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Product Description
Review
While Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe record their 11th album in LA, Format, a second collection of B sides, arrives as a sequel to 1995’s Alternative. Pet Shop Boys played a vital role in establishing the (once) standard of original, non-album flipsides with West End Girls, and continue to deliver all-new material to back their single releases. And it is here, relieved of the pressure to write hits or adhere to any album themes, that they regularly stretch their experimental wings.
Format picks up in 1996, around the release of the unfairly maligned Bilingual album. From this period come Betrayed, which flirts with drum and bass, and The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On, capitalising on Danny Tenaglia’s Miami Latino groove with its ad-libbed banji rap. These cuts perfectly showcase Pet Shop Boys’ ability to shine when leaving the script behind.
Ironically, some of the strongest tracks on this double-disc release are from a time in the band’s career relatively regarded as weak: the B sides from around 2002’s semi-acoustic Release could have made that good album a great one. The sublime, autumnal electro of Always and Between Two Islands are amongst their finest songs, while how the flipside to 2004’s Flamboyant, the celebratory wig-out I Didn't Get Where I Am Today (with Johnny Marr clearly enjoying himself on guitar), wasn't a single in its own right is unfathomable.
Characteristic of Format is Lowe’s occasional appearance as vocalist, and there’s something indescribably cool about his deadpan rapping of Pet Shop Boys song titles (Shopping, Rent, Being Boring…) on their cover of My Robot Friend’s We’re the Pet Shop Boys. He also appears on the lesser-known Lies, with its punchy, uplifting defiance to a cheating lover.
At 38 tracks, not everything on Format is essential. Transparent is a sketch, albeit one lesser bands might be proud of, and Nightlife’s Bee Gees disco is pleasant enough. But Silver Age and Screaming are best left forgotten, and Party Song is a mistake from the title down.
Highlights are plentiful, however. The Ghost of Myself’s brooding modern R&B, via Britney Spears, finds Tennant ruing his younger self over a pounding piano; and the swooping atmosphere of Bright Young Things is accompanied by some great lines: “In Berkeley Square the bright young things / Are flying on chemical wings / Intent on their one-last-flings.” 2006’s The Resurrectionist echoes their imperial period of the 1980s, and B sides from the (most) recent Yes album campaign – such as Up and Down’s effortless pop, and the majestic After the Event – confirms that Tennant and Lowe have always been songwriters first and pop stars second.
--Tom Hocknell
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Q - March 2012
"Best of the rest from the evergreen pop vets - While love songs such as Between Two Island are full of charm, the character studies (the faded star in Friendly Fire, the bodysnatcher in The Resurrectionist and the vivacious partygoers in Bright Young Things) are masterful."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Northeners,
By Gideon (Italy) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Format (Audio CD)
Just think: how many bands do you know who can afford a quadruple album of essential B-sides?"Format" arrives in a Mark Farrow-tastic box with thirty-eight tracks and a booklet where Jon Savage interviews Neil and Chris about the dark side of the single. Needless to say, they once again turn out to be The Wittiest Couple In Pop, no contest. As for the music: this compilation holds together very well. even if it spans nearly two decades and various genres. We get disco, ballads, techno stomps, rocky bops and a wondrous cover in the form of "We're The Pet Shop Boys", the ultimate meta-pop song that was written by My Robot Friend and later sadly mauled by one R. Williams. It does not end here: these songs also sparkle lyrically, brimming with a variety of themes that are presented with heartfelt, surgical precision. One simply cannot listen to the PSB without thinking of literature; E. M.Forster and Alan Hollinghurst, for instance, keep coming to mind. Mr Tennant's tone and narrative slant are up there, dispensing acute social commentary and poignant stories at every turn. "Format" is therefore a further, pristine addition to the already glorious PSB canon. These northeners really have a way with words and music. How do they do it?
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They are the Pet Shop Boys,
By Kilted Keith (Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Format (Audio CD)
From 1996's "Bilingual" to 2009's "Yes", the PSBs have continued to release a plethora of bonus and non-album tracks with every release and FORMAT does an excellent job of chronologically documenting these. Here, you will find the PSBs at their experimental best, ranging from jungle, latino and electronica to rabid pop and all-out rock. There are too many to review individually, but highlights on the album for me include the guitar-driven "I didn't get where I am today" which could easily have been a successful single and is remininiscent of Beautiful People from "Yes". Johnny Marr's trademark plucking of a Beatles-esque riff under an uplifting melody make it a crime that this song was consigned to B-side status. The Nirvana-inspired "Party Song" is another that would make many of today's young upstarts green with envy that 2 men in their 50s can produce such relevant, vibrant, colourful yet challenging pop after approaching 30 years in the business. Tennant sings with a sneer only Shaun Ryder could rival over an electronic riff which owes more than a nod to "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Sheer brilliance. One other than merits a mention is the strangely disturbing "Gin and Jag" which explores the dark side of the internet. The threatening lyrics match perfectly with the danger-tinged harmonies employed by Tennant.Overall, a wonderous piece of work, which flows, on the whole, with a surprising underlying consistency, despite the changing styles throughout the 38 songs and 13 years spanned. Ideal for a long car journey, at least until the promised 2012 album of brand new material is released.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The packaging is as good as the music!,
By
This review is from: Format (Audio CD)
Although I've always loved the Pet Shop Boys and have all their albums, I've never been enough of a fan to buy all the singles so I appreciate these B-sides compilations.Seventeen years on, 'Format' is the follow-up to the brilliant Alternative and although of comparable quality is a very different collection. What I enjoyed most about 'Alternative' was seeing how Neil and Chris progressed musically. It was almost like hearing them become the Pet Shop Boys, so by the time of the last track on the second CD they have arrived at their unique sound. There's less development in 'Format' because that sound has been established. To that extent this new collection is less of a journey than a series of forays from an established point, so there are some real oddities, tracks that sound more experimental than anything you'd get on an album, for example 'Disco Potential' or 'The Former Enfant Terrible' (great title even if the song doesn't quite work). There are also some ridiculously camp songs too, 'Between Two Islands' and some unexpected instrumentals. This means the album is a bit patchy and I can see certain songs being permanently skipped over. What remains (and it is the majority) is just wonderful and cover the complete soundscape of the PSB. There are the thumping dance numbers, 'Resurrectionist' or 'Blue on Blue' as well the quieter, more thoughtful and intimate tracks (the closest PSB come to ballads) such as 'The Calm before the Storm' a short, elegiac gem. There are also some unexpectedly rocky numbers, 'I didn't get where I am today', for example, and I was glad to see 7" versions of 'Discoteca' and 'No Time for Tears'. My only slight disappointment is a lack of true 'signature' PSB tracks, those songs that combine relentless disco beats with melancholic orchestral arrangements... but because this is a B-side collection (i.e. material that didn't make it on to the albums) that may not be a surprise. Finally no review could omit saying something about the packaging. As always with a PSB release it's as good as the music with a beautiful box, great cover design, two separate wallets for each CD and a fascinating booklet that adds more detail and explanation about the songs. (Shame there's no photo of 'The Boys'). Indeed so consistently good is PSB packaging I can never imagine buying one of their albums on digital download. Non-PSB fans probably won't be moved by this collection, but if you like them this is an essential purchase. It only goes up to 2009... so let's hope that means a third B-side collection will be released one day. I just hope we don't have to wait as long as we did after 'Alternative'.
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