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VeryAfter the summation of Discography, a lot of people thought it was all over for PSB. And then came the stunning Very. If Behaviour is the Pet Shop Boys' "downer" album, then Very is their "up" album, characterized by insistent Eurodisco beats and treble timbre. Neil and Chris have acknowledged this contrast, stating that they had "decided to do a mega dance-pop album." It was also the first of their albums in which they themselves served as the main producers. Neil noted that he wrote many of the album's lyrics while being in the full flush of love, which explains the heady, almost love-happy mood of such songs as "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing" and "Liberation." The result is a brilliant album of breathtaking beauty, variety, and excitement, cited by many critics at the time as one of the best of 1993 and, in the years since, as the pinnacle (so far) of the Boys’ career.
The public similarly recognized its quality: it proved to be the Boys' first (and only) U.K #1 album, while in the U.S. it became their second-highest-charting album ever. Very is also noteworthy for its highly innovative (and now discontinued) "orange Lego®" CD jewel box, which won a major design award and is featured in an exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art. As for the album title, Neil and Chris settled on it simply because they thought the collection sounded "very Pet Shop Boys."
Top Picks by Voter Ratings
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Wayne's Top Picks
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- Can You Forgive Her?
- I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing
- Liberation
- A Different Point of View
- Dreaming of the Queen
- Yesterday, When I Was Mad
- The Theatre
- One and One Make Five
- To Speak Is a Sin
- Young Offender
- One in a Million
- Go West
- Postscript
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