tradiant âñå çàïèñè àâòîðà Actually

Maybe it is no surprise that the strength of the Pet Shop
Boys' second album lies in making the bleak seem
beautiful. Hits like "Rent" spoke of rain ticked meets,
anxiety, a n d prostitution—1987 was, after all, the year
of "Black Monday” and the Zeebrugge ferry disaster:
the Hungerford killings in the UK, growing AIDS fears,
and Thatcher's re-election. And yet for all the darkness
and drama Actually is, one of the decade's most dazzling
pop achievements, its urban vignettes delivered via
melodic electro grooves. Even teenagers on BBC TV's
weekly music program Top Of The Pops were happy to
clap along to a song about Catholic guilt ("It's A Sin").
Following the success of debut album Please, the
duo decided to take time out to write songs for the
follow-up, calling on arranger Angelo Badalamenti.
legendary composer Ennio Morricone, and a pool of
different producers to make the perfect tweaks.
According to vocalist and one-time Smash Hits editor
Neil Tennant, "the idea was to make it more musically
ambitious, bigger sounding."




The sound is immaculate, but somehow deeply
human—much like its iconic sleeve image, which has
the pair in tuxedos and bow ties, Tennant yawning,
Having rejected a painting by Scottish artist Alison Watt
the pair chose the photo from a recent shoot, but than
had to wrestle it from Smash Hits, who were about to use
the image for the cover of their next issue.
Critics on both sides of the pond fell for its charms
immediately, and its singles shot into the UK and U.S.
Top Tens. In a traumatic year, the Pet Shop Boys seemed
to soothe the pain with tenderness and wit. Sophie Harris


Behaviour


Much to their frustration. Pet Shop Boys had already used the title Introspective on their previous studio outing. If any record of theirs ever deserved that name, it is surely this brooding and haunted affair. Neil Tennant commented that with the world in its precarious state, he had wanted to present music that reflected personal turmoil amid global uncertainty. And after recent collaborations with Liza Minnelli, Dusty Springfield and Electronic the duo were brimming with ideas.




Having vowed never to let guitars on board, it is interesting to hear the pair allow former Smiths man Johnny Man to drip his golden plectrum over certain tracks. There is also orchestration courtesy of Angeto Badalamenti, who had made his name through movie work with David Lynch. From the outset the mood is wistful and sober. Tennant casts a nostalgic eye back to adolescence on 'Being Boring" and "This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave." There is a crunching Chris Lowe synth riff on UK hit single "So Hard" and a sneer at rock's political statesmen via "How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?."
But melancholia dominates, with the gorgeous "My October Symphony" and "Only The Wind" being two songs to dream with by a crackling fireside. And the heavenly The End Of The World" finds Tennant urging us to heed prophecies of extinction. It Is alt cosy yet disturbing, symphonic yet somehow sparse. Maybe UK rock magazine Sounds got it right by proclaiming Behaviour "about as good as pop music gets" Garreth Thompson

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