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Track List
01) The Truck Driver and His Mate
02) Hit and Miss
03) In the Night 1995
04) Betrayed
05) How I Learned to Hate Rock-And-Roll
06) Discoteca (new version)
07) The Calm Before the Storm
08) Confidential (demo for Tina Turner)
09) The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On
10) Delusions of Grandeur
11) The View From Your Balcony
12) Disco Potential
13) Silver Age
14) Screaming
15) The Ghost of Myself
16) Casting a Shadow
17) Lies
18) Sexy Northerner
Cd 2
01) Always
02) Nightlife
03) Searching for the Face of Jesus
04) Between Two Islands
05) Friendly Fire
06) We're the Pet Shop Boys
07) Transparent
08) I Didn't Get Where I Am Today
09) The Resurrectionist
10) Girls Don't Cry
11) In Private (7-inch mix)
12) Blue on Blue
13) No Time for Tears (7-inch mix)
14) Bright Young Things
15) Party Song
16) We're All Criminals Now
17) Gin and Jag
18) After the Event
19) The Former Enfant Terrible
20) Up and Down
01) The Truck Driver and His Mate
02) Hit and Miss
03) In the Night 1995
04) Betrayed
05) How I Learned to Hate Rock-And-Roll
06) Discoteca (new version)
07) The Calm Before the Storm
08) Confidential (demo for Tina Turner)
09) The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On
10) Delusions of Grandeur
11) The View From Your Balcony
12) Disco Potential
13) Silver Age
14) Screaming
15) The Ghost of Myself
16) Casting a Shadow
17) Lies
18) Sexy Northerner
Cd 2
01) Always
02) Nightlife
03) Searching for the Face of Jesus
04) Between Two Islands
05) Friendly Fire
06) We're the Pet Shop Boys
07) Transparent
08) I Didn't Get Where I Am Today
09) The Resurrectionist
10) Girls Don't Cry
11) In Private (7-inch mix)
12) Blue on Blue
13) No Time for Tears (7-inch mix)
14) Bright Young Things
15) Party Song
16) We're All Criminals Now
17) Gin and Jag
18) After the Event
19) The Former Enfant Terrible
20) Up and Down
3:34
4:07
4:16
5:19
4:37
3:43
2:46
4:46
6:05
5:03
3:44
4:06
3:32
4:55
4:02
4:36
4:39
3:42
5:03
3:53
3:26
5:06
3:22
4:55
3:51
3:37
3:10
2:34
4:10
3:11
3:35
4:55
3:39
3:54
4:28
5:15
2:51
3:42
Data Complete
80%
Total Rating
80%Total Rating
(0 users)
Back Cover
CD Art
3D Case
3D Thumb
3D Flat
3D Face
3D Spine
First Released
2012
Synthpop
High
Rock/Pop
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Compilation
0 copies
Album Description
Available in:
Format is a double-disc compilation album of B-sides from various singles released by the Pet Shop Boys from 1996–2009 (Bilingual through Yes, or "Before" to "Did You See Me Coming?"). It is their second B-sides album after Alternative, which was released in 1995 and collected B-sides from the time of their first single release "West End Girls" (1985) through 1994 ("Yesterday, When I Was Mad").
The album's release was initially announced in November 2011, then officially on 19 December 2011 through the Pet Shop Boys' official website, offering it for pre-order. The album was released on 6 February 2012 in the UK, but was released earlier in various territories worldwide, including Australia, where it was released on 3 February.
User Album Review
While Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe record their 11th album in LA, Format, a second collection of B sides, arrives as a sequel to 1995’s Alternative. Pet Shop Boys played a vital role in establishing the (once) standard of original, non-album flipsides with West End Girls, and continue to deliver all-new material to back their single releases. And it is here, relieved of the pressure to write hits or adhere to any album themes, that they regularly stretch their experimental wings.
Format picks up in 1996, around the release of the unfairly maligned Bilingual album. From this period come Betrayed, which flirts with drum and bass, and The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On, capitalising on Danny Tenaglia’s Miami Latino groove with its ad-libbed banji rap. These cuts perfectly showcase Pet Shop Boys’ ability to shine when leaving the script behind.
Ironically, some of the strongest tracks on this double-disc release are from a time in the band’s career relatively regarded as weak: the B sides from around 2002’s semi-acoustic Release could have made that good album a great one. The sublime, autumnal electro of Always and Between Two Islands are amongst their finest songs, while how the flipside to 2004’s Flamboyant, the celebratory wig-out I Didn't Get Where I Am Today (with Johnny Marr clearly enjoying himself on guitar), wasn't a single in its own right is unfathomable.
Characteristic of Format is Lowe’s occasional appearance as vocalist, and there’s something indescribably cool about his deadpan rapping of Pet Shop Boys song titles (Shopping, Rent, Being Boring”¦) on their cover of My Robot Friend’s We’re the Pet Shop Boys. He also appears on the lesser-known Lies, with its punchy, uplifting defiance to a cheating lover.
At 38 tracks, not everything on Format is essential. Transparent is a sketch, albeit one lesser bands might be proud of, and Nightlife’s Bee Gees disco is pleasant enough. But Silver Age and Screaming are best left forgotten, and Party Song is a mistake from the title down.
Highlights are plentiful, however. The Ghost of Myself’s brooding modern R&B, via Britney Spears, finds Tennant ruing his younger self over a pounding piano; and the swooping atmosphere of Bright Young Things is accompanied by some great lines: “In Berkeley Square the bright young things / Are flying on chemical wings / Intent on their one-last-flings.” 2006’s The Resurrectionist echoes their imperial period of the 1980s, and B sides from the (most) recent Yes album campaign ”“ such as Up and Down’s effortless pop, and the majestic After the Event ”“ confirms that Tennant and Lowe have always been songwriters first and pop stars second.
External Album Reviews
None...
User Comments
Available in:
Format is a double-disc compilation album of B-sides from various singles released by the Pet Shop Boys from 1996–2009 (Bilingual through Yes, or "Before" to "Did You See Me Coming?"). It is their second B-sides album after Alternative, which was released in 1995 and collected B-sides from the time of their first single release "West End Girls" (1985) through 1994 ("Yesterday, When I Was Mad").
The album's release was initially announced in November 2011, then officially on 19 December 2011 through the Pet Shop Boys' official website, offering it for pre-order. The album was released on 6 February 2012 in the UK, but was released earlier in various territories worldwide, including Australia, where it was released on 3 February.
User Album Review
While Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe record their 11th album in LA, Format, a second collection of B sides, arrives as a sequel to 1995’s Alternative. Pet Shop Boys played a vital role in establishing the (once) standard of original, non-album flipsides with West End Girls, and continue to deliver all-new material to back their single releases. And it is here, relieved of the pressure to write hits or adhere to any album themes, that they regularly stretch their experimental wings.
Format picks up in 1996, around the release of the unfairly maligned Bilingual album. From this period come Betrayed, which flirts with drum and bass, and The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On, capitalising on Danny Tenaglia’s Miami Latino groove with its ad-libbed banji rap. These cuts perfectly showcase Pet Shop Boys’ ability to shine when leaving the script behind.
Ironically, some of the strongest tracks on this double-disc release are from a time in the band’s career relatively regarded as weak: the B sides from around 2002’s semi-acoustic Release could have made that good album a great one. The sublime, autumnal electro of Always and Between Two Islands are amongst their finest songs, while how the flipside to 2004’s Flamboyant, the celebratory wig-out I Didn't Get Where I Am Today (with Johnny Marr clearly enjoying himself on guitar), wasn't a single in its own right is unfathomable.
Characteristic of Format is Lowe’s occasional appearance as vocalist, and there’s something indescribably cool about his deadpan rapping of Pet Shop Boys song titles (Shopping, Rent, Being Boring”¦) on their cover of My Robot Friend’s We’re the Pet Shop Boys. He also appears on the lesser-known Lies, with its punchy, uplifting defiance to a cheating lover.
At 38 tracks, not everything on Format is essential. Transparent is a sketch, albeit one lesser bands might be proud of, and Nightlife’s Bee Gees disco is pleasant enough. But Silver Age and Screaming are best left forgotten, and Party Song is a mistake from the title down.
Highlights are plentiful, however. The Ghost of Myself’s brooding modern R&B, via Britney Spears, finds Tennant ruing his younger self over a pounding piano; and the swooping atmosphere of Bright Young Things is accompanied by some great lines: “In Berkeley Square the bright young things / Are flying on chemical wings / Intent on their one-last-flings.” 2006’s The Resurrectionist echoes their imperial period of the 1980s, and B sides from the (most) recent Yes album campaign ”“ such as Up and Down’s effortless pop, and the majestic After the Event ”“ confirms that Tennant and Lowe have always been songwriters first and pop stars second.
External Album Reviews
None...
User Comments
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