[Introspective] Wayne's Behaviour survey

[Derek B Donnell]

> >I find it hard to rate *any* of their songs much below 5.  About the only
> >tracks I would put at 1 or 2 would be "The sound of the atom splitting"
> >(which I appreciate for what it is, but it's not much of a 'song' IMO)
and
> >"What keeps mankind alive" which just doesn't have that special PSB
sound,
> >again IMO.
>
> But again, Wayne's criteria was not how you would rate the song compared
to
> any song by any other artist.  For these surveys, 1 is one of the worst
> songs that the Boys have done.  Therefore, there must be *some* songs down
> at the bottom end of the scale.  A song that's a 3 for the Boys might be a
6
> compared to other artists.

I understand that totally, so I do have songs by PSB that I do rate below 5.
In the grand scheme of their output, however, there are few that seem less
than reaching their own potential, or having that 'PSBness' that we all
love.  It would only be such tracks that I would rate below 5.

And of course I have to consider my own feelings about some songs.  "Love is
a catastrophe" for example may be a well-crafted and lyrically intense song,
but I don't like listening to it.  It's just depressing, so I have a hard
time deciding what to rate it.  Other tracks, like "Suburbia," are great,
but I have heard the original so many times that I get bored with it.
That's when I take into account (in my own mind) some of the versions other
than on the original album.  When I want to hear Suburbia, I prefer to
listen to the Club vocal remix.  When I want to hear West End Girls, I
prefer to play the live version from the Nightlife tour.  "The theatre"
would get a 7 or 8 from me as released on Very, but when I hear them perform
it on the Savoy concert the rating goes to 10.  I get chills from that
performance.

Time also has a way of changing my attitude about much of their music.  When
Bilingual came out I was less than excited by "Metamophosis" and
"Electricity," whereas now I enjoy those tracks very much.

I hope Wayne will take a tally of feelings on some unreleased material.
"You've got to start somewhere" is a 10+ IMO, and to not recognize because
it hasn't been released would be a shame (actually, it's a shame it hasn't
been released.)   Same with the Closer to Heaven demos.

peace,
--Dk