Pop Art: The Hits

Pet Shop Boys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000I2ISGS
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,330 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Double CD contains 35 tracks, including two songs previously unreleased in the U.S., "Miracles" and "Flamboyant." This retrospective of the pop/dance duo's hits spans all three labels they've recorded for domestically--EMI, Atlantic, & Sanctuary

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Have Just Discovered This Gem Pick It Up, October 22, 2006

By 

Dorrie Wheeler - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pop Art: The Hits (Audio CD)

I first fell in love with this CD several years ago when I purchased it via Amazon. The two disc set has now been released in the U.S. U.S. audiences most likely best remember Pet Shop Boys for their mid eighties hits such as "West End Girls," "Opportunities," and "What Have I Done To Deserve This," featuring Dusty Springfield.

PopArt includes not only those early hits, but the songs that further established the hit making duo in the 90's and 00's. All of my favorite Pet Shop Boys songs are here. Disc one is "Pop" and Disc 2 is "Art."

The Pop side seems to have more of the upbeat dance friendly songs like "Suburbia," "Always On My Mind" and "New York City Boy," to name a few. The Art disc includes some of the more introspective songs like "Jealousy," You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk," and "Being Boring."

I absolutely love this CD and have all the songs on my iPod. I love their 90s stuff and 00 stuff as much or more than their 80s stuff. The "new" songs on the CD are "Miracles," and "Flamboyant," which I love.

If you didn't get into their 90s and 00 stuff this disc is a great introduction. Modern favorites of mine include "Red Letter Day," "Single-Bilingual," and "I Get Along."

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All the best..., January 7, 2008

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Pop Art: The Hits (Audio CD)

There are several versions of this with minor variations and extra tracks, so be advised to check the listings carefully for the song-selections and tracks. Some have booklets and extra discs; some have different track listings. This one is the basic North American release, without frills, but just the PSB sounds from the hits, which is what most people want in any case.

The first of the discs of this 'Greatest Hits' for the Pet Shop Boys contains 17 tracks (Pop), and the second 18 tracks (Art). For those who are die-hard fans of the Pet Shop Boys, this is a must have, but, for the most part, those fans will find it is in many ways an already-have. The tracks are remastered, but given the high production qualities of most PSB discs generally, there isn't a great deal to be gained from this. There are two new songs, Miracles and Flamboyant (one on each disc), which are both wonderful (and, interestingly, the addition of two songs to the 'greatest hits' compilation matches their performance with Discography, which also had a 'best of' with two new tracks added).

There are the major songs and single releases from all previous albums, so this serves both as a retrospective but also as a handy all-in-one collection spanning the history of the Pet Shop Boys; from that perspective, if you were to have just one CD from them, this would the one. The songs are not in chronological release order (as Discography was), but rather seem almost randomly arranged; all songs but one from Discography are here, with an additional collection of tracks from the later album releases that reached the UK top 20. The division between 'Pop' and 'Art' is subtle, and any lifelong fan will have his or her own impressions as to which songs should fit into which category. The 'Pop' side is more disco/dance music, whereas the 'Art' side is a little more sombre, and the lyrics a little more complex. On the other hand, some songs, such as 'Love comes quickly' would easily qualify for either designation.

This collection represents more than 20 years work on the part of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. For the first several years of that career, they were famous world-wide, and quite a staple in the dance clubs and video programming in America and elsewhere. The first singles collection 'Discography' represented the beginning of the decline of 80s style dance music in America, but the music descended from this type remained strongly popular throughout the rest of the world, as the sold-out concert tours of the Pet Shop Boys everywhere except North America attests to. Many of the songs on this 'Pop-Art' collection will therefore be new to audiences whose interest in the Pet Shop Boys ended the hits from the 'Behaviour' era.

Pop-Art is a must-have for anyone who likes dance music, disco, electronic music, 80s music, the Pet Shop Boys, or who wants to have a complete music collection, but only one version is likely necessary.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great pop album!, September 28, 2007

By 

J. floyd (pac nw) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pop Art: The Hits (Audio CD)

If you want to listen to a great pop album, this is it. They have been doing this for a while now and are really good at song writing and production. For couple of their songs, I prefer the original mixes compare to the remixes on this cd, but overall, it's still enjoyable to listen to. There are too many good songs to list as my favorites but I will say they are probably better than most pop acts in today's market but don't get the recognition.