Introspective | ||||
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![]() One of several CD editions | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 10 October 1988 | |||
Recorded | 1987–1988 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 48:03 | |||
Label | Parlophone | |||
Producer |
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Pet Shop Boys chronology | ||||
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Singles from Introspective | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
![]() Vinyl cover |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | "squillion"/10 [5] |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Record Mirror | 4/5 [7] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 10/10 [10] |
Uncut | 8/10 [11] |
The Village Voice | A− [12] |
Introspective is the third studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys,released on 10 October 1988 by Parlophone. [13] It received generally positive reviews from critics.
The album was unusual in that it reversed the typical process by which pop/dance acts released singles. Instead of releasing an album of regular-length (3–5-minute) songs,then releasing lengthy remixes of those songs on subsequent singles,Introspective was released as an LP consisting of songs that all lasted six minutes or more. Tracks released as singles like "Always on My Mind" and "Domino Dancing" had been issued as shorter,more radio-friendly mixes prior to the album. None was released as a radio single in the same form as it appeared on the album. It was also the case for the two other singles "Left to My Own Devices" and "It's Alright".
Of the six tracks on the album,only two were written specifically for the album—"Left to My Own Devices" and "Domino Dancing". "Always on My Mind" and "It's Alright" are cover versions,"I Want a Dog" is a song that previously appeared as B-side of the single "Rent",and "I'm Not Scared" is their own version of a song they had written for Patsy Kensit's pop group Eighth Wonder. "Always on My Mind" was re-recorded for this album and mixed with "In My House",a new acid-house track on the album which expanded the lyric.
Introspective was re-released in 2001 (as were the duo's first six albums) as Introspective/Further Listening 1988–1989. The re-released version was digitally remastered and came with a second disc of B-sides and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release. Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009,under the title Introspective:Remastered. This version contains only the six tracks on the original. With the 2009 re-release,the 2001 two-disc re-release was discontinued. On 2 March 2018,the two-disc version of the album was re-released,this time featuring newly remastered versions of the tracks. It was also released as a digital download and on vinyl.
Neil Tennant,in a speech he gave to the Oxford Union,said he regretted releasing Introspective so soon after Actually as he felt the 12-inch nature of the songs may have put some fans off the band and this probably impacted on the sales of Behaviour ,the subsequent album critically regarded as the Pet Shop Boys' finest album[ citation needed ] but commercially one of their least successful.[ citation needed ] Nevertheless,Introspective remains,according to Tennant,the best-selling Pet Shop Boys album internationally. It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart,behind U2's Rattle and Hum .
All tracks are written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Left to My Own Devices" | 8:16 | ||
2. | "I Want a Dog" |
| 6:15 | |
3. | "Domino Dancing" |
| 7:40 | |
4. | "I'm Not Scared" |
| 7:23 | |
5. | "Always on My Mind / In My House" |
| 9:05 | |
6. | "It's Alright" |
|
| 9:24 |
Total length: | 48:03 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)" (Twelve-inch mix) | 5:35 | |
2. | "Don Juan" (demo version) (previously unreleased on CD) | 4:22 | |
3. | "Domino Dancing" (demo version) (previously unreleased on CD) | 4:47 | |
4. | "Domino Dancing" (alternative version) | 4:52 | |
5. | "The Sound of the Atom Splitting" (extended version) |
| 5:13 |
6. | "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" | 3:26 | |
7. | "Don Juan" (disco mix) | 7:35 | |
8. | "Losing My Mind" (disco mix) | Stephen Sondheim | 6:09 |
9. | "Nothing Has Been Proved" (demo for Dusty) (previously unreleased) | 4:51 | |
10. | "So Sorry, I Said" (demo for Liza) (previously unreleased) | 3:26 | |
11. | "Left to My Own Devices" (seven-inch mix) | 4:47 | |
12. | "It's Alright" (ten-inch version) (previously unreleased on CD) |
| 4:47 |
13. | "One of the Crowd" | 3:56 | |
14. | "It's Alright" (seven-inch version) |
| 4:20 |
15. | "Your Funny Uncle" | 2:18 |
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Introspective. [14]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Brazil | — | 140,000 [36] |
Canada (Music Canada) [37] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Finland | — | 32,840 [38] |
Germany (BVMI) [39] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [40] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Sweden (GLF) [41] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [42] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [43] | 2× Platinum | 600,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [44] | Gold | 500,000^ |
Summaries | ||
Europe | — | 1,200,000 [45] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Release is the eighth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 1 April 2002 by Parlophone. It was recorded between 2000 and 2001 and produced by the duo with Chris Zippel. The album produced three singles: "Home and Dry", "I Get Along", and "London", the latter of which was only released in continental Europe. It reached number seven on the UK Albums Chart and received positive reviews from critics.
Very is the fifth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 27 September 1993 by Parlophone, nearly three years after the duo's previous studio album, Behaviour, and following the compilation album Discography: The Complete Singles Collection. Very exhibits one of many turning points the Pet Shop Boys would make to their music, shifting from the subdued electronic pop of Behaviour to richly instrumented dance arrangements. The content and lyrics led to Very being called their "coming-out" album, since it was during this time that Neil Tennant had publicly discussed his long-rumoured homosexuality.
Bilingual is the sixth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released in the United Kingdom on 2 September 1996 by Parlophone and in the United States on 10 September 1996 by Atlantic Records. The album reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, lower than their previous five studio albums which had all reached the top three. It yielded five successful singles, with three of them—"Before", "Se a vida é " and "A Red Letter Day"—reaching the UK top 10; the fourth one, the English/Spanish-language composition "Single-Bilingual", peaked within the top 20.
Nightlife is the seventh studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 8 October 1999 by Parlophone. After the release and promotion of their previous album, Bilingual (1996), Pet Shop Boys started work with playwright Jonathan Harvey on the stage musical that eventually became Closer to Heaven. Pet Shop Boys soon had an album's worth of tracks and decided to release the album Nightlife as a concept album and in order to showcase some of the songs that would eventually make it into the musical.
Alternative is a compilation album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 7 August 1995 by Parlophone.
Please is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 24 March 1986 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI America Records in the United States. According to the duo, the album's title was chosen so that people had to go into a record shop and say "Can I have the Pet Shop Boys album, 'Please'?". Please spawned four singles: "West End Girls", "Opportunities ", "Suburbia", and "Love Comes Quickly"; "West End Girls" reached number one in both the UK and the US.
Disco is the first remix album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 17 November 1986 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI America Records in the United States. Disco consists of remixes of tracks from the band's debut album Please and its respective B-sides. The album includes remixes by Arthur Baker, Shep Pettibone and the Pet Shop Boys themselves.
Actually is the second studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 7 September 1987 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI Manhattan in North America. According to Neil Tennant and music historian Wayne Studer, Actually loosely critiques Thatcherism, the political zeitgeist of the 1980s, and was recorded in anticipation of Margaret Thatcher's re-election.
Behaviour is the fourth studio album by the English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 22 October 1990 by Parlophone. A Japanese special edition included a bonus mini CD, exclusive artwork and printed lyrics in a white velvet-like box.
Discography: The Complete Singles Collection is the first greatest hits album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 4 November 1991 by Parlophone.
Disco 3 is the third remix album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 3 February 2003 by Parlophone. The album consists of five remixes of songs and B-sides from their previous album, Release, three new tracks, a new recording of "Positive Role Model" from their 2001 musical Closer to Heaven, and a cover version of "Try It ", originally by Oh Romeo, the band of former Pet Shop Boys producer Bobby Orlando. "Positive Role Model" also appeared on the Germany-only single "London" in 2002 as a B-side.
PopArt: The Hits is a greatest hits album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 24 November 2003 by Parlophone. The album consists of Pet Shop Boys' top 20 UK singles along with two new tracks, "Miracles" and "Flamboyant", which were also released as singles.
"It's a Sin" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, Actually (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's second number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks atop the chart. Additionally, the single topped the charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, while reaching number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. It remains one of Pet Shop Boys most popular songs with 40 million streams in the UK.
"Heart" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, Actually (1987). It was released as the album's fourth and final single on 21 March 1988 by Parlophone. The song topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in April 1988, becoming the duo's fourth and final chart-topper to date in the United Kingdom. Its music video was directed by Jack Bond and filmed in Yugoslavia. The group had initially written the song for Madonna, though they never asked her to record it, instead keeping it for themselves.
"Jealousy" is a song originally written in 1982 by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, recorded for their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990). It was released on 27 May 1991 as the album's fourth and final single in a slightly remixed form, which appears on both Pet Shop Boys' greatest hits albums. It has also been covered by British band Dubstar, and was performed by Robbie Williams at the Pet Shop Boys' 2006 BBC Radio 2 concert at the Mermaid Theatre, a recording of which was released on the Pet Shop Boys' live album Concrete.
"Domino Dancing" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released in September 1988 by Parlophone as the lead single from their third studio album, Introspective (1988). The song reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart and topped the charts in Finland and Spain. Its music video was directed by Eric Watson and filmed in Puerto Rico.
"Left to My Own Devices" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released in November 1988 by Parlophone as the second single from their third studio album, Introspective (1988). It was also the first track of the album. The song fared better than the album's lead single, "Domino Dancing", charting three positions higher on the UK Singles Chart, at number four. It became the first track that Pet Shop Boys recorded with an orchestra, arranged by Richard Niles. Since its release, it has become a staple of Pet Shop Boys live performances. Eric Watson directed its music video.
Disco 4 is the fourth remix album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 8 October 2007 by Parlophone on CD and vinyl. It was not made available as a digital download, due to licensing difficulties for each track.
"It's Alright" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 26 June 1989 as the third and final single from their third studio album, Introspective (1988). It reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. Originally performed by Sterling Void and Paris Brightledge, the song came to the attention of Pet Shop Boys on a house compilation issued by DJ International Records in 1987.
Elysium is the eleventh studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Released on 5 September 2012, it was the duo's final album with Parlophone for 12 years. The album was recorded in 2012 in Los Angeles and produced by Andrew Dawson and Pet Shop Boys.
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