The only 3 PSB songs I don't like

In chronological order—

  1. The Sound of the Atom Splitting (1988)

    Call me old-fashioned, but is a melody too much to ask for in a song?

  2. Love Is a Catastrophe (2002)

    I liked it better when I thought it might be a parody of mediocre, self-pitying rock balladry. But it's not, which just leaves me not liking it. And that's regardless of how genuinely sincere and heartfelt it is.

  3. Ego Music (2012)

    Unlike the first two, this one had to fester for quite some time before I came to dislike it. I totally sympathize with its sentiments, bashing overtly narcissistic pop stars—Neil's spoken "samples" giving voice to them, deliciously on target, are the best thing about the track—but I simply can't get past the ham-handed stridency of it all. ("Me, me, me, me / Yes, yes, yes, yes / You, you, you, you / No, no, no, no / … Sense of entitlement / Sense of entitlement.") I grew to disdain its lack of finesse and subtlety, so uncharacteristic of our musical heroes. And is there a more curmudgeonly track in the entire PSB catalogue? Even Neil once feared that this song might be "too nasty." He was right. When you get right down to it, I'd have to single this out as my all-time least favorite Pet Shop Boys song, easily surpassing my other two dislikes above.

And if by chance you're pissed off at me after reading this, please remember those two great aphoristic truths: (1) One man's trash is another man's treasure, and (2) There's no accounting for taste—mine included.