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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very exciting new PSB release!, 11 Nov 2009
I just heard the new version of "All Over The World" and it's good remix, an improvement on the album version and is a great start to this new EP which I guess the Pet Shop Boys are hoping might propel them to the top of the charts this Christmas. Likely that wont happen due to the X Factor which is a shame and a total bore. You almost wish they'd discount X Factor entrants to the singles chart.
Anyway, that's off subject...this CD boasts 5 new tracks. The aforementioned remix of "All Over The World" which is a cracker, and the Boy's cover version of Madness' "My Girl" which if you YouTube it you'll be able to see footage of at the "Can You Bear It" concert where they played live with Suggs!
Next off is a new version of "It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas" which was formerly only released as a fan club giveaway (and also on a US only Elton John compilation CD) - a new version is most welcome from this long time fan, and should prove popular on the radio during the season.
Then we have a remodelled mix/mashup of "Domino Dancing" with Coldplay's "Viva La Vida". Again you can hear this online at YouTube when the Boy's played this live on tour. This version is new studio version and I think is very exciting and might even get Coldplay die hards to buy a PSB single!
Finally there is an unreleased remix of "My Girl". Maybe a stocking filler, but I don't think you can really go wrong with it.
This is a much much better release than anything the Boys have put together this year - maybe they have finally got their proverbial "poop" together after the poor management and bad decisions that have plagued them since the release of their first single, "Love Etc." this year. I have high hopes for this and if it doesn't get AT LEAST into the top 5 this Christmas season, there is something very wrong with the music buying public.
Nice one Boys!
*** POST CHART EDIT ***
So, this made No.40, just scraping into the chart. Thank goodness the Rage Against The Machine campaign won through to keep X-Factor off the top spot, but this is pitiful. If I was Neil and Chris, I'd quit right now. Not because I want them to, but because we don't need to see output of such a high calibre reduced to the bargain bin so quickly. Cowell should be ashamed of what he's done to the British pop charts.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic new release from PSB!, 15 Nov 2009
Finishing off what has been an amazing year for the Pet Shop Boys, December sees them releasing this brilliant 5-track Christmas EP. First off is a new version of It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas, a track originally released in 1997 as a fan-club exclusive. It's full of festive cheer with bells and all! Upbeat and full of classic PSB humour, it's a charming little track.
My Girl is even better, a cover of the classic Madness track. Beefed up from the original demo appearing on the Boys' site in 2008, the chorus is perfection. We also get the extended `Our House' mix later on the EP which ups the dance vibe and adds some trancey synth hooks in.
Appearing as in many ways the 4th single from the Boys' Yes album we get a new version of the amazing All Over The World. Personally i prefer the original version but this one suits the Christmas feel of the EP with a new, dreamy string section. It feels softer and i think on the whole fans are just glad that this wonderful track is getting the exposure it finally deserves.
And lastly, we have, what was for me anyway, the thing i had been looking forward to most on this EP - the studio version of the awesome Viva La Vida / Domino Dancing mash-up the Boys' had performed live on tour. Now, listening to it here, it's still fantastic, but it lacks the all-out `WOW!' factor of experiencing with a live audience. The track feels a little flat and the 1 minute drum intro could possibly have been cut. The Domino Dancing synth hook is just as infectious as ever though and the Boys' version of Coldplay's hit song is extremely well done indeed.
The only other thing that could have made this EP even better would have been the Boys' version of The Loving Kind - the song they wrote for Girls Aloud. Nevertheless, this is a great release and a must-buy for Pet Shop Boys fans.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Coldplay cover should have been the a-side, 15 Dec 2009
In fact Coldplay have never sounded better than on the Pet Shop Boys' version of "Viva la Vida" - I can't work out whether it's meant to be a bit of a mickey-take or not, but it works very well. It's not unlike PSB's version of "Where the Streets Have No Name", but better - primarily because it's not as heavy on the irony.
As for the remainder of the EP, there's another cover version - a solid take on Madness's "My Girl" (though the second mix is surplus to requirements as it's not that much different); and a revised version of "All Over The World" which sounds better for its beefed-up orchestration although it was never, for me, one of the standouts from the last LP Yes.
The lead track, "It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas", might have worked (or at least gone unnoticed) as a b-side, but hackneyed themes of there being nothing on the telly and families fighting at Christmas, coupled with uncharacteristically poor production (the sound is MP3 quality) really disappoint. Which is a shame because the Pet Shop Boys have what it takes to make a classic atmospheric Christmas record - but this is not it. It seriously makes me wonder if Neil and Chris hate Christmas so much that their way of articulating it was to release something on a par with late 80s autopilot Stock Aitken and Waterman.
My advice is - ignore the "a-side", the rest is top notch PSB material.
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