Customer Reviews

Actually

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was introduced to the Pet Shop Boys in 1987, just in time to experience Actually. This was a defining release for me, both as a teenager and for my passion for music. I played the tape constantly while out on school sponsored functions, letting it psyche me up for whatever the competition. Today, Actually still has the same power it did then. When I want to get excited, singing and moving, yet keep my brain engaged, this is always toward the top of the list. Not just for PSB fans, Actually is well crafted euro-pop that features 80s classics you'll remember from summers by the pool as well as classics that never made it to the airwaves.

The release revs up appropriately with "One More Chance" and its car chase intro. It gets your blood pumping and your attitude primed, although it really isn't a dance floor classic. Released as a single, "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" is and absolute classic PSB and dance tune (featuring Dusty Springfield) with great lyrics for everyone who has ever been dumped. Find the remix for this one if you can -- it's great! While not released as a single, "Shopping" is one of my favorite PSB songs ever. The lyrics are clever, the beat and programming hook you, and the refrain is great to yell along with a sneer; it's perfect fodder for the cynics (or realists) out there. "Rent" is a beautiful, classic PSB ballad that really touches one's heart and soul if you let it; this song set a definite standard of excellence. [PSB later allowed Liza Minnelli to record a version for her collaboration with the Boys (on Results) that, while good, didn't quite hit this high standard.] "Hit Music" is a driving dance floor tune that should hit home for the clubbers and music hounds, taking a PSB patented side-stab at "popular" music and the club scene. The slow atmospheric ending is a nice touch -- almost hypnotic. Back to ballad mode, "It Couldn't Happen Here" is dark, haunting, and plaintive for the soul lost and searching for love and meaning in this crazy life. "It's a Sin" is a definite PSB anthem that dominated the airways back in its day. Auto-biographical for many, this one will move you, if not for the poignant lyrics, then the beat will surely get you -- or perhaps its both! A huge single, the remixes of this one are awesome. With its plaintive cry, "I Want to Wake Up" has a great dance beat, but the lyrics stop you short and make you reflect -- do you dance, or do give the song a serious listen? There the boys go again, making you think when you wanna be dancing. Yet another single (with great remixes), I love "Heart" and would really enjoy hearing it as an industrial dance tune. With it's computerized vocal effects and striking strings, Heart is a sure dance floor filler and upbeat love song for the ages -- dance closely with your loved one of choice as you sing along. While I commented that "Rent" is a classic ballad for many, the closing song "King's Cross" for me is THE defining PSB ballad piece. This one weighs heavily on my heart and makes me ponder and almost cry as I sing along. An emotional triumph, I feel cleansed after all the sweat and tears that have been shed while enjoying monumental release.

Having said all that, it is obvious why I give Actually a strong 5 star rating, and I place it easily within my top 50 releases of all time. Whether I compare this release to other PSB releases or simply examine it as a single piece of euro-pop, Actually stands the test of time as a standard of excellence, beauty, and sheer enjoyment of music.

As a recommendation, I would say almost everyone should have this release. Admittedly, you have to have some propensity for euro-pop, dance music, and a desire to actually engage oneself in the music and lyrics would help as well. Whether an angst-ridden teenager or a corporate-ladder-climbing yuppie, Actually contains a lot of classics you'll remember and introduce you to classics you've never heard. No "Actually" jokes here. This release is the real thing for those who really enjoy quality music.

This is definately the album that was a catalyst for their career. With the popularity of their first album PLEASE, this album exceeded everyone's expectations and since then they have been known as the band that always has a hit every couple of years. Bands come and go, some flourish for years and then eventually disappear.

Pet Shop Boys are quoted as one of the first bands that continually keep going regardless of the era or fads that pass through. Their music is original for any decade. This album ACTUALLY is a perfect example of their creative intelligence and wit just beginning.

What makes this album marked as a favorite among fans is not just that half the songs were radio hits, it's more that every song is unique and sounds completely different from the next track. They experiment with numerous types of styles, and often go from electronic to a sudden orchestra of strings and trumpets.

This kind of strange and sudden diversity is their trademark. ACTUALLY is the album that states that this was just the beginning; bringing popular tunes in a more intelligent and sensual manner that goes deep into the soul, and with each new album since they continued to touch listeners through classical, electronic, rock, and even operatic pieces.

An example is the track "Hit Music"--very typical 80's, fun and simple to listen to. In their own blunt way, Pet Shop Boys will go to a slow and romantic pace of action, that lasts for only a few seconds, if not a full minute. But always knowing to bring audiences back to the original sound, they tempt our hearts with quite beautiful, flirtatious chords that wink at you, and stop...and then begin again. This could be why they are known for their live concerts seeming like "stories performed", actors playing out roles as they sing to the side of the stage. It's no wonder why they are asked to write hip musicals. And why not? It's hip music.

Great album to start off with; and just a preview of albums to come in the 90's and into the 21st century.

The PSB have long been my favorite group. I first caught a sight of them on MTV, and ordered their first album, and liked it fairly well. But it was their second album, ACTUALLY, that really did it for me. From the first single released, "It's a Sin" to the follow-ups of "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" "Rent" and "Heart", each song with its accompanying video was a real treat to listen to and watch. I also got the special release album that had the remake of "Always on my Mind", a special packaging that was a brief marketing item. This album will probably stand out as their greatest, when they were at their height of both popularity and musical sophistication. Their next album continued the sophisticated and subtle mix, falling a bit in subsequent albums. But for the "Golden Age" of the Pet Shop Boys, nothing beats this album.

When the Pet Shop Boys were working on the second album their original working title was JEALOUSY but then they changed to the
strangely adverbal "actually". Such a subtle title for a brilliant album.

"One More Chance" was one of the first songs Chris and Neil ever wrote. It was one of their first singles too. But here it gets a high production rework with sound effects of screaching cars and city sounds. Brilliant hi-NRG!

"What Have I Done to Deserve This" a mouthful of a title that sounds like a Smiths song! But indeed it is PSB with Dusty Springfield on this top 10 hit where Neil and Dusty's voices melt beautifully!

"Shopping" is a statement on buying and selling, on society and influence. "We're buying and selling your history...we're shopping".

"Rent" seems so simple at first. The confessions of a kept perosn in a relationship where love is calculated by money and presents. So wonderful Neil really delivers a wonderful vocal on this with the line "i love you, you pay my rent". But further sinsister is Neil chanting at the end the refraim from a Buddy Holly classic "it's easy it's so easy..." The effect is haunting and beautiful.

"Hit Music" brings you back to the dancefloor with the sounds of late 70s eurodisco. So roll up the rug and play this tune and turn your bedroom into discoland.

"It Couldn't Happen Here" was also the title of the movie the PSBoys made. Everyone sees horrors happening in other places and say it couldn't happen here. Moody and atmospheric this song, a very underated song!

"It's a Sin" was an over the top video with the seven deadly sins personified with Neil getting excommunicated! He sings about how growing up in the church he was taught that sin was unescapable. "everywhere I'm going to...it's a sin!".

"I Want to Wake Up" is a personal fave of mine! Just because of the line "i stood at the kitchen sink radio playing, songs like 'Tainted Love' and 'Love is Strange'"!

"Heart" uses a special vocal sampling of vowel sounds mixed and arranged into a rhythm pattern which creates the back beat of this number 1 single in the UK!

"King's Cross" brings us feelings of loss and regret. Unusal way to end an album on a down note but the PSBoys knew what they were doing as this song will stay with you long after hearing.

So have a Heart! It's a Sin not to give this CD One More Chance!
For extra credit look into the limited double CD version with the mixes and bsides added. Either way this album is perfect, actually!

I was so into this album when I was a kid. Everywhere i went I feel like heres a glimpse of Pet Shop Boys music in the air. This is longe before came the depressed period of 90s music such as Grunge, Alternative and all. This music makes me happy. I still love Rent, Shopping, heart and King's Cross tho.

The Pet Shop Boys made a bit of a splash with their first album 'Please', and their greatest hit song from that album, 'West End Girls' remains the classic Pet Shop Boys song, but it took 'Actually' to establish the duo as a group with credibility and staying power. With this album, the Pet Shop Boys became one of the major groups of the 1980s.

The songs on this album are ironic, witty, urbane--all things would not normally associate with pop/dance music. And, surprisingly, none of this intellectual content seems to interfere with the beat and bop as crowds bounce around on the dance floor.

The magnum opus of this album is probably the collaborative effort the Pet Shop Boys did with Dusty Springfield, entitled 'What Have I Done to Deserve This?' This song showcased Dusty, who had been neglected for years by the music establishment, and brought attention to both Dusty and the Pet Shop Boys as being able to reach just a bit further than anyone had previously realised.

The song 'It's a Sin' was a song very much in tune with the hedonistic, decadent London (and New York/California) nightlife, capturing the bittersweet flavour of life on the wild side. Of course, this was also the 'don't ask-don't tell coming out' song for the Boys (more than a decade before they would 'officially' come out), but then, their music reached different levels so that this never was that much of an issue (people variously heard and didn't hear what they wanted to hear in this song). The Roman Catholic Church even asked Neil Tennant to comment in one of their sectarian magazines, remarking that 'no one talks about sin any more'. Rather reminds me of the US Navy opting to use the Village People's 'In the Navy' for recruiting before realising the undertones (or perhaps, overtones, in their case).

Shortly after this album was completed, the Pet Shop Boys did their one-and-only feature film (and may we be spared from such an experiment in the future). It went on for much too long with contrived scenes and no real plot, trying too self-consciously to be artistic and pop-culture-accessible at the same time, weaving together songs (that are subtle and hard to characterise in the first place) into a pastiche of events that didn't flow well.

After this album also, the Pet Shop Boys began their habit of doing a remake after each major album--in this case, it was 'Always on My Mind', a high-tempo pull-out-all-the-stops disco version that remained popular in dance clubs for years, and can still fill the floor on most nights.

In all, if you were to have only one Pet Shop Boys album, opt for Discography. However, if you have room in your collection for two, include this one. The minor songs ('Rent', which was popular in Europe and Japan but not America; 'King's Cross'; 'It couldn't happen here') are great and worth a hearing.

ACTUALLY is by far one of the best records ever done in techno music(techno as in real techno). This album is full of surprises and great songs, you get to love all the songs in here,no matter what your lovelife,religion,financial situation or sexuality is.there's something for everyone, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS? A love story and the serch for a reason why things went wrong, IT,S A SIN An energetic dance tune with social and religious overtones,RENT maybe the best love song of the 80's with lines like:YOU DRESS ME UP, I'M YOUR PUPPET,YOU BRING ME THINGS,I LOVE IT, I LOVE YOU,YOU PAY MY RENT(later re-recorded by liza minnelli),overall this record has a special place in any life-style.maybe cold and dark sometimes but very tastefull. A MASTERPIECE BY FAR.

that I still listen to this album 15 years after its publication in 1987. I was 15 years old at that time and this album with its smash-hit singles was sweeping around..I was not the die-hard fan then; that would be achieved soon later, with the release of "Always On My Mind". But this album always dazzled and still dazzles me with the fantastic opening piece "One more chance" with its cheeky sound, amazing vocal-displaying song by Springfield "What have I done To deserve this", and the mind-boggling "Rent". But the last five tracks (side B on those good old LP days) are simply the best five songs I have ever listened to. "It's A Sin", "I want to wake up" and "Heart" always make me up to my feet and dance around, with a sense of sorrow and longing...But the real gems are simply "It could not happen here" and "King"s Cross", two hard-striking, dark, haunting, heart-piercing ballads: the only two songs that have ever made me cry. Hands down, I cannot help myself but listen to them again&again in a nostalgic deja-vu. I guess I should thank Pet Shop Boys; actually, for what they have all given to me. Will there be any better pop duo or group around? I do not think so and how I wish that Britney Spears or Nsync or other yo-yo (pop)groups or singers just listened to PSB and learnt about lyric-writing, composition and the indispensable thing in music: Songwriting

It is hard to believe that when it was first released, Rolling Stone called this "a mere pop album good for those who like pop".

This is simply an astounding work by the Boys, commercial success of which should have surprised even them, too. The singles seem to be the cream of the cake but one should listen into the album just to see how fine songwriters Neil and Christ are...it is really hard to tell my feelings about "It Couldn't Happen Here" and "King's Cross"...the ultimate pop perfection with strings, abounding orchestral manouvers and heart-felt, socially dabbing lyrics, both are glorious examples of good music, showing that pop can be soulful and heart-wrenchingly dramatic.

It is so sad that many people avoid PSB because of their gay identity. The band and all of their works are top-notch; however, they are not even included in Amazon's essentials while synthetic Depeche Mode and self-repeating New Order are called essentials. PSB are one of the best things England has given to the music industry, sort of a behind-the-curtain heroes that have a favourable influence on all their contemporary "essentials" even if the Boys jumped to the wagon after them.

Spare yourself the big mistake many are trapped into and don't overlook these guys. Start with Discography just to get warm and then move to Actually. You will be always rewarded for the rest of your life.

Among many other accomplishments, at their creative and stylish peak the Pet Shop Boys were responsible for contributing hugely to the definition of a more solid, intellectual and sophisticated face of 80's synth-pop, far from the stereotypes of superficiallity and sterillity atributed by many exceptics to the genre, without losing its funny, catchy shape of party music. Their second album shows Tennant's tiny speak-singing voice going more traditionally melodic, but yet working as a mere channel to the transmission of words, even if it also projects comfort. This album offers a much more focused songwriting then that of their also very good debut, and there is a lot of fun and hits to enjoy here: their first UK #1 'Heart', the lush midtempo 'Rent' and the bombing megahit 'It's A Sin'. The rest of the songs match the melodic and lyric quality of the choosed singles and, as a whole, this album works of an explanation to the question "Why the f**** are there so many bands immitating and re-processing typical 80's synthpop?".