On the second anniversary of Hotspot

[lucienchardon]

My current scores:

Will-o-the-wisp 5
You are the one 3
Happy people 3
Dreamland 3
Hoping for a miracle 4
I don’t wanna 5
Monkey business 5
Only the dark 3
Burning the heather 5
Wedding in Berlin 1


Give stupidity a chance 3
On social media 4
What are we going to do about the rich? 3
The forgotten child 3
An open mind 3
No boundaries 3
Decide 5
At rock bottom 3
New boy 3
Cricket wife 5

[minimal]

I don't see any point in rating the Agenda EP as it's not part of the Hotspot area. Also, Agenda marks a low point in the discography of PSB. So I'll just leave that one out.

Will-o-the-wisp 4
You are the one 3,5
Happy people 3
Dreamland 2
Hoping for a miracle 3,5
I don’t wanna 4
Monkey business 2
Only the dark 5
Burning the heather 4
Wedding in Berlin 3

An open mind 5
No boundaries 1
Decide 5
At rock bottom 3
New boy 3,5

[Tenlow]

Will-o-the-wisp 3,5
You are the one 2,5
Happy people 4
Dreamland 2,5
Hoping for a miracle 5
I don’t wanna 3
Monkey business 3,5
Only the dark 4
Burning the heather 4,5
Wedding in Berlin 2,5

An open mind 5
No boundaries 2
Decide 5
At rock bottom 3
New boy 3,5

[Rorie]

The production on Hotspot sounds a bit muddled. Its not a crisp as other albums.

[Dog]

The production on Hotspot sounds a bit muddled. Its not a crisp as other albums.

There’s a definite analogue wooziness about some of the tracks - a purposeful move away from the more digital sound of Electric and Super. I love it.

[Tom Angel]

The blight on Hotspot is Wedding in Berlin, which is actually completely and categorically shit. To think they had drifted from the murky side streets of soho amid wistful synths and wry observations to a sort of novelty record that even Gangnam style would consider cheesy is an indication of how poor they are at electing tracks.

I actually blame chris lowe - he has no idea how good or bad his songs are. Decide and an open mind on Hotspot would have lifted it into almost classic status IMO (I'm aware that might be a bit strong for some), and while I welcome the diversion of burning the heather, it's a bit boring really. the guitar could have been strummed by anyone and the beats feel off the peg. It's not a bad song, but needs more going on.

[leesmapman]

I actually blame chris lowe - he has no idea how good or bad his songs are. Decide and an open mind on Hotspot would have lifted it into almost classic status IMO (I'm aware that might be a bit strong for some), and while I welcome the diversion of burning the heather, it's a bit boring really. the guitar could have been strummed by anyone and the beats feel off the peg. It's not a bad song, but needs more going on.

It was Stuart Price who wanted this track on the album.

[Tom Angel]

Yes, it was, but Chris didn't want Decide on hotspot - or an open mind I don't think - they should never work with Price again for the crime of wedding in berlin alone.

[MikeyC]

Wedding in Berlin is misunderstood! And I don’t care if I’m tarred and feathered (burning the feather?)! It’s a fun, light moment to end the intense album!

[Sithblade]

Wedding in Berlin should have been a quirky/novelty B side track for one of the singles.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[Disco.]

Yes, it was, but Chris didn't want Decide on hotspot - or an open mind I don't think - they should never work with Price again for the crime of wedding in berlin alone.

Yeah, Chris didn’t want Decide on the album Neil and Stuart Price did, Chris’s argument was that he wrote it as a b-side so it should stay a b-side. An Open Mind was the decision by both Neil and Chris, it didn’t fit the cohesive sound of the album, was the reason for it not being included.

[Tom Angel]

What cohesive sound ..? What's so good about Hotspot is that it's a very varied album.

[Disco.]

That’s what they said in an interview cohesive sound and mood. You could ask them a question for Annually 2023

[Pod]

Will-o-the-wisp 4
You are the one 3
Happy people 4
Dreamland 2
Hoping for a miracle 3
I don’t wanna 3
Monkey business 4
Only the dark 2
Burning the heather 3
Wedding in Berlin 0 (can I give this minus 246 please?)

[minimal]

There's probably cohesiveness in terms of what kind of instruments were used etc. when writing and recording the tracks for Hotspot, but the album itself lacks a cohesive sound or mood. I don't see that at all. I also think that Wedding in Berlin as a track is fairly misunderstood. Sure it's a simple track with simple lyrics but the message is beautiful and it's a fun and playful ending to a PSB album which is kind of new. Last truly outstanding closing track they did is Requiem for Elysium and that's a long time ago. Also, Hotspot is a Berlin themed record and therefore I read Wedding as the representation of a city where you can be yourself, do what you wanna do and create identity, existence, a living. Berlin's a great opportunity for people when they move there. And the song captures that to my ears. Yes, it's trashy. But yeah, it's also fun. I like it. Apart from that I agree that An open mind and Decide should've been on the record. An open mind at least to me is one of the best songs they've written in recent years. Would've loved to see this released as a single. Then again I've always imagined Only the dark as part of the soundtrack of a new season of Stranger Things.

m+