PSB vs Underworld

[joe stalin]

Wow.. the opening ceremony rocked but the highlight for me was the underworld soundtrack... but close your eyes, could this have been the boys. Musically its so similar to what the boys at their pomp would have put out.. yet now it feels like its on a completely different planet / division to the dirge the PSB have produced recently (invisible / winner).

Is this a sign of how far the boys have fallen ? Or could the boys have actually produced these ?

For those who didn't catch it... the 2 underworld tracks are

And I will Kiss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM0fiegRbTg

Calibans Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mec8GZkEpD4

I could obviously link to Invisible and the dire Winner.. but I can't bring myself to do it. I'd rather Winner was relegated as a bad dream.

[raggatwin]

Neither of those tracks are as good as Invisible or sound remotely like pet shop boys.....

[DJ Pat]

Sounds nothing like PSB. Another fan clutching at straws it seems

[Drico One]

You'd imagine The Most Incredible Thing never happened.

Underworld got in the show because of their association with Danny Boyle - not because they are suddenly the UK's greatest composers. Were Derek Jarman alive and asked to do the ceremony (now that's a show I'd watch), then you might have had Neil and Chris soundtraking Oliver Cromwell's butchery, the Scramble for Africa, and the Crimean War, with a few deviant Cossacks thrown in to appall the Queen.

Let's not lose the run of ourselves. To non-UK eyes, the show was no great shakes. Yes, people will be polite, but there was no jaw-dropping moment and nobody had a clue who did the music. Slap Battleship Potemkin over the stadium PA while those chimney stacks were rising and you'd have been dissolving in your own ejaculate.

Put on Born Slippy and get yourself the deluxe edition of Trainspotting. The rest of us have a new album from a musical institution to look forward to.

Drico.

[Patrick Bateman]

If Derek Jarman was alive and asked to do the ceremony (now that's a show I'd watch), then you might have had Neil and Chris soundtraking Oliver Cromwell's butchery, the Scramble for Africa, and the Crimean War.

Now, that would have been something. They could have launched into Winner during the Scramble for Africa section too. Neil as Livingstone; Chris as Stanley.

[yves]

Is this a sign of how far the boys have fallen ? Or could the boys have actually produced these ?

What a horrible phrase...

[Drico One]

Let's face it, Joe, the highlight of the opening ceremony was Mr. Bean's keyboard wizardry. Visually, it was the kind of static, disinterested, stock-still performance that Chris used to routinely produce in his pomp. Nowadays, he seems far too interested in pressing two buttons when one will do and his yawns seem less effortless than usual.

Is this a measure of how far Chris has fallen?

No, I didn't think so.

Drico.

[Radiophonic]

With respect to the OP, one of the things I've learned from this forum over the years is never click on a link the says 'this could be the Pet Shop Boys' or 'this sounds like them, listen'. They never are and they never do.

[le petit corbusier]

Any link to that West End Girls moment at the Olympics?

[Firthy2002]

Any link to that West End Girls moment at the Olympics?

It was nothing spectacular, just happened to be a background pick for the parade.

The closing ceremony on the other hand...

[Undertaker]

With respect to the OP, one of the things I've learned from this forum over the years is never click on a link the says 'this could be the Pet Shop Boys' or 'this sounds like them, listen'. They never are and they never do.

Completely agree. It's usually a ploy to give some unknowns a bit of publicity. Unfortunately, those clips are boring.

[le petit corbusier]

Any link to that West End Girls moment at the Olympics?

It was nothing spectacular, just happened to be a background pick for the parade.

The closing ceremony on the other hand...

I see. Would be nice to watch anyway!

[alig]

Well, the beat is reminiscent of "Discoteca". But Underworld have written much better songs than these.

[Mr Love]

And I will Kiss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM0fiegRbTg

Thanks for the link, that is indeed excellent. I also thought about PSB when I heard it on the opening ceremony.

[joe stalin]

I still think that at a recent juncture, probably around 2006, when the PSB released Fundamental, they had a choice to make. Between more electronic pop and that of 'Hooked on classics' with a pop message. To me, this direction has led to where they are today, making records like Legacy & Winner. Such is life.

I just think, that if they had chosen to go with a more electronic feel, (the brilliant demo of IDTR showed what they could have produced), could have conceivably led to them producing something as gloriously wondrous as the Underworld soundtrack as exhibited last Friday night.

Not a million miles from Relentless, Young Offender (live), etc. Just less orchestral, less dissonant, and probably more appealing to some, perhaps only a few, but including me.

As it happens though, the boys took the other track and I fully expect at some point for a tour to feature them with a full orchestra, getting serious at the Barbican. Showcasing Winner.