Pet Shop Boys Album: “Very”

"Very" is, without a doubt, my favorite PSB album. There is just not one weak track on the whole thing. From "Can You Forgive Her?" to "Go West" (which is the finale on the current tour), it has a consistency of excellence lacking on most albums. My favorite tracks are probably "One In A Million," "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing" (why do the Boys have this habit of using such long, unwieldy song titles?) and "Go West," which is just plain fun to listen to. None of the other tracks are far behind. If you must own one PSB album, this is the one to get. It's scary how nearly flawless this album is (it's just too bad that "Shameless" was not included on it). Irresistably upbeat and full of hooks, great melodies, sharp lyrics and dance beats that only the Pet Shop Boys can do this well, it remains one of my all-time favorites. I even buy used copies (when I can find them) for my friends; it is really that good. Stop reading reviews and buy it already.

Very is quite different from the Pet Shop Boys most people are familiar with. In the past were songs like Being Boring, West End Girls, Rent, It's A Sin etc... which are for the most part, mid-tempo electronic rock. Very reminds me a lot of the direction that OMD went after McCluskey and Humphreys went separate ways, think Sugar Tax and Liberator era. Of course most people are familiar with Can You Forgive Her which was a pretty big hit back in the early 90's, but after the opening track finishes off, you're hit with I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing, a straight up dancy disco rocker. The pace of this album rarely lets up except for a few slower ballady songs (Liberation, Dreaming of the Queen, To Speak Is A Sin) and finishes off with an outstanding version of the Village People's Go West. I like this album a lot, it is one of my favorites because it is so upbeat and energetic, and of course because the Pet Shop Boys are incredible. I would recommend this album to fans of newer OMD, New Order, Erasure, Intuition, Neuropa.

If ever there was an album which rendered every one of its songs a potential hit single, 'Very' takes the cake. Blending both smart-alec and sentimental lyrics with the catchiest pop hooks, the Pet Shop Boys have truly packed a veritable punch against the pop establishment. Almost immediately, anybody who hears this album for the first time, is taken aback by the intensely mood-driven and extraordinary lyrics and subject matter set to simple, albeit boy-bandish hooks and rhythms. Before this album, the Boys had consistently obscured themselves behind a veil of listless apathy and cold, icy indifference. But with 'Very,' Neil and Chris (wisely) decided to expose their vulnerability and inner-most emotions. In fact, 'Very would prove to be a watershed moment for them, leading to more intimate and mature records. The major highlights of this album include the subtle, yet in-your-face mischief of "Can You Forgive Her", a sneaky and taunting tale of a faux-straight closet queen; "Liberation," an idealistic love song set to one of the Boys' sweetest and most melodic soundtracks; the foreboding "Dreaming of the Queen," which is a haunting and eerie testament to AIDS; "To Speak is a Sin," a rather dark and cryptic "back-alley" portrayal of the gay underworld; the brazen and audacious "screw showbusiness" approach to "Yesterday, When I was Mad; and the beat-driven anecdote of juvinility in "Young Offender." Yet the ultimate showstopper to this record is the song for which this album is most remembered: "Go West." Upon first listen, one would think this to be a simple, perhaps perfunctory call for Utopia, first appealed for by the Village People. But upon realization, one discovers that the Pet Shop Boys have turned it on its head into a haunting and bizarrely moving requiem to those who have been taken by AIDS. What makes this song so eerie and yet poignant, is Tennant's weak, thin voice set up against pop grandeur. In fact, Tennant's voice conjures up that of a weak and wounded "soldier," trying to bring hope to compatriots lying dead all around him in a field, yet knowing all along that he and his countrymen have lost the War against AIDS.

All in all, this album showcases the best of what the Boys have accomplished in their career. Even though the Boys have been vastly underappreciated here in the States, they have proven themselves over and over again to the world as both innovators to be wreckoned with, and incredibly talented songwriters.

This new release of Very (for my money the best of the Pet Shop Boys albums) is expensive. There's also very little that hasn't already been released on CD. That said, it's still well worth buying.

The first CD is Very itself, which you should all know and love, right down to the hidden track at the end. (Titled Postscript in the linear notes.)

The second CD contains sixteen tracks and lasts over 77 minutes, but only three of the tracks are previously unreleased, and all three songs have been released in different versions. There's a version of Go West, that while not radically different from the more familiar mix, offers enough to be worth listening to. Forever in Love is a version of a track from Restless, that's most notable for the addition of some extra vocals. Falling will be new to anyone who hasn't heard the Kylie version, as far as I'm aware. It's average Pet Shop Boys (which means it's great, obviously). The other tracks on the second CD are previously released mixes and b-sides, as you can see from the track listing above. Highlights include Shameless, Decadence and Some Speculation.

The 36 booklet surprised me by being full of information. After a short introduction you get lyrics and comments from Neil and Chris for each track. Informative, and frequently very funny, it really adds to the value of the package.

Overall, then, you're not getting an awful lot of new music. It doesn't matter. Very is a classic album, it's nice to have the music on the second CD included in one place (and especially nice for people who didn't buy all the singles) and the sleeve notes are superb. A great package all round.

This album, Very and its much more rare companion, Very Relentless, can be summed up in the Pet Shop Boys' own words (one of the lyrics taken from the song Yesterday When I was Mad) -- they've 'both made such a little go a very long way'. A very long way, indeed.

All of the songs on this album have the same feel -- the same texture, the same lyrical quality, the same 'groove' if you will -- which is remarkable for a collection of different songs, from ballads to a roaring remake of the Village People's Go West (a song Toyota still uses occasionally in advertising -- listen for the backing music). One would almost swear that the actual Village People are making up the chorus as Neil Tennant's high-pitched, flat voice calls out 'Life is peaceful there' as the gruff, deep voices growl, GO WEST!

All the songs are dancable (not true of all the songs on all the albums) -- the videos which accompany this album all have the same computer-generated motion and costume and background (someone in the Pet Shop Boys camp obviously had recently discovered computer-generated graphics and animation and decided to have some fun!). I was frankly a bit disappointed with the videos, because the idea was original, but it was the same idea for each video (and we fans are used to stylish, original videos for each song).

This album will please Pet Shop Boys fans; it may find a good home with electronic/disco music fans. As with all Pet Shop Boys songs, listen to the lyrics -- they are witty and thoughtful -- the song Dreaming of the Queen actually plays on a recurrent nightmare/stress dream that the average Brit would have but Americans don't -- the stress that the Queen drops by for a visit when you're not ready (either undressed, or dirty house, &c.) -- probably the closest equivalent stress dream in American terms would be the test-anxiety pop-quiz-you-haven't-studied-for dream.

Other songs include the poignant The Theatre, in which one can sense the frustration of struggling artists as they watch their more successful compatriots pass by; To speak is a sin, recapturing a word from a previous hit, It's a sin, something the no-longer Roman Catholic Tennant likes to muse over now and again; the first semi-hit Can you forgive her, a crashing, triumphant, psychological song that reinforces the ambiguous sexuality of this duo (later to be made less so).

So, pay attention to the lyrics, and have a Very Very good listen.