Best of the worst

[Tentenlad]

I have been a fan since West End Girls and the boys rarely put a foot wrong, in my opinion.
However, during 37 years there are bound to be a few lapses in quality…
Songs that I have no reason to ever listen again and should have relegated to obscure 12 inch tracks are:

The sound of the atom splitting ( at least it’s ‘experimental’)
What keeps mankind alive (tuneless)
Some speculation (a mess)
Electricity (just rubbish)
Boy strange (too strange)
Footsteps (pap)
Love is a catastrophe (makes depeche mode sound like the Reynolds girls)
Disco potential (no prospects)
Casting a shadow (dross)
Lies (awful, no lie)
The former enfant terrible (arty farty)
Legacy (dreadfully out of tune to a 70s game show beat)
Breathing Space (makes Winner sound good)
Ego music (load of Pooh)
Hold on (Elaine page b-side)
Pazzo! (No)
Burning the heather(being their most boring)
Wedding in Berlin (why?)
Monkey business (so bad it is actually scary)

Anyone agree?

[jasonjohn]

I dunno, but this is probably the worst forum post relating to them

[Spittingcat]

Some of my favourites in that list. Different strokes for different folks.

[DopeFiend]

Here's my list of "unlistenable" PSB tracks. Ones I instantly skip.
I'll break them up into eras and albums:

80's: What Keeps Mankind Alive

Nightlife: Closer To Heaven, Boy Strange, Playing in the Streets, The Ghost Of Myself, Paris City Boy, Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus, cast version of Closer To Heaven soundtrack.
Release: The Night I Fell in Love, Kazak, Party Song,
Disco 4: Walking on Thin Ice (Pet Shop Boys electro mix), Hooked on Radiation (Pet Shop Boys Orange Alert mix), Mein Teil (PSB There Are No Guitars on This mix)
Fundamental: I'm With Stupid
Yes: Together, Gin and Jag, More Than a Dream, Building a Wall, Glad all Over
Most Incredible Thing, Most Incredible Thing Demos.

2010's: Everything Means Something, Axis, Shouting in the Evening, Groovy, Pazzo!, Wiedrsehen, Give Stupidity A Chance, What are we going to do about the rich?, Soup, Dreamland (sorry!)

2020 onwards: My Beautiful Laundrette minus the songs with vocals, Queen Of Ice (Pet Shop Boys Remix), Insanely Alive (Pet Shop Boys Maxi Mix/Radio Mix), Living in the Past.

Honorable mentions: Hit Music, Electricity, Patience Of A Saint, Sodom and Gomorrah Show, Purple Zone, Cricket Wife, The White Dress, Inside a Dream, Bolshy, Happiness, Wedding In Berlin, Inside, All Over the World, The Night is a Time To Explore Who You Are, Hotspot album in instrumental, We All Feel Better in the Dark.

And now, a commentary on OP's list.

The sound of the atom splitting ( at least it’s ‘experimental’)
I quite like this song. The acid house aspects, but it's really about the inflections on the spoken vocals that I enjoy. As someone who has a career in speaking and is fairly deliberate with their tone, I really enjoy how each line is delivered in a characteristic way. I also enjoy the abstract scenario described, I like picturing it as some sort of Rocky Horror Picture Show stage play. Strange men with stockings on their heads hitting a sheet of corrugated iron, Neil at the front of a stage or lecture telling people off, etc.
What keeps mankind alive (tuneless)
Agreed.
Some speculation (a mess)
Atmospheric. The music matches the lyrics. I like it.
Electricity (just rubbish)
Agreed. I like the San Francisco sample and the spoken word rap though.
Boy strange (too strange)
Agreed.
Footsteps (pap)
I like this song, the sitar (?) sound among other PSB sounds like the choir during "whenever trouble comes around..or lonely nights lead underground" It's a real comfort song for me. Has a good middle eight as well. A solid track in my opinion.
Love is a catastrophe (makes depeche mode sound like the Reynolds girls)
Used to dislike this song, but I really enjoy it now. The raw emotion. The way the music matches the vocals, the feeling of emptiness and pottering about. The way it develops too is pretty clever. A heartfelt ballad "pain, like a cutter's knife. Never been lonelier....in my life" I completely ooze over the lyrics in this song. "Revealed, as so naive. To think I could believe, in love. As the kindest law, not as a declaration of war. On my life and sanity" etc. I like how it's laboured too.
Disco potential (no prospects)
I like the drum & bass. I like the energy and vibe
Casting a shadow (dross)
Agreed. A real snoozer. It's the song they made for watching an eclipse or whatever. Not terrible though in my opinion.
Lies (awful, no lie)
Find this song refreshing. Bonus points for Chris vocals too.
The former enfant terrible (arty farty)
Agreed not a great one. Sounds all right to me though.
Legacy (dreadfully out of tune to a 70s game show beat)
That's it...the end..but you'll get over it, my friend.
I don't mind this song, the middle 8 is terrible though with the circle music and non-english. The other lyrics are a bit bogus too, not sure what a lot of the lines are meant to be about. Still okay in my books though.
Breathing Space (makes Winner sound good)
I stood, for some breathing space. I like this one, but it's a bit slow. Have to be in the right mood.
Ego music (load of Pooh)
I like the spoken word rap, and the witty inflections. Good on PSB to try a half-step beat. Not the best song though.
Hold on (Elaine page b-side)
Snoozer of a song. I enjoy it though.
Pazzo! (No)
Agreed.
Burning the heather(being their most boring)
Love this song, autumn is he-re, and they're BUR-ning the heather..
A well put together track in my opinion.
Wedding in Berlin (why?)
Agreed, a real shocker. Odd inclusion on the album, I guess it serves as an odd palate cleaner to just throw off the listener. It's not terrible, but there's obviously very little substance. "Married..married..married.." then the wedding song plays without any other sounds happening, it's a bit jarring to listen to.
Monkey business (so bad it is actually scary)
The thing I dislike about this song is the lack of originality. The blipping sounds in the background is just lifted from Wordy Rappinghood. The piano near the end is lifted from Kraze - The Party, and the vocals are copied from Shawn Michaels Theme Song including delivery and lyrical content.
It's not a terrible song overall. I like the different style of Neil's voice. Shouty Neil as we call it.

[domino]

One man's trash is another man's treasure …

[Tentenlad]

I dunno, but this is probably the worst forum post relating to them

Lucky for us, it’s a free world where we can have opinions different to each other

[leesmapman]

Some of my favourites in that list. Different strokes for different folks.

absolutely. Some Speculation is fantastic imho

[ype]

Some of my favourite songs are mentioned here.
But I guess everyone has different songs they can't stand.
For me, album tracks I really don't like are:

Building a wall
Legacy
Ego music
Everything means something
Groovy

As for b-sides:
Party song
The former enfant terrible
Glad all over

As for further listening stuff, I've never made it to the end of Motoring. And I'm afraid I've never made it to the end of Cricket wife either.
God, I hope the boys don't read this topic :-p

[domino]

God, I hope the boys don't read this topic :-p

Chris would read 40 % and say: Yap, crap.

[ea39]

I hate all of their songs. Every single one. Except Electricity.

[MikeyC]

Some speculation is among my all-time favorites!

I also happen to love Pazzo! and Wedding in Berlin.

[leesmapman]

There is only one track I tend to skip and that's the only one.
I mean The Only One.

[MikeyC]

There is only one track I tend to skip and that's the only one.
I mean The Only One.

It’s better than Hold on!

[leesmapman]

I do like Hold On. An un - Pet Shop Boys -ish track, but I like listening to it.

[Nervously]

I like most of the OP's list

My list:
"The Truck Driver and his Mate"
"Lies"
All of Release except "Home and Dry", "Samurai", Here" and "You Choose"
"Together"
"Winner"
"Breathing Space"
"Happiness"
"Dreamland"

That's all I can think of right now. Some of their other later b-sides and album tracks are less than scintillating but don't actively annoy me like those listed above,