PSB B-sides are larks and experiments of the highest order, so while Super scores as high as the crossover-ish Electric, it's built more for the fan who puts "Paninaro" at the top of their list, well ahead of "West End Girls."
[Super] has some darkly twinkling moments.... The rest is at the very least a reminder that PSBs remain a lively genre of their own creation. [May 2016, p.78]
Super is a grower--a brave rejection of pipe and slippers, embracing the mythical dance floor with admirably vacuous experimentation, even if it mines the mid-nineties, when dance music grew least interesting.
Super elaborates and intensifies Electric’s approach: Louder, brighter, more. It doesn’t have the sustained arc of that album, but Price specializes in renovating house and disco, modernizing with care, and his small details still beguile.
Petheads hoping for many heart wrenching ballads about love and loss are playing the wrong album, this is mostly all UP and BOUNCING! OnlyPetheads hoping for many heart wrenching ballads about love and loss are playing the wrong album, this is mostly all UP and BOUNCING! Only "Sad Robot World" and "The Dictater Decides" are slower tracks the rest are aimed at the dance floor. This is not a particularly lyrically dense album at all compared to many of their releases but it is completely infectious dance music. I listened to it as background music the first couple of times to get used to the tunes then played it listening more carefully to the vocals once the tunes were under my skin, perhaps a good way to get used to such a dance music based album. Favorite track right now is "Happiness".…Expand
Great second part to the PSB | Stuart Price trilogy of albums. Nice progression from Electric. Far from being impressed that their careersGreat second part to the PSB | Stuart Price trilogy of albums. Nice progression from Electric. Far from being impressed that their careers have lasted this long, these last two albums reconfirm much of what fans have always enjoyed about their output, and they sound cracking musically and lyrically.…Expand
As already the name says: it is SUPER. Not the album expected for the thirty years of one of the largest (if not the most) pop duo of allAs already the name says: it is SUPER. Not the album expected for the thirty years of one of the largest (if not the most) pop duo of all time, but it is an exquisite work.…Expand
I haven't heard a PSB album since Behaviour that has had a strong set of tracks, with real emotional content and brilliant song-writing. EveryI haven't heard a PSB album since Behaviour that has had a strong set of tracks, with real emotional content and brilliant song-writing. Every album (including Very) since then has some had a few stand-out tracks (ok maybe not for Release or Bilingual), and then lots of 'floor-filler'. For instance, we have the uplifting Say It to Me, which sounds like something you would have heard at Creamfields about 15 years ago, and then you get passed on to a real electronic bore, like Burn and Pazzo. Pop Kids has a great hook, but not sure about the verse lyrics - totally cringe.
So yet again, here's another PSB album I'm going to listen to only once a year, whereas I still can't stop listening to their "early stuff". Here's hoping that unless they have some more magic up their sleeves before their well-deserved retirement, they do please "disappear into thin air".…Expand
Being a huge fan of Pet Shop Boys for almost 25 years now I'm pleased to see that each of their new work is generally up to date, keeping theBeing a huge fan of Pet Shop Boys for almost 25 years now I'm pleased to see that each of their new work is generally up to date, keeping the very essence of the duo and engaging the bits off modern trends in sound. However I tend to focus on negative side this time and for me this album lacks subtlety in melodies and - good grief - yes, in lyrics (which I couldn't imagine ever before). What is ok for a song every now and then is sorta flop for an album which this one, in my opinion, is.
Talking about highlights - Burn, Happiness, Into Thin Air.…Expand
Sheer energy can't inflate flat ideas. The loftier songs (The Dictator Decides, Sad Robot World, Twenty-Something) are bogged down by lyricalSheer energy can't inflate flat ideas. The loftier songs (The Dictator Decides, Sad Robot World, Twenty-Something) are bogged down by lyrical oversimplifications, which is sad to see, considering the Pet Shop Boy's track record with smart, cerebral lyrics. The best songs are the ones that toss aside nuance and go for straight pop (Say it to Me, Burn, Groovy). Those songs succeed on their own terms, but lack that wry intellect that makes PSB really special. More "electric" than Electric, maybe, but definitely not better. Electric was a triumph, this feels more like an Electric b-side and remix disc.…Expand
I'm a big fan but I find this almost unlistenable. These aren't songs as much as beats with on the nose lyrics. It's difficult to believeI'm a big fan but I find this almost unlistenable. These aren't songs as much as beats with on the nose lyrics. It's difficult to believe PSBs wrote these songs and lyrics.…Expand
