Pet Shop Boys - Pop Art: The Hits

Double CD contains 35 tracks, including two songs previously unreleased in the U.S., "Miracles" and "Flamboyant." This retrospective of the pop/dance duo's hits spans all three labels they've recorded for domestically--EMI, Atlantic, & Sanctuary Album Description

Great

Pop Art: The HitsExcellent production like other ones from Them. Price and disponibility from Amazon great March 19, 2008

All the best...

There are several versions of this with minor variations and extra tracks, so be advised to check the listings carefully for the song-selections and tracks. Some have booklets and extra discs; some have different track listings. This one is the basic North American release, without frills, but just the PSB sounds from the hits, which is what most people want in any case.

The first of the discs of this 'Greatest Hits' for the Pet Shop Boys contains 17 tracks (Pop), and the second 18 tracks (Art). For those who are die-hard fans of the Pet Shop Boys, this is a must have, but, for the most part, those fans will find it is in many ways an already-have. The tracks are remastered, but given the high production qualities of most PSB discs generally, there isn't a great deal to be gained from this. There are two new songs, Miracles and Flamboyant (one on each disc), which are both wonderful (and, interestingly, the addition of two songs to the 'greatest hits' compilation matches their performance with Discography, which also had a 'best of' with two new tracks added).

There are the major songs and single releases from all previous albums, so this serves both as a retrospective but also as a handy all-in-one collection spanning the history of the Pet Shop Boys; from that perspective, if you were to have just one CD from them, this would the one. The songs are not in chronological release order (as Discography was), but rather seem almost randomly arranged; all songs but one from Discography are here, with an additional collection of tracks from the later album releases that reached the UK top 20. The division between 'Pop' and 'Art' is subtle, and any lifelong fan will have his or her own impressions as to which songs should fit into which category. The 'Pop' side is more disco/dance music, whereas the 'Art' side is a little more sombre, and the lyrics a little more complex. On the other hand, some songs, such as 'Love comes quickly' would easily qualify for either designation.

This collection represents more than 20 years work on the part of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. For the first several years of that career, they were famous world-wide, and quite a staple in the dance clubs and video programming in America and elsewhere. The first singles collection 'Discography' represented the beginning of the decline of 80s style dance music in America, but the music descended from this type remained strongly popular throughout the rest of the world, as the sold-out concert tours of the Pet Shop Boys everywhere except North America attests to. Many of the songs on this 'Pop-Art' collection will therefore be new to audiences whose interest in the Pet Shop Boys ended the hits from the 'Behaviour' era.

Pop-Art is a must-have for anyone who likes dance music, disco, electronic music, 80s music, the Pet Shop Boys, or who wants to have a complete music collection, but only one version is likely necessary. January 7, 2008

great pop album!

If you want to listen to a great pop album, this is it. They have been doing this for a while now and are really good at song writing and production. For couple of their songs, I prefer the original mixes compare to the remixes on this cd, but overall, it's still enjoyable to listen to. There are too many good songs to list as my favorites but I will say they are probably better than most pop acts in today's market but don't get the recognition. September 28, 2007

Pet Shop Boys Clean Up...

I am not a huge fan of the Pet Shop Boys by any means... but I do enjoy this double CD set. I suppose the PSB's are a guilty pleasure? Regardless, the music here is fine and a welcome break from my old school ways. As cross over music from my usual classic rock staple based day, I find much to enjoy here. I suppose I would advise anyone looking for a change and or something new, to give these two guys a try.

Just pretend they are Steely Dan's kids and the notes will go down just fine. May 25, 2007

Great collection and 2 new-ish tracks.

I say new-ish because this compilation was issued quite a while ago and I just picked it up recently. Just one of the greatest bands ever. Always fresh and exciting how they blend pop, rock, orchestra and disco. PSB is not just for gays! January 3, 2007

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