Customer Reviews

Introspective

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

The Pet Shop Boys have an impressive catalogue of material to buy and listen to and in my opinion "Introspective" especially this version which is remastered and has an additional disc chock full of gems included is truly an amazing feat in sound. If you like new wave / dance music this is an essential recording for your collection at least I think so.

"Introspective" is a one-of-a-kind release from Pet Shop Boys. Is it an EP? A remix album? Or is it a new studio recording? It is all these things and more. The album contains remixes of previously released material, newly recorded songs, and a couple covers to boot. Although "Introspective" is a grab-bag of an album, it's by no means a throwaway record. "Left to My Own Devices" is a stomping disco number, replete with a full orchestra and Neil Tennant's spoken vocals. "I Want a Dog" is a funked-up remix of the original b-side, while we're treated to a housed version of their No. 1 "Always On My Mind." In addition, there's "I'm Not Scared," which Patsy Kensit would later record, and they do a decent cover of Sterling Void's "It's Alright." Though the record is only 6 tracks long, "Introspective" is a triumph of quality over quantity, and at the time, it was the most disco-centric release of their catalogue. If "Very" or "Behaviour" is the duo's best album, then "Introspective" ranks a close second.

More interesting, still, is the second disc, which has rare remixes, demo versions, and songs they originally recorded for Dusty Springfield and Liza Minnelli. The song of note is "I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)" which was a b-side to the single "Heart" but is strong enough to be released as a single.

Without a doubt, this is their best album. Every song on this CD is a treasure.

This my favourite album of all time, and still in 2006 after listening to it again and again i'm still hearing new beats and hooks. This album has so many layers its incredible. A triumph in everyway.

The Mark Farrow cover is up there with anything Pete Saville has done for New Order/Joy Division. A hallmark of true greatness.

It also has the greatest piano solo ever in pop music - I Want A Dog (3:03 - 4:13). Jools Holland on The The's "Uncertain Smile" a close second.

It's Politics, Passion, Dance, Sex, Injustice, Religion and Dogs! A true classic!

Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat... need I say anymore!

just bought this......talk about how music should be....the pet shop boys best.
the uptempo version of always on my mind is just perfect!!!!

In the golden age of the #12 inch single the Pet Shop Boys deliver an album consisting of six house/disco grooves-always excellent,often extatic!"Left To My Own Devices" and "Domino Dancing" manage to be great extended mixes AND great tunes while
"I Want A Dog" pulses and gooses along nicely.The Pet Shop Boys
continue to give dance music a good name with their classy writing,witty lyricism and clever arrangments so even the mechanical nature of the synthesized music sounds pretty cool.
Highly recommended!

The third proper album from the Pet Shop Boys finds itself firmly entrenched in dance club land (at least for 1988, anyway). The disc is a full-length fifty minute LP, comprised of six long-play songs. The concept was to start out with 12" (or extended) mixes of songs, rather than producing four minute pop songs, and *then* having them extended afterward. The result is, for the most part, marvelous.

All of the songs on 'Introspective' are beat-driven dance numbers. What makes them extra special is that they are superbly structured, and actually contain lyrics of great depth and insight. Some of the songs are political, some scathing, one is a cover song, and more than one of them deals thoughtfully with loneliness. I am not fond of the last track, but it is not enough for me to detract much enjoyment from the listening experience.

The Pet Shop Boys re-issued their first six albums in the summer of 2001. Each album now comes with a 36 page booklet of "behind-the-scenes" insight and information, as well as a bonus disc of material recorded from the same era as the album which it accompanies. 'Introspective' has been wonderfully re-mastered, and sounds much more deep, lush, and alive. The effect the re-tooling has had on the beats is superb, and gives the songs a richer tone. There are five previously unreleased tracks on the bonus disc, as well as alternate versions of songs from the album, and b-sides from the singles.

'Introspective' is a solid dance album from the eighties, which contains some of the Boys' best work. The 2001 re-issue version is most definitely an enrichment for the original CD, and is recommended for the serious collector.