Search - Pet Shop Boys :: Actually

One of my Favorite Albums out of the Wonderful 80s

gobirds2 | New England | 02/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Pet Shop Boys were and still are phenomenal. Back then in1987, still enamored with a-ha I was looking for more, something with that 80s sounds yet unique and original. I first heard "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" with Dusty Springfield of all people doing this song with the Pet Shop Boys on the radio. I sought out the Pet Shop Boys album "Actually" and found it to be very good and just what I was looking for. Their very melodic pop dance sounding music with great lyrics, delivered with such deadpan emotion, was just so ironic but very catchy and well as striking a chord of emotion with me. "Actually" is one great classic album and fresh as ever."

Another solid effort

Derrick Jenkins | Hampton VA USA | 01/09/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"PSB seem to have a knack for coming out with albums that engage you throughout despite critics saying otherwise. On tracks like "It's A Sin" or my fave "What Have I Done To Deserve This" it still feels like i'm hearing the song for the first time even those its been quite awhile. The song and the rest of the cd feels like something you could and should still enjoy to this day. A solid effort after the previous album "Please" and a cool addition to your Pet Shop Boys collection."

Sinfully Delightful

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 05/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Leaving their early critics in the dust, Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant made on of the 80's consummate synthpop albums with their sophomore "Actually." From the detached yawning duo on the cover to the dry wit of such classic singles as "Rent" or "Shopping," this is a slice of the late 80's. But it also marked a maturity in the music that listeners of Please probably would not have expected. "It Couldn't Happen Here" was one of the first pop songs to directly confront AIDS (in 1987) and "Kings Cross" took a withering look at what Britain had become under Thatcher.



In the 2001 reissue of "Actually," Tennant comments that he doesn't feel this holds up as a full album. Ah, but so goes the thoughts of distance from your work; IMHO, the only PSB album that holds together better is their masterpiece from 1993, Very. Perhaps it is the singles that make him think maybe the album is fragmented, but who could argue with the two brilliant hits here? The dance smash "It's a Sin" opens with sacred sounding chords before plunging headlong into guilty pleasure danceland. It's one of the duo's best, yet when they wanted to top themselves, they added a third. "What Have I Done To Deserve This" is - simply - one of the decade's most sublime singles. Luring the late Dusty Springfield out of retirement to play the jilted lover to Neil's miserable ex-boyfriend. It's nothing short of brilliant and it became PSB's US high-water mark.



For the hits alone, "Actually" is worth it. Add the solid songs throughout, and it's as good an album from the Pet Shop Boys as you could ask for."