[Introspective] Dot Music review of Pop Art
Grant
grant at twistinthedark.net
Mon Dec 8 06:51:05 PST 2003
I just saw this glowing review of Pop Art. The reviewer, Jamie Gill, gives
it 10 out of 10.
Grant
-------------------------------------
It's been a long time coming, but England finally has good cause to crack
open the champagne and celebrate. Not because the fraudulent Mr Bush has
left our shores, nor even the rugby, but because of the release of this
quite astounding record. It states its case clearly and convincingly: the
Pet Shop Boys are probably the greatest pop act of all time.
Arriving fully formed with 'West End Girls' - still as sleek, smart and
modern as it sounded in 1985 - the PSBs have enjoyed a career of startling
consistency and vivid originality, releasing songs that have conquered
dancefloors and hearts in every corner of the world. From thrillingly
dramatic disco numbers ('It's A Sin', 'Always On My Mind') to subtle
melancholia ('Suburbia', 'What Have I Done To Deserve This'), if you
haven't fallen in love with at least one of these songs you are probably
disturbed, deaf or dead.
The disc is split into two sides - 'Pop' and 'Art' - but this is a typical
PSB red herring. Nothing on the 'Pop' side is as straightforwardly upbeat
as the division suggests (try the mournful minimalism of 'It's Alright'),
while every track on the 'Art' side bristles with hooks and nagging
melodies (try the epic electronica of 'So Hard').
Where a greatest hits album often fails - particularly a double - is in the
lesser known songs, but here 'Pop Art' triumphs. 'Love Comes Quickly' from
1985 (a flop by their standards) remains their most gorgeous love song, an
ecstatic deep-bassed swoon they never quite equalled, though 1994's
haunting, low key 'Liberation' came close. 'Can You Forgive Her', on the
other hand is a seething, bittersweet masterpiece of slashing strings and
deadpan asides - "she's made you some kind of laughing stock/ Because you
dance to disco and you don't like rock."
Only one criticism of the PSBs has ever stuck, and it's the old chestnut
about their so-called irony. Whilst the slur applies to the kitschy cover
of 'Go West' (one of just two so-so tracks, with the clattering 'Single
Bilingual'), it's generally a grand injustice. It's impossible to doubt the
sincerity behind 'Being Boring''s heartbroken love song to lost youth or
the brooding unhappiness of 'Jealousy'. And if the sprightly 'I Get Along'
imagines Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson's relationship as a doomed gay love
affair, that's called wit, not irony.
It's sadly true that in recent years the Pet Shop Boys have faded
commercially, although new track 'Miracles' has a sunny simplicity that may
change that. Even if this is the last thing they record, however, the Pet
Shop Boys have been one the few acts to push at the boundaries of pop,
doing so with style, imagination, wit and love. 'Pop Art' is an essential,
not a luxury.
http://www.dotmusic.com/reviews/Albums/November2003/reviews31627.asp
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