings.

Released in the US a number of years after the UK debut, Pop Art contains two brand new tracks, “Miracles” and “Flamboyant” both top 20 UK chart successes. Like Discography, Pop Art contains single versions of newer hits, making this an essential. Casual listeners who enjoyed their 80’s hits should instead stick with Discography.

Hailed as the PSB’s return to the dance floor, 2006’s Fundamental rejuvenated their sound while updating it for mid-decade clubbing. Lead by political single “I’m with Stupid”, “Psychological”, “The Sodom and Gomorrah Show” and “Minimal” stand out as some of the best dance/ electronica music of the year with the latter racking up yet another UK top 20 hit.

Fundamental also includes Diane Warren’s “Numb”, another UK top 40 hit and one of the rare tracks not written by the PSB. Backed with Fundamentalism, a limited edition bonus disc of remixes including the intoxicating “Sodom (Trentemøller Remix)”, the poppy “Flamboyant (Michael Mayer Kompakt Mix)” from Pop Art, and “In Private (Stuart Crichton Club Mix)” featuring a queer as folk duet with Elton John.

Unlike previous instalments in the Pet Shop Boys irregular Disco series, Disco 4 features mostly tracks by other artists, showcasing the best of their remixes including The Killers’ “Read My Mind” and Madonna’s “Sorry”. While this album is light on original material, the PSB have a knack for turning tracks recorded by others into their own.

Neil Tennant even recorded and added vocals to “Sorry” and made Yoko Ono sound less like a howling hyena on “Walking on Thin Ice” and more of a guest star on a PSBs track. While Disco 4 could be considered a cash out to cynics, but fans of the PSB and the artists featured on this collection get their money’s worth. The best Disco in the series since the 1986 original.

With a career spanning three decades, the Pet Shop Boys show no signs of leaving the dancefloor just yet. In 2008 they recorded a cover version of “I’m In Love with a German Film Star” featuring Sam Taylor-Wood who has sung backup vocals for the boys on previous tracks. And on March 23, 2009 The Pet Shop Boys will release their ninth studio album.

In February 2009, the Brit Awards bestow the The Pet Shop Boys with an Outstanding Contribution to Music Award honouring their distinguished career and the impact they have made to popular/ dance music.

The copyright of the article The Pet Shop Boys Music of the 2000's in Electronica (Music) is owned by James W. Coates. Permission to republish The Pet Shop Boys Music of the 2000's in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.