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Album Review:

Actually

  • Release Date: 1987
  • Genre: Rock
  • Label: Parlophone
  • Total Time: 47:43

Review

With their second album, Actually, the Pet Shop Boys perfected their melodic, detached dance-pop. Where most of Please was dominated by the beats, the rhythms on Actually are part of a series of intricate arrangements that create a glamorous but disposable backdrop for Neil Tennant's tales of isolation, boredom, money, and loneliness. Not only are the arrangements more accomplished, but the songs themselves are more striking, incorporating a strong sense of melody, as evidenced by "What Have I Done to Deserve This?," a duet with Dusty Springfield. Tennant's lyrics are clever and direct, chronicling the lives and times of urban, lonely, and bored yuppies of the late '80s. And the fact that dance-pop is considered a disposable medium by most mainstream critics and listeners only increases the reserved emotional undercurrent of Actually, as well as its irony. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title iTunes Composers Performers Time
One More Chance
Chris Lowe, Bobby Orlando, Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (5:30)
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant, Victor Willis Pet Shop Boys (4:22)
Shopping
Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (3:37)
Rent
Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (5:09)
Hit Music
Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (4:44)
It Couldn't Happen Here
Chris Lowe, Ennio Morricone, Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (5:21)
It's a Sin
Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (4:59)
I Want to Wake Up
Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (5:09)
Heart
Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (3:58)
King's Cross
Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (5:15)

Credits

Pet Shop Boys (Producer), Pet Shop Boys (Main Performer), Pet Shop Boys (Design), Dusty Springfield (Vocals), Eric Watson (Photography), Angelo Badalamenti, Angelo Badalamenti (Orchestral Arrangements), Stephen Hague (Producer), Stephen Hague (Mixing), Dave Meegan (Engineer), Julian Mendelsohn (Producer), Julian Mendelsohn (Engineer), Julian Mendelsohn (Mixing), Shep Pettibone (Producer), Tony Phillips (Engineer), Andy Richards (Producer), Andy Richards (Fairlight), Andy Richards (Keyboard Programming), Blue Weaver (Fairlight), Blue Weaver (Keyboard Programming), David Jacob (Producer), David Jacob (Engineer), David Jacob (Mixing), Adrien Cook (Fairlight), Adrien Cook (Keyboard Programming), Cindy Palmano (Photography), Mark Farrow (Design)
 
 
Wikipedia: Actually (album)
Actually
Actually cover
Studio album by Pet Shop Boys
Released September 7, 1987
Recorded 1987
Genre Synthpop
Length 48:14
Label EMI Manhattan
Producer Pet Shop Boys, Stephen Hague, Julian Mendelesohn, Andy Richards, Shep Pettibone, David Jacob
Professional reviews
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Disco
(1986)
Actually
(1987)
Introspective
(1988)

Actually is the third album, the second of entirely new music, by the UK electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. It was first released in 1987.

History

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.

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.

Track listing

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

Further Listening 1987-1988

  1. "I want to wake up (Breakdown mix)"
  2. "Heart (Shep Pettibone version)"
  3. "You know where you went wrong"
  4. "One more chance (seven-inch mix)"
  5. "It's a sin (Disco mix)"
  6. "What have I done to deserve this? (Extended mix)"
  7. "Heart (Disco mix)"
  8. "A new life"
  9. "Always on my mind (Demo version)"
  10. "Rent (Seven-inch mix)"
  11. "I want a dog"
  12. "Always on my mind (Extended dance mix)"
  13. "Do I have to?"
  14. "Always on my mind (Dub mix)"

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

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Germany 1
Swizerland 3
Austria 5
Norway 3
Sweden 2
Australia 16
UK 2
US 25

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Album Review. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Actually (album)" Read more

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