If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to fear

Continuing my trip back through the 2006 album charts.

28/05/06 : Fundamental - Pet Shop Boys

Our second visit with Pet Shop Boys, some 19 years later - I'm expecting this to be fine, but a bit samey and very inessential.

And it is pretty samey and I certainly don't need it, but there's a bit more there than I was expecting.  It feels like listening to it a few more times would tease out more details - obviously, that's not going to happen, but they'll have to be happy with me at least mentioning the possibility.  I also liked "Integral" on first listen - it sounded like classic PSB.

We're at #5 with a new entry this week, just starting a mere four week run, with one further week in the charts in '17 - a re-release has to be responsible for that, I suspect.  The rest of the top five were RHCP, Feeder, Snow Patrol and Zero 7 (another new entry) and we've got space for one more new entry in the top ten with Angels & Airwaves at #6 (a US rock band who I don't remember in the slightest).

Wikipedia has more than I was expecting on the album and tells me that it's quite a political album, which I must admit pretty much passed me by on first listen.  It was produced by Trevor Horn and was generally critically reviewed as being better than their previous couple of albums, but it didn't sell any more than them.  It did well enough across Europe but didn't exactly smash the US charts, getting to #150.

"Customers also listened to" Electronic, Ultravox, Robbie Williams and The Human League - a slightly odd mix.  With the exception of Introspection (which isn't really a "normal" album), I consider Pet Shop Boys to be more of a singles than an albums band and there's nothing really here to change my mind - it's all fine, but doesn't really stand out in their catalogue.

21/05/06 - One I enjoyed a lot more than I expected
04/06/06 - A nice Sunday morning listen