Pet Shop Boys – Actually

Very often those kind of series, whether they reveal to be unmissable for completists, can be in fact rather boring to listen to. Logically this is not the case with the great Pet Shop Boys at the time of one of their greatest peak ! Nontheless Actually remains by far one of their very best albums, but the collected b-sides, out takes and long versions have not got too gold beacuse they are written like perfect gems and always melodic. The bonus cd is very pleasant to be listened to which is a very good surprise. This box set is a must in a perfect eighties discography.

This is definitely the copy I have, but the weird thing is that on Side 1’s runout matrix, instead of starting with ELJ, my copy starts with ELT. 🤷🏻‍♂️
This is my favorite Pet Shop Boys album. A lot of really good memories connected to this music.

Excellent sound quality! Probably Maxell tape was used to produce this cassette. Great item for all PSB collectors.

Excellent pressing. Mastering is top notch and well rounded. Definitely worth picking up before it gets rare and expensive.

Where "Please" felt like a dress rehearsal of sorts, "Actually" makes a sizeable step forward. While melancholy and joy prevail in their music in equal measure, "Actually" added a darker tone to it - the opening "One More Chance" audibly not giving a merry introduction. As is known by now, the song's been previously released under Bobby Orlando's trademark supervision. A club favourite of its time, the song then got re-recorded by Julian Mendelsohn; first offered in a '7" mix' version which PSB rejected, with Mendelsohn then reworking it further into a much darker version (initially to be a 12" mix of the song) that finally ended on the album, by which time PSB learned a great deal from the Hi-NRG and Italo/Euro disco idioms, shaping up their own, timeless electro-pop sound.

Needless to say the album version completely surpassed both - Orlando's signature dirge, as well as the rejected, somewhat lazy 7" rework of the song. The snare drum/piano intro crushing into a sudden, restless beat aided by the sound of the screeching tires and synthetic crickets, suggesting a creepier, more threatening (night) atmosphere reflecting further in Neil Tennant's storyline. The tension ends with the first tacts of "What Have I Done To Deserve This?", lyrically no less ironic but soothing a duet between Tennant and the duo's guest icon Dusty Springfield (her career revived with this song). "Shopping" further shoots its effective poison arrows into the consumerist ears, with "Rent" adding to it a daring theme of high class prostitution. The simplistic "Hit Music" ends the album's side one on a cheerful "sod off" note on the brainwashing radioplay system, a mood swing from catchy to sleepy.

Side two suitably continues where "Hit Music" concludes - into smooth, melancholic balladry. "It Coudn't Happen Here" is remarkable on all levels, mixing sadness and uncertainty, given a gorgeous orchestral/keyboard treatment by the one and only Angelo Badalamenti (a possible template for Myléne Farmer's equally gorgeous 1988 hit "Ainsi Soit Je"). The promising aspect of "It's a Sin" in its earlier Bobby O mix, shines gloriously on "Actually" - added the orchestral punch with suitable choral / gothic effects. "I Want To Wake Up" is a suitable intermission piece - a hit that never was, although a perfect little obscurity left to enjoyable repeated listens within the album. Depending which version you prefer, "Heart" is a strange beast here - toned down and as such suffering somewhat when compared to the amazing single version, especially due to an unnecessary fade out - a cold ending would be a better move, paving way to the album's closing masterpiece, "King's Cross" - a song addressing the St. Pacras tube station's history of violence, bizarrely predicting a fire incident there, which happened not long after the album's release.

Fantastic pressing, one of the best I own! An essential album for sure.

I bought this hoping it'd have a special mastering, like the Please release in this series (TOCP-8176). It didn't. It's just a slightly louder version of the 1987 CD. Still, the booklet has the lyrics for each song, which is nice.

An essential purchase for any record collection. Great sound / packaging / pressing. Just buy it.

Amazing sound! The best PSB album ever! Shopping and Heart best songs!

WHAT AN AWESOME album and what an awesome package of 2 cds and an awesome booklet with awesome stories

great remastered and well done

it was done with a lot of love. Thank You parlophone for that great idea.
The Pet shop boys had huge cds and a lot of hits in the 80s and 90s and even their b sides were great

maybe this Package is the best of the FURTHER LISTENING series