12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic re-issue of a great CD, February 7, 2002
The PSB recently remastered and re-issued their first six albums. "Introspective" has always been my favorite CD by them and I was only too happy to but it again to get all the extras. Disc 1 is the original CD remastered. It sounds great and these dance tracks now thump with extra power. My all-time favorite PSB song is included, Left to My Own Devices, which accomplishes their goal of putting "Debussy to a disco beat."
Disc 2 contains various remixes and b-sides from the era (1988-1989). It has several versions of Domino Dancing, including the lovely, stripped-down "alternative version" and the demo version which is beautiful in its own right, but a mere skeleton of the song it would eventually become. They also include two songs that the wrote and produced for others - Liza Minelli (So Sorry, I Said) and Dusty Springfield (Nothing Has Been Proved, which was inspired by the Profumo scandal).
Best of all is the extras that have been released with this re-issue. The 36-page booklet has tons of pictures and all song lyrics. Plus, the PSB comment on the entire CD and each song. For example, they reveal that "Losing My Mind" was their attempt at doing a ZZ Top type song! Brilliant!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a disco-casa with 6 rooms of 80s disco fun and sorrow, July 14, 1998
An over-the-top symphonic disco-romp called "Left To My Own Devices" finds Neil Tennant reading from the diary of a struggling party animal. In the next room, legendary Chicago House pioneer Frankie Knuckles makes a producer cameo on "I Want A Dog" while in another room Miami-pop legend Lewis Martinee (of Expose fame) lends his talents to the brassy, latin and vacation-esque Domino Dancing. On the patio a housy remix of the boys' hit "Always On My Mind" glides into the celebration of "It's Alright." Outside in the night our tragic hero disappears into insincere streets full of lying actors and barking dogs on "I'm Not Scared." The boys leave the playful freedom of the 80s to return with regretful retrospecitve glances on the LP Behaviour.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
6 tracks worth 15-song albums., April 4, 2006
This is an album including 6 songs but feeling an eternity of pure joy and enthuasism. Opening track Left To My Open Devices should be an anthem in showing how everything in the kitchen sink may work so fittingly...from party animals to Debussy to nasal, rap-like singing to high-backvocals to strings to drum programming. It is a joyful dazzling experience of 6-minute pop indulgence.
The rest is not so different but things go suberp again in their own rendition of "I'm not Scared" in which Neil renders one of his most heart wrenching inquiries into a lying, non-faithful, elusive love, to whom he challenges and invites her/ him to fight against those "dogs"...but as usual with PSB, relations are not that eternally happy moments.
The house club version of Always On My Mind strikes a different chord with a nice interpretation, fully swelling into the majestic and piercing high energy progress of the wonderful single version.
Another hidden gem is a former B side, I want a Dog which is specially remixed by Knuckle for the album, which harbours joyful piano moments.
Introspective is the ultimate commercial-pop combination in Pet Shop Boys' ouvre, closing the circle that started with Please and peaked in Actually, which showcases Boys' brilliance how pop is done, before the duo sadly moved into more experimental waters.
One of the most glorious pop albums of all time, Introspective is ten times the price its tag bears...more accurately, it is priceless.
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