The well-read Pet Shop Boys have had to make their way up the ropes to stardom next to other successful English bands of the 80's and 90's such as the Smiths, the Cure, Depeche Mode, and New Order. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe know what makes these bands special. "To Americans, pop or rock music is not about enjoyment. English music is about excitement and enjoyment and the thrill of the whole thing," said Lowe during an interview about the Pet Shop Boys' b-side compilation Alternative. If this is the case, then Tennant and Lowe have played the role well throughout their recording career, now heading into its thirteenth year. Yet the Boys' tradition of being not only exciting, but dramatic, funny, happy, nostalgic, dark, light, surreal, and true-to-life all at once, is what has endeared them to their fans over the years and made them unique.
Alternative, a double-CD set, does much more for PSB fans than Discography. The former not only covers songs/mixes usually found solely on singles as b-sides, but it covers a greater portion of their career. Collectively, the 36 songs on Alternative show us a different side of the Pet Shop Boys--a side that is more experimental, and yet, more personal - that previous albums have not shown. Lowe remarks, "We've always used the b-side as a way of learning to produce. When we started, the b-side was where we learned to do things ourselves. So it wasn't a throwaway, ever. It's been fundamental to how we progress."
This compilation is a showcase of that progression, which becomes more evident upon comparing old and new tracks. "That's My Impression", one of the Boys' first songs, seems rather flat next to the vibrant "Euroboy" or the eerie "Some Speculation". But upon closer inspection, "Impression" is really just a humorous song, no matter how serious it may sound. This is a fine example of how PSB songs can reshape themselves to fit the era or the listener's mood. "I Want A Dog", a song supposedly about loneliness, is "funny," according to Tennant, "but it's also serious and true at the same time." So in this way, no one track can really be deemed better than another--only less serious, less intense, etc.
With the lyrics they write for b-sides, Tennant and Lowe must feel like mini-psychologists or some other form of wise men. "Your Funny Uncle" is a crushingly sad song Tennant wrote about the funeral of a close friend. "We Feel Better In the Dark" is a song about clubbing, sex, and/or ugliness. "Miserablism" is ultimately a witty put-down directed at cynicism, while "Jack the Lad" explores the advantage of being mentally unstable or ignorant. "Shameless" is one of the most gloriously satirical tunes ever ("We're shameless / we will do anything / to get our fifteen minutes of fame"). "Violence", a melancholy number, is well offset by "Losing My Mind", (also given to Liza Minelli) an upbeat song about heartbreak. From the orchestral "Overture to 'Performance'", to the song about Hitler, "Don Juan", to the experimental "The Sound of the Atom Splitting" and back to the swing version of "Can You Forgive Her?", Alternative shows us songs written via the extreme moods of Tennant and Lowe as well as songs that could just as easily be found on their "normal" albums.
Not only does Alternative give us a clearer picture of the psychology behind the music of the Pet Shop Boys (a group proudly accepting the label "pop"), but it also serves as a tapestry of club life over the past ten or so years, a "historical record of contemporary dance music," in Lowe's words. Consequently, it is one of the top five most important albums of this year and certainly belongs in the collection of anyone respecting the art of songwriting.
Regarding Alternative, Tennant said, "In the 80's, this sort of music would have been called sleaze. It's a very insidious kind of sound..." Thank God for progression. TRACK LISTING: In the Night, A Man Could Get Arrested, That's My Impression, Was That What It Was?, Paninaro, Jack the Lad, You Know Where You Went Wrong, A New Life, I Want A Dog, Do I Have To, I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too), Don Juan, Don Juan (demo), Domino Dancing, The Sound of the Atom Splitting, One of the Crowd, Your Funny Uncle, It Must Be Obvious, We Feel Better in the Dark, Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend, How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously? (Classical Reprise), Losing My Mind, Music For Boys, Overture to 'Performance', Miserablism, Hey Headmaster, What Keeps Mankind Alive?, Shameless, Too Many People, Violence (Hacienda Version), Decadence, Decadence (Unplugged Mix), If Love Were All, Can You Forgive Her? (Swing Version), Euroboy, Some Speculation.
