Nightlife

Asian only edition of their 1999 album with bonus 3 track VCD, tracks 'I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More', 'You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk' & 'New York City Boy'. 1999 release. Standard jewel case & slimline jewel case housed in a plastic slipcase.

The Pet Shop Boys' Nightlife saved 1999 from being a rather dormant year in techno-pop. Gliding through 12 tracks with a let-us-show-you-how-it's-done panache, these seasoned veterans transition from ballad to body-rocker with nary a hair out of place. Few can use a canned snare fill to full effect like the Pet Shop Boys do on this album, indicative of their impeccable choices in songcraft and matched only by their often deceptively flippant lyrical content. --Beth Massa

The reason dance-pop sustains greater longevity than wordless dance music is because dance-pop is about something. Albums released by the great ones--New Order, Depeche Mode, Erasure, and, of course, the Pet Shop Boys--maintain their appeal throughout the years because the lyrical content is intelligent, clearly narrative, and forever relevant. With Nightlife, the Pet Shop Boys continue to write startlingly honest and lyrically pointed songs, despite 13 years of cultivating an image of vacant boredom and smug indifference. Likewise, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe need not follow trends to keep current. Nightlife is uniquely a Pet Shop Boys album and arguably the zenith of their career. Midtempo techno tracks build out from a disco sensibility. Body-rocking rhythms are softened with sorrowful swells of strings, synthesized vocal choruses, and Tennant's sandy, monotone recite-singing. Conversely, the Boys augment the album's ballads with fat blips of bass line and elusive back beats. Lyrics are as innuendo laden as ever, although this time out (ahem) the veil is thinner than ever. Think the Pet Shop Boys' records will ever get stale? Oh, please. --Beth Massa