There is no Alternative (Alternative - Pet Shop Boys)

Member Name: ultras67

Product:	Alternative - Pet Shop Boys
Date:	26/10/01 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inspired tunes, , , dry witty lyrics , complex melodies

Disadvantages: Some obvious fillers

Alternative is a collection of B sides and other tracks that were not included in the Boys main albums.

For a normal band this would be the sound of brains snoring and half hearted efforts. But, this in fact reminds us that the Boys are, of course, one of the best things British pop has ever given us. Many of the tracks here are worthy of A side status for the Boys themselves and other artists will sit back in sheer envy for the quality and inventiveness shown.

At well over two hours, Alternative is getting on for the length of an Oliver Stone movie and is much more entertainingly informative about the beast that is pop culture.

Stuffy detractors have always had it that the boys are formulaic or, even worse, vapid. This is decisive proof to the contrary. For every tune that ostensibly thumps along in a orgy of hedonism, there is something wistful about headmasters and funny uncles.

The first CD is full of glitzy, throbbing, high energy tunes powered by the Boys’ characteristically inhuman tempos and rhythms. One of the great strengths of this music is its riotous, unashamed artificiality and this is what makes In The Night, Paninaro and The Sound Of The Atom Splitting such fun. That and Tennant’s gauchely deadpan lyrics, heard to best effect in Was That What It Was? ‘You go to a club, you think that I’ll be there! I don’t though, ‘cos I’m not a member”.

The second half of the collection has the real gems though. Euroboy and Music For Boys, apocalyptic Wagnerian hardcore both, tell us more about gay club culture than a hundred well intentioned TV programmes. There are tunes, too, which one suspects would have been Number 1 for several months, notably It Must Be Obvious, Too Many People and Bet She’s Not Your Girlfriend. And there is, arguably, the best thing they have ever done, a track called We All Feel Better In The Dark, a lavishly cinematic yet ambiguous sexua
l celebration.

Without a hint of irony, Alternative really is absolutely fabulous

Summary: