Pet Shop Boys

Alternative

What a rediscovery of PURE GOLD!!!! A masterpiece.

Review Score:

(10/10)
I recently purchased "PopArt", which is a must have greatest hits collection like only Pet Shops Boys could release. In other words, worth every penny even at import prices. It's downright criminal that these guys are not ruling the airwaves here in the US. Because of "PopArt" I've gone back to my Pet Shop Boys CDs and put "Alternative" on and I still can't believe that I'd allowed this masterpiece to remain on the shelves for so long without listening to it.

When Pet Shop Boys released "Alternative", which is a double-disc set of The Pet Shop Boys' B-sides, I bought it because I buy all that is Pet Shop Boys, but since I buy so many CDs sometimes some get overlooked and this was one of them. MY LOSS!!

Far from being a superfluous collection of junk that most artists put out (i.e alternative mixes, unreleased mono, dub versions et al), this album contains a wealth of prime material that could have made for 2 consecutive hit releases. There is not a weak track in the bunch. Accordingly, this collection is a MUST not only for hardcore fans, but for casual listeners as the songs are all hit-worthy.

One of the reasons why this release may be so good as that the boys seem to still live up to the concept that, in pre-CD days, many vinyl singles (45s) includes relevant and even essential B-sides as , for example, is the case with Queen's "We Are Tha Champions"/"We Will Rock You"). In fact, during the heyday of single releases, many B-sides were more popular than the A-sides.

In a nutshell, Pet Sh have complilled 30 amazing songs that exempligy the wit, the finesse, and musicality that they bring to what so many of their peers are content to treat as trash. Although I love ALL the songs, among my favorites are "In The Night", "Paninaro", the amazing piano subtlety in "Jack The Lad", "Do I Have to".....

Also, the insert is extremely informative and gives you a peek into each of the songs. This is no rush job, but rather a masterpiece that was snuck into the marketplace. The boys should re-release this in another form to get new listeners to remind all these so-called dance acts that they are mere amateurs when compared to their older, wiser, and talented peers.

I am listening to the first CD right now and I feel downright idiotic as it feels like an early Christmas 2004 present that I happened to buy for myself in 1995.

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