MatthewCho

Anyone else pick this up or listen to it? I got the blue cover limited edition (contains a bonus disc). You always get bang for your buck with PSB.

Even though I'm a big fan, I wasn't overly excited about this one due to its A/C direction. It's seems to be a grower upon first listen. The Eminem love song is certainly interesting.

The second track on the CD, however, "I Get Along," screams single. It's very Beatles/Oasis and could be the first single of theirs to garner some airplay (probably A/C) in the U.S. since....Very?

What's with 80's electronic groups shedding their roots at the high point of electronic music in probably 20 years? First Erasure's "Loveboat" and now "Release." Thank god for Human League's unkown new classic "Secrets."

How do you suppose this will chart? Top 100? How did "Nightlife" do?

- Matt

Giles

What is the track listing of the second disc?

SubZero

Yep, picked it up today. I had an advance copy but didn't want to listen to it much before the "release." Very different... I think it has some of the best songs the boys have written, but I still wish the production was more on the electronic side. I think the US double is a superb package. Especially for fans who didn't buy the 2 UK singles and DVD, as the bonus cd makes up for that. I was fortunate to score 3rd row center tix for the Dallas Bronco Bowl show on June 1, so I'm sure the album will get lots of rotation between now and then. Any other Pet Heads pick it up today? Also, below is the tracklisting for disc two:

1 Home & Dry (Ambient Mix)
2 Sexy Northerner [from UK single]
3 Always [from UK single]
4 Closer To Heaven (Slow Vers.) [from UK newspaper cd]
5 Nightlife [from UK DVD-single]
6 Friendly Fire [from UK newspaper cd]
7 Break 4 Love (UK Radio Edit) [from Rauhofer collaboration]
8 Home & Dry (Blank & Jones Mix) [from UK promo-only 12"]
9 (enhanced H&D video)

Jon

spuckleman

I picked this up today as well, but my copy did not contain the bonus disc! What a bunch of crap. So I'm off to BestBuy again.

duy37

Are you sure you picked up the Limited Release set? they have slipcovers. I wanted the blue one but at Tower they didn't have any more so I picked up the red one instead. i also paid 18.99 for this but it was worth it. also paid 19.99 for metropolis. tower records is the only close shop by me besides sam goody. best buy is like an extra 4 miles away and i was at school all day and i got out at around 9 so all the stores were closing anyways except for towers which closes at 11 so thats why i picked it up. i had to have it. oh well, its worth it, pet shop boys rocks...i'm waiting for their concert tour...im pissed cause the san diego date is on a Tuesday June 4th i believe and I have class!!! ahhh!!!

duy37

I thought this album was great! Johnny Mar on guitars sounds so awesome. This album is pet shop boys pushing new levels just like back in early 90s with Behaviour. I dont think they shed their roots at all, just take a listen to The Samurai in Autumn. PSB has always been pushing new grounds, for example their Closer to Heaven musical. they're just that talented.

On their website supposedly Release is doing well in Europe and all...I read somewhere that Nightlife sold 100,000 copies in the US after a few months after it was released. I consider 100,000 pretty good since they almost never get any airplay here.

Daryl

I picked up the red cover at Best Buy (with bonus disc). Like every PSB release, I was skeptical at first, only because every musical act I've ever liked over a long period of time has always eventually gone off in some direction that I hate and "fallen off", so I always fear that eventually the PSB will do the same.

With that in mind, I listened to the new album a few times yesterday, then today I realized I already had a few of the songs bouncing around in my head (I Get Along, Home and Dry). So, apparently, once again, they've come through for me with another great album.

Probably won't make the tour this year (none of my friends are PSB fans) - but I went to the Nightlife tour and it was great.

MatthewCho

Rolling Stone Review:

It must be said: The Pet Shop Boys are among the finest British songwriters to emerge from the Eighties. Many rockers might find that notion ludicrous, because they can't get past the British duo's willfully synthetic textures and trend-conscious beats. Yet admirers of melodic craft and pointed poetry -- even those stricken with synth-pop allergies -- should consider Release. Some arrangements remain lush, while others keep computerized time, but the strongest voices on this singer-songwriter affair are
the Pet Shop Boys' vocalist Neil Tennant and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Experience has weathered Tennant with a resigned warmth that extends far beyond "West End Girls." Marr holds back the bombast that has hindered his solo career, and there is nothing here that is vaguely "ironic," a tag that has plagued the Pets. Even "The Night I Fell in Love" -- in which the narrator wakes up next to a surprisingly polite performer who seems to be modeled on Eminem -- is delivered with wide-eyed wistfulness. For this sweet love hangover, these grown-up romantics don't need a cure.

BARRY WALTERS
(April 23, 2002)

spuckleman

Yeah, I specifically sought out the 2 disc set. It had the white sticker on the back of the packaging. Come to think of it, I didn't even notice the single disc anywhere. I only saw the red, pink, and blue covers.