Disco 3 is 20 years old

[jasonjohn]

I've said it before, but for me Disco 3 was a very significant release because it arrested the period of decline and inconsistency that had effectively commenced the moment after Very was put on the record store shelves, 10 years prior.

Why would they want to reset from the previous 10 years of work?

I get it some tracks on Disco 3 are a little more electronic and Electric the album proved a fan favorite.

But Nightlife and Bilingual both had some exceptional pop moments. I don't see them as "decline"

And Disco 3 has it's share of misjudgement. The new tracks are cool, but the remixes aren't exactly Disco 1986 level

[telys]

I've said it before, but for me Disco 3 was a very significant release because it arrested the period of decline and inconsistency that had effectively commenced the moment after Very was put on the record store shelves, 10 years prior.

Why would they want to reset from the previous 10 years of work?

I get it some tracks on Disco 3 are a little more electronic and Electric the album proved a fan favorite.

But Nightlife and Bilingual both had some exceptional pop moments. I don't see them as "decline"

And Disco 3 has it's share of misjudgement. The new tracks are cool, but the remixes aren't exactly Disco 1986 level

Exactly. Disco remixes are flawless, they never reached that level with Disco 2-4. Disco should've been a one off and not a series of decline.

[leesmapman]

Disco 4 is the 2nd best in the series. I won't change my mind about this (unless Disco 5 is brilliant)

[Patrick Bateman]

Why would they want to reset from the previous 10 years of work?

I get it some tracks on Disco 3 are a little more electronic and Electric the album proved a fan favorite.

But Nightlife and Bilingual both had some exceptional pop moments. I don't see them as "decline"

And Disco 3 has it's share of misjudgement. The new tracks are cool, but the remixes aren't exactly Disco 1986 level

Disco 3 sounds like early PSB and is influenced by the electroclash zeitgeist; by 2003 they'd been around long enough to sound contemporary again.

While Bilingual and Nightlife have their merits, they're not what you'd associate with the PSB sound of Please and Disco. I think that's what Petheads welcomed; the opportunity to relive those visceral, euphoric and amyl-fuelled blasts of the mid-80s.

[telys]

Why would they want to reset from the previous 10 years of work?

I get it some tracks on Disco 3 are a little more electronic and Electric the album proved a fan favorite.

But Nightlife and Bilingual both had some exceptional pop moments. I don't see them as "decline"

And Disco 3 has it's share of misjudgement. The new tracks are cool, but the remixes aren't exactly Disco 1986 level

Disco 3 sounds like early PSB and is influenced by the electroclash zeitgeist; by 2003 they'd been around long enough to sound contemporary again.

While Bilingual and Nightlife have their merits, they're not what you'd associate with the PSB sound of Please and Disco. I think that's what Petheads welcomed; the opportunity to relive those visceral, euphoric and amyl-fuelled blasts of the mid-80s.

It all went south with Paninaro '95. Weird release. They've should've kept that song as a b-side to a live version from Discovery, live version of West End girls celebrating its 10th anniversary.

[leesmapman]

Paninaro 95 makes perfect sense as a release to promote Alternative

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

But Nightlife and Bilingual both had some exceptional pop moments. I don't see them as "decline"

Compared to the near faultlessness of Please, Actually, Introspective, Behaviour and Very, it's hard not to.

Obviously taste is a subjective matter, but I'd be quite confident that if Pet Shop Boys fans ranked their albums, the majority would have Nightlife, Release and likely even Bilingual in the bottom half of that ranking.

To have a run of three consecutive albums that would fall within the bottom half a band's career output is not an insignificant low-point (and that's to say nothing about the musical).

It's great to be a fan of their works, but this isn't an Erasure forum where we unrealistically give everything 11/10. It's fine to think that some songs and albums are relatively stronger or weaker than others, and I think 1994-2002 was a period where the "hits and misses" ratio was at its worst. Others are welcome to disagree.

Retro.

[tottenhammattspurs]

Paninaro 95 makes perfect sense as a release to promote Alternative

Paninaro 86. Synth pop perfection
Paninaro 95. Meh.

[negative_0ne]

disco 3 was an ok, but rather 'mixed' 'release'. ha ha

anyways, i do enjoy remixes, but none of them were as good as anything
previously released, and redoing paninaro was a poor choice too.

i wouldn't hear it until years after it came out. after 'very' i didn't pay attention
to the pet shop boys, until 'yes' came out.

later
-1

[G_Goalden]

I thought the Peel session was really exciting - especially when JP was defending them against all the people who only wanted sessions from obscure German techno artists. To have it (in part) on Disco 3 was great - it was probably the last thing I ever recorded off the radio onto a C-90.

I might dig it out tomorrow for a proper listen.

[G_Goalden]

I thought the Peel session was really exciting - especially when JP was defending them against all the people who only wanted sessions from obscure German techno artists. To have it (in part) on Disco 3 was great - it was probably the last thing I ever recorded off the radio onto a C-90.

I might dig it out tomorrow for a proper listen.

Having done this (the Peel Session) - it really did sound excellent.

... "To the handful of malcontents who felt that for some reason that we shouldn't have the Pet Shop Boys on the programme - if I told you they were something like ''Eins Zwei Drei' from Mülheim', you'd think they were wonderful."

How often do DJ's publicly slag off their audience?

[TallThinMan]

I listened to Disco 3 yesterday for the first time in a very long time. I’m sorry to say that it hasn’t aged well. For me it’s blighted by the heavily processed vocals.

Best tracks are Somebody Else’s Business and the Genuine Piano mix of London, although the latter is an odd inclusion for an album entitled Disco. I’d have liked to have seen this version of London lose the vocal effects and synth stabs and replace the version of the song that was on Release. It’s far superior.

[Dog]

Pls ignore, wrong thread.

[boyjohn]

I listened to Disco 3 yesterday for the first time in a very long time. I’m sorry to say that it hasn’t aged well. For me it’s blighted by the heavily processed vocals.

Best tracks are Somebody Else’s Business and the Genuine Piano mix of London, although the latter is an odd inclusion for an album entitled Disco. I’d have liked to have seen this version of London lose the vocal effects and synth stabs and replace the version of the song that was on Release. It’s far superior.

London is one of those songs that I wish they would revisit. It's such a pretty song, beautiful melody and intriguing lyrics. I don't think it fits with the production style of Release though. And I really want to hear that fabulous bridge sung without the processing.