Tennant/Lowe: Battleship Potemkin [Import, Soundtrack]

Benjamin Schwarz (Conductor), Johannes Keltsch (Performer), Katrin Meingast (Performer), Sabine Grüner (Performer), Victor Meister (Performer), Neil / Lowe, Chris Tennant (Orchestra), Jonathan Stockhammer (Orchestra), Matthias Morche (Performer), Tom Bruhn (Performer), Tom Götze (Performer), Pet Shop Boys (Performer), Dresdner Sinfoniker (Performer), Mancini Pops Orchestra (Performer), Markus Schwind (Artist), Annegret Meder (Artist), Eva Oppl (Artist), Franziska Weiß (Artist), Kirstin Maria Pientka (Artist), Robert Hartung (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Johannes Keltsch, Katrin Meingast, Sabine Grüner, Victor Meister, Matthias Morche, et al.
• Orchestra: Neil / Lowe, Chris Tennant, Jonathan Stockhammer
• Conductor: Benjamin Schwarz
• Audio CD (September 12, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Soundtrack
• Label: EMI Import
• ASIN: B000A2ESC4
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,826 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

A few years after their foray into musicals, the Pet Shop Boys, who are quite possibly disco-pop's most intellectual act, have returned with another project: a live score to Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin. Battleship Potemkin was a silent film made in Leninist Russia in 1925, and tells the (somewhat idealized) story of a revolt among sailors of the Czar's Black Sea fleet. Given the Pet Shop Boys' history of playing with Leninist imagery (take, for example, the lyrics to 'West End Girls'), they were a suitably apt choice to do a live score to this film. 15 tracks. EMI. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Into Battle with the Pet Shop Boys, October 17, 2005

By 

N. Kokoshis (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tennant/Lowe: Battleship Potemkin (Audio CD)

Battleship Potemkin is a beautiful piece of electro-prog (electronic music blended with classical music). Mostly instrumental, but containing a few vocal gems, this is one of the best things I have ever heard from Pet Shop Boys. They have always submerged their artistic inclinations under a shroud of pop and disco, but it occasionally surfaced in remixes, B-sides, and even the first half of their BILINGUAL album. Always afraid of breaking their string of perfect pop singles, this album was even released under their name as composers (Tennant/Lowe) rather than the Pet Shop Boys moniker. Then stickers were placed on the cover to make it clear that this is a Pet Shop Boys album in both writing and performance. In my opinion, it only strengthens their artistic credibility. A large share of the credit has to go to the orchestrations written by Torsten Rasch (performed by the Dresdner Sinfoniker)-- the strings are amazing throughout. But the Boys turn in equally interesting performances. "After All (The Odessa Staircase") is a stunning composition-- one of the best of their career-- with excellent vocal melodies by Neil and an amazing merger of electronica and strings. For a focus on the strings, listen to the opening track, "Comrades!" "Men and Maggots" is one of the most successful instrumental tracks, but there are really no clunkers on this album. The slamming electronic beat of "Nyet" and the mantric chant ("Da....Nyet!") provides a compelling background for some scorching explorations on synthesizers and occasional blasts of strings. The only thing even remotely pop-like is "No time for tears," which was even considered for release as a single. It's a beautiful song, with Neil's high voice at its breathiest. It's a good thing it wasn't released, as this album works best as a continuous flow of music. Even this ballad ends with the rhythms picking up and segueing into one of the album's most beautiful orchestrations ("To the battleship"). There's no way to stop or start this soundtrack-- just let if flow from start to finish.
As a soundtrack to the 1925 silent film, it does get a bit intense by the end, but mostly it is appropriate to the scenes of the film. There are a few scenes where I would have opted for something different, but quite honestly I think this is better than the classical scores that have been used previously. Oh, and if you are trying to get it in sync to the film, you have to hold the CD up at the end of track 3 (where the glass breaks) and wait for the scene in the film where a sailor washing dishes smashes a dish. This is because a large chunk of track 2 was deleted for the CD release. The soundtrack and film should play out pretty much together from that point on. I've watched them together so many times, I'm starting to have visual flashbacks when I listen to the soundtrack alone.
Aside from perhaps "Being Boring" or "Electricity," I think this is the best thing Pet Shop Boys have ever done. It irks me that they have performed it live in Britain and Germany, but we Americans are probably considered too shallow and artless to appreciate it in concert. Personally, I wish the Boys would do a tour where they perform it in its entirety. But alas, I'm living in the memory of the 1970s, when it was fashionable to pull out all the artistic stops and regale fans in the most complex music you can muster. Battleship Potemkin fits that bill perfectly.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classical electronic gem!, October 18, 2005

By 

Melissa (Corrland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tennant/Lowe: Battleship Potemkin (Audio CD)

I've always loved the way the pet shop boys incorporate classical aspects into their pop songs. Some past examples of that are "Jealousy," "Decadence," "My October Symphony," etc. I could go on. That's why I was so excited they were releasing this on cd. Make no mistake, Neil lends his voice on a few of the tracks but it is mostly instrumental and brilliant at that. I really enjoyed listening to this cd. The instrumental arrangements are beautiful and the PSB signature electronic elements are added in to create a well balanced blend of synth-pop, classical songs.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Correct sync information, December 24, 2005

By 

Stuart LEBLANC (New Orleans) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tennant/Lowe: Battleship Potemkin (Audio CD)

The prior review refers to a cut of the film (released in U.S. by Image Entertainment) containing a single block of extra footage, beginning at

00:08:22.969 (butcher sniffs meat)

and ending at

00:13:27.573 (begin dishwashing).

If you pause and then resume the soundtrack at these times the rest of the film will be roughly in sync, including the cues previously mentioned. Enjoy!