Behavior.

Pet Shop Boys

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 16, 1990)
• Original Release Date: October 30, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002UWL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #96,858 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Being Boring

2. This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave

3. To Face the Truth

4. How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?

5. Only the Wind

6. My October Symphony

7. So Hard

8. Nervously

9. End of the World

10. Jealousy

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Pet Shop Boys, Behavior --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the Other Side, September 22, 2005

By	J. Brady (PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Behaviour perfectly captures the other side of Pet Shop Boys. Considered. Quiet. Very introspective. Adult. This is an incredible set of songs, one I have yet to tire of. And it hasn't aged a bit like some of their earlier material. I think it is the best the Boys have to offer. In terms of consistant songwriting, lush, rich, layered instumentation and production, and some of Neil Tennant's best vocal performances. Incredibly heartfelt and full of nuances. Every song on this disc is a winner. Nothing here that can be called "camp" or "ironic" ( things PSB have often catered to ). Behaviour is, along with "Very", the peak of the Tennant/Lowe partnership. They have since come very close at times to capturing what is in spades on Behaviour, but they have yet to better it, and I don't think they ever will. Highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nothing short of operatic genius, April 3, 2006

By	cherubino (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This is what a "real" album sounds like, when a band isn't focused on generating two or three singles and padding the rest with filler.

Aside from being a flawless masterpiece, Behavior is a time-capsule of the first years of the nineties. Spirits were high, then, as the end of the eighties saw the tumbling of the Berlin wall, and the thawing of the Cold War. Sure, AIDS was becoming a global epidemic, but there was a grain of hope. Does anyone feel hope in 2006?

Behavior has many things going for it. After scoring a few hits on their prior albums, PSB were free to experiment. The songwriting is top-notch, with briliant lyrics that never sound trite or gimmicky. Each song is carefully crafted, with just the right sound. And, in my opinion, Neil's singing has never sounded better.

As other reviewers have stated, you can't pick our the highlights, because the whole album is a highlight. You have wistful songs (It's Only the Wind, Jealousy, My October Symphony, Nervously), nostalgic songs (Being Boring), urgent songs (This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave, The End of the World), a sexy ballad (To Face the Truth), burning disco (So Hard), and catchy pop (How Can You Expect to be Taken Seriously?).

Although some of the tracks are filled with dry humor and sentiment, they never become maudlin, i.e. Morrissey at his worst. And the most disco-sounding song is nevertheless poignant and accusatory.

I could go on and on forever, but Behavior speaks volumes about itself. It is the definition of perfection.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless, January 25, 2006

By	Canghuixu (California) - See all my reviews

This is a truly outstanding album. Of the various Pet Shop Boys albums, all of which I consider excellent, this is by far my favorite. I still listen to this album regularly, fifteen years after I bought it. In some ways I appreciate it even more now than I did when I first bought, if only because songs like "Being Boring" or "October Symphony" have become easier to relate to as I have aged. Moreover, it doesn't date itself at all. You could listen to it and not really pin it down to a particular year or even decade.

The album, perhaps more so than any of the other PSB albums, has a very consistent voice and mood. I don't know if it was intended as a concept album, I doubt it was, but it certainly could have been one. The songs all hang together as if they are pieces from the life of a specific person looking back over their life filled with regret, loneliness, and a sense of loss.

Other PSB albums may have a consistent musical style, but they are more like collections of songs, whereas this hangs together as a unified and cohesive piece of work. It is the only PSB album that I feel obligated to listen to from start to finish, with the tracks in their original order.

This may sound bizarre, but I would compare it to Steely Dan's "Gaucho" in terms of its timelessness, cohesiveness, and sense of place.