Battleship Potemkin (album)

Last updated

Battleship Potemkin
Battleship Potemkin PSB album.jpg
Soundtrack album by
Released5 September 2005
Recorded2003–2004
Genre Electronica, orchestral
Length68:29
Label Parlophone & EMI Classics
Producer Pet Shop Boys, Sven Helbig
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Back to Mine
(2005)
Battleship Potemkin
(2005)
Fundamental
(2006)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Drowned in Sound favourable [1]
Virgin.net Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]

Battleship Potemkin is a 2005 album of electronic and orchestral music written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys, to accompany the 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein. It is performed by Tennant, Lowe and the Dresdner Sinfoniker, conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer, with orchestrations by Torsten Rasch. The album was released under the name Tennant/Lowe, as Tennant and Lowe are the composers. The album is produced by the Pet Shop Boys and Sven Helbig.

Contents

About the project

In April 2003, Philip Dodd, director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, approached Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe and suggested that they might write a new score for the film and perform it as a free concert in Trafalgar Square as part of a series of events organised by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

They wrote the music in the order it would be heard, using a DVD of the film as a guide. From the beginning they resolved to combine electronic music and strings; the lyrics of the three vocal pieces within it were largely inspired by the film's original subtitles, though one – "After All (The Odessa Staircase) " – was also prompted by the role in London of Trafalgar Square as a home of political dissent.

Tennant and Lowe decided to ask Torsten Rasch to orchestrate the work after hearing his song cycle Mein Herz brennt, a record based on the music of the rock group Rammstein which has sold over two million copies worldwide. Torsten Rasch's orchestrations were recorded by the Dresdner Sinfoniker, conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer, in Berlin during July 2004.

Track listing

  1. "'Comrades!'" – 3:52
  2. "Men and Maggots" – 4:57
  3. "Our Daily Bread" – 0:52
  4. "Drama in the Harbour" – 9:00
  5. "Nyet" – 6:14
  6. "To the Shore" – 3:12
  7. "Odessa" – 6:50
  8. "No Time for Tears" – 4:32
  9. "To the Battleship" – 4:34
  10. "After All (The Odessa Staircase)" – 7:23
  11. "Stormy Meetings" – 1:31
  12. "Night Falls" – 5:55
  13. "Full Steam Ahead" – 1:50
  14. "The Squadron" – 4:24
  15. "For Freedom" – 3:17

Personnel

Pet Shop Boys

Guest musicians

Chart performance

Chart (2005)Peak
position
German Albums Chart 54
UK Albums Chart 97

Touring The Battleship Potemkin

The future

The performance of the score in Trafalgar Square was one of the season's top events, and drew a crowd of approximately 25,000. In September 2005, Pet Shop Boys and the Dresdner Sinfoniker took the concerts to Germany and performed in Frankfurt (2 September), Bonn (3 September), Berlin (4 September) and Hamburg (5 September) to promote the release of the album.

Another British performance took place on 1 May 2006 at the Swan Hunter’s Shipyard in North Tyneside.

A 7-inch version of the song "No Time For Tears" was officially released as a b-side on the DVD format of the PSB single, *"Minimal". An online exclusive orchestral mix can be heard on the Official website and on the Fundamental: Further Listening 2005-2007 reissue. [3]

Pet Shop Boys performed the score with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Barbican, London, on 11 January 2008.

Further concerts are planned, with Pet Shop Boys hoping to take it to Moscow, following their successful Live 8 concert in the Russian capital in 2005. In an interview for the BBC in September 2005, Neil Tennant also mentioned that they had approached the governments of Iran and China about performing the film live, but both countries declined the proposal.

Their song "Comrades" was frequently used in the BBC documentary Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain, episode 4 featuring Margaret Thatcher's career as prime minister.

Live performance reviews

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pet Shop Boys</span> English synth-pop duo

The Pet Shop Boys are a English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records.

<i>Battleship Potemkin</i> 1925 film by Sergei Eisenstein

Battleship Potemkin, sometimes rendered as Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 Soviet silent epic film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by Sergei Eisenstein, it presents a dramatization of the mutiny that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against its officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Tennant</span> English singer, songwriter and music journalist (born 1954)

Neil Francis Tennant is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for Smash Hits, and assistant editor for the magazine in the mid-1980s.

<i>Release</i> (Pet Shop Boys album) 2002 studio album by Pet Shop Boys

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Lowe</span> British musician, singer, and member of Pet Shop Boys (born 1959)

Christopher Sean Lowe is an English musician, singer and songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Neil Tennant in 1981.

<i>Nightlife</i> (Pet Shop Boys album) 1999 studio album by Pet Shop Boys

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West End Girls</span> 1984 single by Pet Shop Boys

"West End Girls" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the song was released twice as a single. The song's lyrics are concerned with class and the pressures of inner-city life in London which were inspired partly by T. S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land. It was generally well received by contemporary music critics and has been frequently cited as a highlight in the duo's career.

<i>It Couldnt Happen Here</i> 1988 British film

It Couldn't Happen Here is a 1988 musical film starring the British synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys and based on the music from their first two studio albums Please and Actually. It was originally conceived as an hour-long video based on Actually, but it evolved into a surreal full-scale feature film directed by Jack Bond and co-starring Barbara Windsor, Joss Ackland, Neil Dickson and Gareth Hunt.

<i>Fundamental</i> (Pet Shop Boys album) 2006 studio album by Pet Shop Boys

Fundamental is the ninth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released in May 2006 in the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan and Canada. It was released in late June 2006 in the United States. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number five on 28 May 2006. In the US the album peaked at number 150 selling 7,500 copies in its first week. As of April 2009 it had sold 46,000 copies in the US and 66,000 copies in the UK. Fundamental earned two Grammy nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards for Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Dance Recording with "I'm with Stupid".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Being Boring</span> 1990 single by Pet Shop Boys

"Being Boring" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released in November 1990 by Parlophone as the second single from their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990). The song was written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, and produced by them with German producer Harold Faltermeyer. It reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart, marking the duo's first single to miss the top 10 since "Opportunities " in 1986. Its music video was directed by fashion photographer Bruce Weber.

<i>Concrete</i> (Pet Shop Boys album) 2006 live album by Pet Shop Boys

Concrete is a live album by the British band Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 23 October 2006. Due to be called Concert, on 20 September 2006, Pet Shop Boys announced that the album was going to be called Concrete, which was the title that they originally wanted for the album. It is the first live concert to be released by the band on Audio CD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jealousy (Pet Shop Boys song)</span> 1991 single by Pet Shop Boys

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rent (song)</span> Song by the Pet Shop Boys

"Rent" 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 third single on 12 October 1987.

<i>Yes</i> (Pet Shop Boys album) 2009 studio album by Pet Shop Boys

Yes is the tenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 18 March 2009 by Parlophone. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and was produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Xenomania also co-wrote three of the tracks. Guitarist Johnny Marr and string arranger Owen Pallett appear as well. "Love Etc." was released on 16 March 2009 as the album's lead single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torsten Rasch</span> German composer

Torsten Rasch is a German composer of contemporary classical music. He lives in Berlin, but has found moderate success in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)</span> 1991 single by Pet Shop Boys

"Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. The song is a medley of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", a 1967 song by Frankie Valli, though in an arrangement informed by the 1982 disco version of the song by the Boys Town Gang rather than the original. The song accompanied "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?", the third single from their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990), as a double A-side in the United Kingdom (both singles were released separately in the United States). Released in March 1991 by Parlophone, the song became the duo's 15th consecutive top-20 entry in the UK, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sven Helbig</span> German composer, director, and music producer

Sven Helbig is a German composer, director and music producer. He composes orchestral, chamber and choral music. Beside this, he is active in the field of electronic music. Helbig's versatility has made him a much sought-after producer for crossover projects; he has worked as a producer, composer and arranger with Rammstein, Pet Shop Boys, Snoop Dogg, the Fauré Quartet, cellist Jan Vogler, opera singer René Pape, pianist Olga Scheps and more. Helbig's work builds on the tradition of the Gesamtkunstwerk and he often takes responsibility for concept, music and production at the same time.

<i>The Most Incredible Thing</i> (album) 2011 soundtrack album by Tennant/Lowe

The Most Incredible Thing is the score for the 2011 ballet of the same name, based on the eponymous 1870 fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It contains music written and performed by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. The album was released on 14 March 2011 by Parlophone.

<i>Format</i> (album) 2012 compilation album by Pet Shop Boys

Format is a double-disc compilation album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. The album consists of B-sides from various singles released from 1996 to 2009. It is their second B-sides album after Alternative (1995), which collected B-sides from the time of their first version of "Opportunities " (1985) to "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" (1994).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live</span> 2022–24 concert tour by Pet Shop Boys

Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live is an ongoing concert tour by British synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Billed by the group as "their first-ever greatest hits tour", the tour was originally announced on 11 September 2019, to take place in arenas across the United Kingdom from May to June 2020. The dates were postponed several times as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It ultimately began on 10 May 2022, at Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan, and is scheduled to run through July 2024.

References

  1. "Pet Shop Boys: Battleship Potemkin". Drowned in Sound . 30 September 2005. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  2. "Pet Shop Boys: Battleship Potemkin". Virgin.net. 5 September 2005. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005.
  3. "Pet Shop Boys - Fundamental / Further Listening 2005–2007". Discogs. Retrieved 27 August 2017.