Nightlife
Product Type: Music
Product Price: $17.98
Manufacturer: Sire / London/Rhino
Purchase
Description
Limited edition pressing of the hit pop/ dance duo's highly anticipated 1999 outing. 12 tracks, including the singles 'I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore' & 'New York City Boy'. Comes packaged in a double gatefold slipcase with a 24 page booklet within a clear plastic slipcase cover. 1999 release.
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
Reviews
Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2009-05-19
Summary: "Nightlife"
Nightlife being Pet Shop Boys 11th album and their 7th of all new material was released 1999 and sold 1.2 million albums. Singles released from this album were "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More", "New York City Boy" and "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk". The booklet is filled with the members of Pet Shop Boys in wigs and they look totally strange. All the lyrics are included and we also have a list of whom plays what on the album. I agree with Allmusic that this a 3 star album and is not one of their best efforts so far. 3/5.
Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2008-11-18
Summary: "for nightlife!!!"
the official cd with 11 songs is fantastic, not others PSB's albums, but very melodic and enjoyable music.
the limited edition with 23 songs, that is my cd version, is for collector fans, with 4 fantastic remix of new york city boy, but only if you find it with a small price, otherwise the normal version is better.
however, if you are a very Pet Shop Boys Fan, you have to buy it!!!
Michele from Italy
Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2008-09-04
Summary: "about Pet Shop Boys 'nightlife' album........."
Ther are some songs inside the lbum are nice to listen but don't understand why there is a ship off on the album that causes Singapore shop like HMV that carries big amount of this album to totally make this album unavailable where are are many in Singapore say that they do not have the album. I managed to grab the very last unlimited edition album from sembawang music shop in Singapore. Not sure whether there will be any reprint of the album to be sold again or risk bootleg copies if common people whom managed to find out the album is nice to listen...hee hee.....
Nightlife
written by:
Dr, MR FRanc MBBS (PhD) GPS Ang Poon Kah
director 'lou ye'- Ang Poon Kah for film summer palace
Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2008-05-14
Summary: "Back in Nightlife Time"
The Pet Shop Boys took a huge right turn into their past when they recorded "Nightlife," a huge rebound from the mediocre Bilingual and almost as good as their classic Very. It was also written with the creation of a musical (the unsuccessful "Closer to Heaven") in mind, and the narrative structure of some of these songs bears up to those aspirations.
In particular, the tres' out "In Denial," with Kylie Minogue, is made for stage. Set as a dialogue between daughter and her father, who is coming to terms with a lifelong repression, it is a deeply moving song and "Nightlife's" centerpiece. It's almost a delayed answer song to Actually's "It's a Sin." It's immediately followed by what could have been a theatrical show-stopper, "New York City Boy." With a driven dance arrangement that intentionally plays up its 70's disco dreams, it's even more retro than the Village people "Go West" cover from "Very."
There's plenty of the standard PSB ennui to go around here, including the terrific CD opener "For Your Own Good" and single, "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give it Anymore." Along with the techno-heavy "Radiophonic," this a solid set of songs from Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant. While not a success in the states (it was out of print before showing up in the Amazon downloads), the Boys still were capable of making smooth and energetic dance pop without sounding strained...not bad considering they were on the brink of entering their third decade of music making.
Rating: 2 / 5
Date: 2007-08-13
Summary: "Meet the new Rodgers & Hammerstein duo"
The PSB train started to derail for me right here. They had been leading up to this for several albums, expanding their songwriting style until it had aspirations of being theatrical. I suppose it could be argued that they were only evolving, but when they went in this direction, I didn't feel like following them. When they covered the Village People song "Go West", they made it a Pet Shop Boys song. "New York City Boy" was a step too far, just uncalled for. It's hard to come back from something so camp, and it surprises me that they didn't realize that. They were writing things with the stage in mind, as evidenced by the fact that many of this album's song figured into their musical "Closer to Heaven". It doesn't really matter that the musical wasn't entirely successful, I'm merely saying that this aspect of the Pet Shop Boys is not to my personal liking. I preferred them in their earlier incarnation.
That said, I will mention that the album didn't totally turn me off, and a few of the tracks here are keepers. "For Your Own Good" does start the album out on a high note, and "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore" is a great song in the classic, plaintive Pet Shop Boys style.
Although I do still enjoy PSB, I have yet to regain the devotion that I had to them. There were too many years of recycled packaging, endless variations of the same singles demanding purchase from collectors, and expensive import releases that were necessary because of a single bonus track that was unavailable anywhere else. I burned out on the boys big time.
