Super
by Pet Shop Boys
  • Record Label: X2
  • Release Date: Apr 1, 2016
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 51 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 51
  3. Negative: 5 out of 51
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  1. LeeBear67
    Apr 1, 2016
    9
    Petheads 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 toPetheads 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
  2. SubXer0X
    Apr 1, 2016
    6
    I've been a PSB fan since I was 9 years old and own all their albums. My first introduction to PSB was through West End Girls of course, but I fell in love with 'Actually' due to the melodic yet interesting song subjects. Don't get me wrong, the production on this album is slick and wonderful, but that's all it is. Gone are the songs you'd remember. There are some nice electronic,I've been a PSB fan since I was 9 years old and own all their albums. My first introduction to PSB was through West End Girls of course, but I fell in love with 'Actually' due to the melodic yet interesting song subjects. Don't get me wrong, the production on this album is slick and wonderful, but that's all it is. Gone are the songs you'd remember. There are some nice electronic, modern synths at work here but it's missing the songs that made PSB more than just 'club bangers'. Perhaps the standout tracks are 'The Dictator Decides' which might remind you a bit of "This Must Be the Place..." from Behaviour, "Inner Sanctum" which is a nice idea, but sounds like an excerpt rather than a full song, and 'The Pop Kids' which is a semi-autobiographical fictional piece that harkens back to the sounds of "It's Alright". A solid 6 for great production work, but you'd expect nothing less from PSB and their collaborators.… Expand
  3. antpaca
    Apr 8, 2016
    5
    Sheer 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 theirSheer 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
  4. Sleepwalker
    Apr 5, 2016
    6
    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 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).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 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
  5. screenplayhouse
    Apr 6, 2016
    3
    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 believe PSBs wrote these songs and lyrics.
  6. meediocre
    Jun 11, 2016
    6
    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. 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 atI 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
  7. Zanessa250QI
    May 27, 2017
    5
    Sorry Pet Shop Boys but is different made a pure uninspired electronic album, to even make a descent and an pure electronic & inspired album New Order made perfectly at his last album the Masterpiece Music Complete (2015), Super, have it's only bad, no have some good tracks but no brilliant

    and the most songs of album is uninspired boring and ugly songs Pet Shop Boys you can do better    Sorry Pet Shop Boys but is different made a pure uninspired electronic album, to even make a descent and an pure electronic & inspired album New Order made perfectly at his last album the Masterpiece Music Complete (2015), Super, have it's only bad, no have some good tracks but no brilliant

    and the most songs of album is uninspired boring and ugly songs Pet Shop Boys you can do better Yes (2009) is so much better than this    … Expand
  8. HKBryce
    Apr 7, 2016
    9
    Great 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.
  9. MarcusVinick
    Apr 8, 2016
    8
    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 all time, but it is an exquisite work.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. Magnet
    Apr 21, 2016
    70
    Musically, long-time fans will appreciate that very little variation has been mad on their theme. [No. 130, p.61]
  2. The Telegraph (UK)
    Apr 8, 2016
    60
    At times, though, the bleepy, burbling “fun” gets too wacky and cheesy for even PSB’s long-standing irony to uphold.
    Read full review
  3. Mixmag
    Apr 8, 2016
    90
    With everything lathered in exquisite, 90s-sounding euphoria, the duo prove to be irresistible, once again.
    Read full review
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