Pet Shop Boys – Very

Very indeed, this is the best Pet Shop Boys album hands down!

. . . the 6-track Relentless is to be released October 20 on yellow vinyl. Wonderful.

The vinyl is only available by pre-order on the PSB official site.

In 1993, gay music had hit a watershed point. Elton John had hit the charts with "The Last Song" (from The One ), both kd lang ( Ingénue ) and Melissa Etheridge ( Yes I Am ) were out of their closets, Bruce Springsteen stepped up to the plate and contributed the theme to Philadelphia: Music From The Motion Picture and even Garth Brooks, arguably the biggest music star in the world at the time, socked it to the homophobic country music establishment with his song "We Shall be Free."

In the middle of this was The Pet Shop Boys' "Very." Shaking off the chill of Behavior and the often guarded veil their music was often accused of, "Very" was as personal and as out an album as Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant had ever made. From the sneering, sinister opener "Can You For Forgive Her" to the subtle altering of the Village People's Go West , this CD was out and danceable, as well as inspired. The music moved between optimistic ("Liberation") and melancholic ("Dreaming of The Queen"), striking a perfect balance throughout.

Yet it was the blatantly open sexuality of the record that made it so triumphant. "Can You Forgive Her" goads a closet case for sticking with the undercover girlfriend who mocks his secret.

"She's made you some kind of laughing stock
because you dance to disco and you don't like rock.
She made fun of you and even in your bed
said she's going to go and get herself a real man instead."

But instead of shying away from the consequence, they ask "do you want revenge?" Seems that coming out is the best revenge in the PSB playbook. From there, "Very" jumps to the openly giddy "I Wouldn't Normally do This Sort of Thing" and the affirming "Liberation." As a 1-2-3 set of punches, it thoroughly sets the album up for greatness. A little later, they even take a poke at their own image on "Yesterday When I Was Mad," plotting their tongue-in-cheek vengeance on all the folks who refused to recognize their brilliance.

However, the thoughtfulness that washes through "Dreaming Of the Queen" echoes "Being Boring," but in a more sorrowful way. Told in dream-like language, Neil addressed The Queen and Lady Diana over England's lack of response to the AIDS crisis.

"The queen said 'I'm aghast
Love never seems to last.
However hard you try.'
And Di replied,
'That there are no more lovers left alive
No one has survived.'"

Soon after is "The Theatre," which is rich and textured in the manner of "It's a Sin" ( Actually ) or "Left To My Own Devices" ( Introspective ). Taking a theatrical approach to the class distinctions makes for a distinctive song, along with Anne Dudley's orchestration.

The final stoke of genius, however, comes from a cover. Much in the way they reclaimed "Always On My Mind" from country or took the wind out of U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name," Pet Shop Boy's fairly reverent version of "Go West" transforms the song entirely. When Village People recorded it in the 70's as an anthem to liberation and the freedom of San Francisco as an escape from mundane life in backwaters, it felt like a time of limitless possibility. Twelve years later, it struck a note of lost opportunities and the leveling effect of too many lost minds and stolen friends. Even with the bellowing He-Man chorus, there was no way to escape the subtext...that was then, this is now.

As such, "Very" was the high-water mark of Chris and Neil's creative output. Granted, latter albums like Fundamental are still pretty good, but this was a moment captured. Not just by the Pet Shop Boys, but by a configuration in time that led to creative works like this one.

Has anybody got any idea how many of these orange albums were released?