Pet Shop Boys, Lately: Your Top 20 of the Last 10 Years

[JJ Naas]

1. Decide
2. Axis
3. Inner Sanctum
4. In His Imagination
5. A certain "Je ne sais quoi"
6. Love Is A Bourgeois Construct
7. Leaving
8. A Face Like That
9.Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
10. Brick England
11. Odd Man Out
12. Burning The Heather
13. Risk (TMIT)
14. Will-o-the-wisp
15. An Open Mind
16. Twenty-Something
17. He Dreamed of Machines
18. The Meeting (TMIT)
19. Monkey Business
20. For Every Moment (MUSIK)

[Scottydog]

In no particular order because that’s impossible
1. Thursday
2. Vocal
3. Inside a Dream
4. Fluorescent
5. The Forgotten Child
6. No Boundaries
7. An Open Mind
8. Monkey Business
9. Burning the Heather
10. Dreamland PSB mix
11. Will o the Wisp
12. Invisible
13. Leaving
14. A Face Like That
15. Memory of the Future (Ulrich Schnauss)
16. Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin
17. Burn
18. Say it to Me
19. Brick England
20. The Pop Kids the Full Story

[hotspotnot]

I'm sure if I compiled this list next week some of the lower numbers would move around a bit, but this morning I've come up with...

1 Vocal
2 Happy people
3 Leaving
4 Say it to me
5 Inner Sanctum
6 Axis
7 Invisible
8 Fluorescent
9 Inside a dream
10 Thursday
11 Will-o-the-wisp
12 On social media
13 An open mind
14 Into thin air
15 Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin
16 Wiedersehen
17 Only the dark
18 One night
19 Odd man out
20 A Certain "Je ne sais quoi"

[onzio]

1 ) Vocal
2 ) Leaving
3 ) One Night
4 ) Axis
5 ) Brick England
6 ) The Pop kids
7 ) The Meeting
8 ) Hoping For A Miracle
9 ) Into Thin Air
10) Decide
11) Thursday
12) Inner Sanctum
13) Inside A Dream
14) Will-O-The-Wisp
15) Memory of the Future
16) Fluorescent
17) Monkey Business
18) Only The Dark
19) The Forgotten Child
20) I Don't Wanna

Elysium: 2
Electric: 5
Super: 3
Hotspot: 5
Agenda: 1
The Most Incredible Thing: 1
Bsides: 2
Collaborations: 1

[britboy]

I've put my 20 in alphabetical order...

Burn
Burning The Heather
Decide
For Every Moment (MUSIK)
Give It A Go
Help Me (TMIT)
In Bits
In His Imagination
In Slow Motion (Demo)
Inside A Dream
Leaving
Listening
Memory Of The Future
Monkey Business
Odd Man Out
One Night
Requiem In Denim And Leopard Skin
The Pop Kids
Thursday
You Are The One

[y3potential]

20 The Dead Can Dance
19 A Face Like That
18 In His Imagination
17 Brick England
16 The Forgotten Child
15 Memory of the Future
14 A Cloud in a Box
13 Thursday single edit
12 Burn
11 Entschuldigung
10 An Open Mind
09 Decide
08 Inner Sanctum (second demo)
07 Happy People
06 Inside A Dream
05 Leaving
04 Hoping For A Miracle
03 The Dictator Decides
02 The Pop Kids (the full story)
01 Vocal


As others have noted, it's very difficult to pick 20 songs because I could chop and change several here depending on my mood.
However, the very fact that they are still delivering songs of this high standard going into their fifth decade as a band is quite frankly outrageous and ought to be illegal ! We are very lucky to still have them..

[Debussy]

Surprisingly easy to select 20, as its mostly my current playlist.
Sorted by album...

Hoping for a miracle
Monkey Business
Burning the heather
An open mind
Only the dark
Twenty-something
Into thin air
Undertow
The Pop Kids
Invisible
Breathing space
Requiem in denim and leopardskin
The way through the woods (long)
The forgotten child
Axis
Bolshy
Flourescent
Vocal
Brick England
Help Me (TMIT)

[Nervously]

1 Leaving
2 Happy people
3 Vocal
4 The pop kids
5 The dictator decides
6 Will-o-the-wisp
7 A face like that
8 One night
9 Burn
10 Memory of the future
11 Into thin air
12 Bolshy
13 Hoping for a miracle
14 Fluorescent
15 Thursday
16 Give it a go
17 The forgotten child
18 Requiem in denim and leopardskin
19 Monkey business

5 from Elysium, 4 from Electric, 4 from Super, 4 from Hotspot, 2 other tracks
These 19 tracks were easy to pick, then I had trouble choosing a 20th, so I thought I'd just leave it at 19.

[boyjohn]

Looking at some of these lists, it's amazing to see how much good stuff there is to choose from. If you broke it down in thirds for their career, say 1985-1996, 1997-2008, and 2009-2020, you might say that the last third is better than the second.

[NikacP0kac]

1. Decide
2. An Open Mind
3. Will-o-the-wisp
4. Hoping For A Miracle
5. On Social Media
6. Into Thin Air
7. Burn
8. Undertow
9. Inner Sanctum
10. The Dictator Decides
11. The Pop Kids
12. Vocal
13. Thursday
14. Fluorescent
15. Axis
16. In His Imagination
17. Leaving
18. Invisible
19. Burning The Heather
20. Memory Of The Future

Honourable mentions: Requiem, Brick England, Twenty-Something (yes, I fu*king love it), In Slow Motion (Demo)...oh god, I keep editing this.

[Drico One]

Looking at some of these lists, it's amazing to see how much good stuff there is to choose from. If you broke it down in thirds for their career, say 1985-1996, 1997-2008, and 2009-2020, you might say that the last third is better than the second.

I think you're right. There are so many songs I love from the period you mention, but I don't think the overall standard is quite as high. Drunk, I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more, Integral, The resurrectionist, Fugitive, Miracles, Flamboyant, Birthday boy, Always, Somebody else's business...but then I start to struggle a little. I'm sure I've overlooked plenty, but then, thinking a bit deeper, the comparison is a little arbitrary and unfair. Between 85 and 96, there were six studio albums. Between 2009 and 2020, there were five. In the middle period, there were only three, so I suppose these delineations skew the discussion.

Drico.

[boyjohn]

Looking at some of these lists, it's amazing to see how much good stuff there is to choose from. If you broke it down in thirds for their career, say 1985-1996, 1997-2008, and 2009-2020, you might say that the last third is better than the second.

I think you're right. There are so many songs I love from the period you mention, but I don't think the overall standard is quite as high. Drunk, I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more, Integral, The resurrectionist, Fugitive, Miracles, Flamboyant, Birthday boy, Always, Somebody else's business...but then I start to struggle a little. I'm sure I've overlooked plenty, but then, thinking a bit deeper, the comparison is a little arbitrary and unfair. Between 85 and 96, there were six studio albums. Between 2009 and 2020, there were five. In the middle period, there were only three, so I suppose these delineations skew the discussion.

Drico.

Ya, I guess I did arbitrarily skew it a bit by doing it by years instead of album qty. I did contemplate putting Bilingual into the 2nd group. Not sure it would change my view though. But just the fact that it is even a discussion gives the lie to those who claim that all their best work was decades ago.

[Drico One]

Looking at some of these lists, it's amazing to see how much good stuff there is to choose from. If you broke it down in thirds for their career, say 1985-1996, 1997-2008, and 2009-2020, you might say that the last third is better than the second.

I think you're right. There are so many songs I love from the period you mention, but I don't think the overall standard is quite as high. Drunk, I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more, Integral, The resurrectionist, Fugitive, Miracles, Flamboyant, Birthday boy, Always, Somebody else's business...but then I start to struggle a little. I'm sure I've overlooked plenty, but then, thinking a bit deeper, the comparison is a little arbitrary and unfair. Between 85 and 96, there were six studio albums. Between 2009 and 2020, there were five. In the middle period, there were only three, so I suppose these delineations skew the discussion.

Drico.

Ya, I guess I did arbitrarily skew it a bit by doing it by years instead of album qty. I did contemplate putting Bilingual into the 2nd group. Not sure it would change my view though. But just the fact that it is even a discussion gives the lie to those who claim that all their best work was decades ago.

We know better.

[vincenzosz]

With the success of the new Russell T Davies drama, Its A Sin, there's likely to be a bit more interest in Pet Shop Boys from those who may not be that familiar with their nifty line in highbrow wit, romantic sincerity, and bizarre headgear - all set to a disco beat. Indeed, various charts have shown Discography et al appearing again like reanimated zombies returning for another feed of gooey esoteric brains. But when the thrill of the familiar wears off, some of these adventurous souls may go looking for more recent material as they realise that Neil and Chris have a touch of the undead about themselves too and are still very much alive and kicking. As such, what 20 tracks from the last decade would you recommend to the curious to drive home the point that class is permanent and hairlines are temporary?

My 2011-2021 hitlist would look something like this:

20. A face like that (2012)
19. Monkey business (2020)
18. Sad robot world (2016)
17. Hoping for a miracle (2020)
16. Fluorescent (2013)
15. Invisible (2012)
14. Inner sanctum (2016)
13. Axis (2013)
12. Dreamland (2019)
11. On social media (2018)
10. A certain "Je ne sais quoi" (2012)
09. An open mind (2019)
08. Thursday (2013)
07. Undertow (2016)
06. Brick England (2016)
05. Will-o-the-wisp (2020)
04. Love is a bourgeois construct (2013)
03. The Pop Kids (2016)
02. Leaving (2012)
01. Vocal (2013)

Happy people, I don't wanna, Burn, Inside a dream, and What are we going to do about the rich? narrowly miss out. What strikes me is how difficult it is to reduce the last decade to a top-quality 20. The order is not as definitive as it looks on paper and is fluid in reality. Regardless, that's a pretty magnificent list of songs for any artist in their fourth decade.

What's your list look like? Let's use this thread to discuss our song selections in more depth.

Drico.

I mean, pretty magnificent is accurate. The fact that there isn’t enough room for all the quality songs they’ve made of recent means we’ve got a good problem.
I’ve only been listening since Fundamental, so I’ve always had an unbiased view of their new material. My thought then as is now is that Pet Shop Boys get better with age.
I do love and have great appreciation for their earlier material, but I can’t deny I truly love every era in all it’s sonic splendour.
They are always trying something different, and I love that we never know what go expect, other than it will be interesting.

They are clearing learning from each album, and it’s such a joy to see what direction they’ll take each era.

As for a list, I’m not sure, but Inside a dream is my all time fav, so depending on who I’m recommending them to I’d likely suggest that. PSB have quite a varied style of songs, within their self created “genre”.
So for someone else I may recommend Sad robot world.
Burning the heather is also a track, that like it’s creators gets better with age.

[psbfannyc]

That was fun and a good use of time. Thanks for the opportunity Drico. Good idea.

1. Axis (2013)
2. Decide (2019)
3. An open mind (2020)
4. A certain "Je ne sais quoi" (2012)
5. The Grind (2011)
6. Undertow (2017)
7. Fluorescent (2013)
8. Inside a dream (2013)
9. Vocal (2013)
10.The pop kids (2016)
11. A face like that (2012)
12. Monkey business (2020)
13. Beautiful Launderette (2020)
14. Dreamland (2019)
15. Leaving (2012)
16. Hoping for a miracle (2020)
17. Ich bin Musik (2019)
18. Brick England (2016)
19. Will-o-the-wisp (2020)
20. New boy (2020)