Relentless RelentlessRelentless

Released - 1993
Chart peak - UK #25 (2023 standalone reissue)

Visitors' rating (plurality): ★★★☆☆
Visitors' rating (rounded average): ★★★☆☆
Wayne's rating: ★★☆☆☆

These star-ratings reflect how PSB albums compare to each other—not how they compare to albums by other artists. A low-rated album by the high standards of PSB may still be an excellent album by the standards of most other artists.

Relentless, originally available only as a bonus disc accompanying a special limited edition of Very, is thought of by many as "the Chris album" since it consists primarily of instrumentals (or near-instrumentals) in a "techno" or "trance" vein. As stated by Neil in the 2006 book Pet Shop Boys, Catalogue, "We had done several instrumental tracks which for the most part I couldn't think of any words for, and couldn't see the point of writing words for, because they sounded great." Although the Boys considered re-releasing it later on in an expanded format (perhaps tacking on the somewhat stylistically similar "Euroboy" and "Some Speculation"), they decided against doing this. This disc therefore emerged as an obscure and increasingly hard-to-find cult favorite that fetches ever-growing prices among collectors, especially outside Britain.

There's some confusion as to the "proper title" of this album. When it was released together with Very, the two-disc set was titled Very Relentless. And that's the title by which some people refer to this disc itself. But the majority of fans (myself among them) prefer to adhere to the Boys' single-word album tradition and refer to this album simply as Relentless. This was more or less "officially confirmed" by the Pet Shop Boys on the thirtieth anniversary of its original release when they re-released it in 2023 on its own and indeed titled Relentless (though without any additional tracks). At that time they wrote on their official website, "This album was an experiment for us 30 years ago with its six new extended dance tracks. We're very proud of it and delighted it's now getting the stand-alone release it deserves."

According to the U.K. trade publication Music Week (sort of the British parallel to Billboard), when Very and Very Relentless were released simultaneously in 1993, sales of Very Relentless accounted for slightly more than a quarter of their total first-week sales. This would've been enough to place Very Relentless at #3 on the October 9, 1993 Music Week album chart, with by-itself Very sales still being sufficient to ensure its #1 spot. Upon its 2023 standalone reissue, Relentless still made it up to #25—pretty darn impressive for a 30-year-old largely instrumental reissue that doesn't contain even one hit single.

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