Album: “Release”

Description

Pet Shop Boys: Neil Tennant (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Chris Lowe (keyboards, programming). <p>Additional personnel includes: Johnny Marr (guitar); Chris Zippel (keyboards); Steve Walters (bass); Jodie Linscott (percussion). <p>Recorded at Studio PSB and Sony Music Studios, London, England. <p>RELEASE was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards For Best Recording Package. <p>Those whose minds are fixed on yesterday (read: the '80s) may forever associate the slyly intellectual pop duo Pet Shop Boys with now-cliche electronic dance flavors. Any expectation of nostalgia for such an approach on RELEASE is bound to be met with more than a little surprise. While there are sophisticated, percolating dance beats to be found in "The Samurai in Autumn" and some mildly danceable rhythm loops are heard elsewhere, this is an extremely organic album that occasionally verges on (dare it be said?) rock, or at least pop-rock. The cinematic, piano-driven torch song-in-denial "I Get Along" could have been penned by a more enlightened Elton John. The throaty vocals and lush, orchestral pop accompaniment of "Birthday Boy" bear echoes of Spiritualized's "pop" opus LET IT COME DOWN. Thus, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe manage to retain the tone of their initial vision without falling prey to the creeping morass of '80s retro fever, and good for them.