Actually

Actually
Studio album by Pet Shop Boys
Released	7 September 1987 (1987-09-07)
Recorded	1986–1987
Genre	Synthpop, Euro disco
Length	48:14
Label	EMI Manhattan (US/Canada) Parlophone
Producer	Pet Shop Boys, Stephen Hague, Julian Mendelesohn, Andy Richards, Shep Pettibone, David Jacob
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Disco (1986) Actually (1987) Introspective (1988)
Singles from Actually
"It's a Sin" Released: 15 June 1987 "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" Released: 10 August 1987 "Rent" Released: 12 October 1987 "Heart" Released: 21 March 1988

Actually (stylized as Pet Shop Boys, actually.) is the second album by English electronic music group Pet Shop Boys, released through Parlophone and EMI Manhattan Records in 1987. This album is also the group's third best selling album with over 4 million copies sold. Actually is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

History

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Actually is not much different from Pet Shop Boys' first album, Please in terms of musical style, although production values are noticeably higher.

Actually spawned four UK Top 10 singles: the number one lead-off single "It's a Sin", "Rent", "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", a duet with fellow Parlophone artist Dusty Springfield which peaked at #2 in both the UK and US and led to a major resurgence of interest in Springfield's earlier work; and the duo scored another UK number one in April 1988 with a remixed version of the album's fourth and last single, "Heart".

During this period, the Pet Shop Boys also completed a full-length motion picture called It Couldn't Happen Here. Featuring songs by the duo, it was most famous for containing the video for "Always on My Mind" (starring Joss Ackland as a blind priest), which—while not on Actually—was released as a single during this period.

The period from Actually to Introspective is considered the band's imperial phase, a term now in common usage, by both fans and the Pet Shop Boys themselves.^{[citation needed]}

Actually was re-released in 2001 (as were most of the group's albums up to that point) as Actually/Further Listening 1987–1988. The re-released version was not only digitally remastered but came with a second disc of B-sides, remixes done by the Pet Shop Boys and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release. Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Actually: Remastered. This version contains only the 10 tracks on the original.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]
Robert Christgau	A−[3]
Spin	[4]

In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #22 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".^[5] In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at #88 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980's". ^[6]

Track listing

1. "One More Chance" (Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe, Bobby Orlando) – 5:30
2. "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" (with Dusty Springfield) (Lowe, Tennant, Allee Willis) – 4:18
3. "Shopping" (Tennant, Lowe) – 3:37
4. "Rent" (Tennant, Lowe) – 5:08
5. "Hit Music" (Tennant, Lowe) – 4:44
6. "It Couldn't Happen Here" (Tennant, Ennio Morricone, Lowe) – 5:20
7. "It's a Sin" (Tennant, Lowe) – 4:59
8. "I Want to Wake Up" (Tennant, Lowe) – 5:08
9. "Heart" (Tennant, Lowe) – 3:58
10. "King's Cross" (Tennant, Lowe) – 5:10

Further Listening 1987–1988

1. "I Want to Wake Up" (Breakdown mix) – 6:00
2. "Heart" (Shep Pettibone version) – 4:12
3. "You Know Where You Went Wrong" – 5:50
4. "One More Chance" (seven-inch mix) – 3:50
5. "It's a Sin" (Disco mix) – 7:41
6. "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" (Extended mix) – 6:47
7. "Heart" (Disco mix) – 8:40
8. "A New Life" – 4:55
9. "Always on My Mind" (Demo version) – 4:03
10. "Rent" (Seven-inch mix) – 3:33
11. "I Want a Dog" – 4:58
12. "Always on My Mind" (Extended dance mix) – 8:15
13. "Do I Have To?" – 5:15
14. "Always on My Mind" (Dub mix) – 2:15

Personnel

• Neil Tennant
• Chris Lowe

Guest musicians

• Andy Richards – Fairlight and keyboard programming on tracks 1, 4, 5, 7 & 9
• Dusty Springfield – Guest vocals on track 2
• J.J. Jeczalik – Fairlight programming on track 3
• Gary Maughan – Additional programming on track 3
• Angelo Badalamenti – Orchestra arrangement on track 6
• Blue Weaver – Fairlight programming on track 6
• Adrian Cook – Programming on track 8

Chart performance

References

External links

• Music-Nerd track by track review