Hotspot: 1 year old today

[Future Lover]

I prefer Side 2, or the stretch of tracks from 5-9 specifically.

[Spittingcat]

But isn't it the lyrical link (i.e. Berlin) that is the reason they're sequenced together?

I don’t really care, if the result is an album with a false start that isn’t as enjoyable to listen to as it might be. You could resonantly argue that having two songs about Berlin bookend the album makes just as much sense anyway.

[NotInvisible]

Hate to burst your bubble, but Elysium doesn't reflect LA at all (I've lived here for 27 years after leaving the UK).

It's not meant to reflect Los Angeles. It's meant to reflect a certain LA sound from the past, which it does.

[df118junkie]

Hate to burst your bubble, but Elysium doesn't reflect LA at all (I've lived here for 27 years after leaving the UK).

It's not meant to reflect Los Angeles. It's meant to reflect a certain LA sound from the past, which it does.

Give me examples

[leesmapman]

Shakespeare's comedies, like this album, always end with a wedding. Does that mean Hotspot is a Shakespearian comedy? I don't know, but I do know that a gay man singing "We're getting married" could never been done 20 or maybe even 10 years ago.

[Future Lover]

I don't know, but I do know that a gay man singing "We're getting married" could never been done 20 or maybe even 10 years ago.

Uh oh, don't write this, a certain troll might see the word "gay" on the forum and demand the track to be erased from existence.

[cupoftea]

Future Lover, the now fool. Fantastic album, I would add Decide and an Open Mind to improve it.

[markrobertnolan]

Monkey Business, Dreamland and Will-o-the-wisp are the good ones of this album. Happy People is not bad either but it sounds a bit like a B-side. Only the Night is also a little gem.

But the rest of it, it's not for me.

If you only like half the album, then why are you even on this forum?

What? So we all MUST like EVERYTHING and be a sycophant to be on this forum? Be gone with you.

[Gabby]

Hate to burst your bubble, but Elysium doesn't reflect LA at all (I've lived here for 27 years after leaving the UK).

It's not meant to reflect Los Angeles. It's meant to reflect a certain LA sound from the past, which it does.

Maybe the actual experiences of people in LA and Berlin is whats at issue here. Not having been to either city I find the albums still give me a sense of those places - call it romantic willing suspension of disbelief. To me they speak to both cities very well in my minds eye.

I stick with my initial conjecture that Elysium and Hotspot conjure up LA and Berlin images exactly as the Boys intended.

[Marie loves PSB]

I still like listening to this album.

[Tom Angel]

Hoping for a miracle is the highlight for me.

On Waterloo Bridge you got lost in the fog
Performing a crazy monologue
About love and luck
And do they coincide?

And those lyrics, 'firing verbal shots, like a tommy gun', Amazing. and the atmosphere is foreboding and yet elegantly positive. The mysterious vocoded voice and the driving, soaring strings. It's immaculate PSB.

You are the one is a bit bland, but listenable, while Wedding in Berlin is just plain embarrassing. It's hard to believe it was was even a good idea at the time. Why they didn't put on open mind and Decide on the album is beyond me. It's make it a genuine PSB classic.

As has been the case since Very they need other people to choose the track listing of their albums. They don't seem to have the eye anymore.

[Tenlow]

Still like the album and listen to it from time to time.

Highlights for me remain: "Hoping for a miracle", "Only the dark", "Happy People" and "Burning the heather".

"Will-o-the-wisp" is good, as are "I don't wanna" and "Monkey Business".

"You are the one" is bland but listenable. "Dreamland" is an okay-ish pop song but nothing more really. "Wedding in Berlin" is terrible and will always be that. What a bad way to end the album.

I would have included "An Open Mind" for sure, get rid of "Wedding in Berlin" and end with "Decide" instead. It would have been a much better album that way.

[telys]

Monkey Business, Dreamland and Will-o-the-wisp are the good ones of this album. Happy People is not bad either but it sounds a bit like a B-side. Only the Night is also a little gem.

But the rest of it, it's not for me.

If you only like half the album, then why are you even on this forum?

What? So we all MUST like EVERYTHING to be on this forum?

Yep, sort of.

[telys]

Hate to burst your bubble, but Elysium doesn't reflect LA at all (I've lived here for 27 years after leaving the UK).

It's not meant to reflect Los Angeles. It's meant to reflect a certain LA sound from the past, which it does.

I stick with my initial conjecture that Elysium and Hotspot conjure up LA and Berlin images exactly as the Boys intended.

Exactly. The line "On Waterloo Bridge you got lost in the fog", is sooo Berlin! Not to mention "autumn is here and they're burning the heather, sheep dogs are running..."
And Leopard and denim skin is sooo about LA
The PSB are just being ridiculously pretentious claiming to be aiming for a Berlin sound, or LA sound. Laughable. Damn good songs though.

[tucky101]

Hoping for a miracle is the highlight for me.

On Waterloo Bridge you got lost in the fog
Performing a crazy monologue
About love and luck
And do they coincide?

My favourite track too. Gorgeous