Electronic/"Electronic"

[Worm]

I played this album again last night for the first time in awhile. Start to finish, with a few B-sides. I remember when it came out, Melody Maker's reviewer proclaimed it the greatest album ever made. (Strangely, though, Wikipedia tells me that it only ranked #15 on their top albums of 1991 list.) The Melody Maker critic probably drives a milk truck now, but sixteen years later the album has held up pretty well.

The U.S. track listing:

1. "Idiot Country"
2. "Reality"
3. "Tighten Up"
4. "The Patience of a Saint"
5. "Getting Away With It"
6. "Gangster"
7. "Soviet"
8. "Get the Message"
9. "Try All You Want"
10. "Some Distant Memory"
11. "Feel Every Beat"

It is one of the strangest things about "Electronic", but as good as the songs are, the album as a whole is blackened with Bernard's feeble rapping on "Idiot Country" and "Feel Every Beat". A shame, too, since both songs would work well with straight pop vocals or as instrumentals.

In light of that, for the sake of pointless, useless, purposeless, entirely ineffectual revisionist history, I propose the following track listing with songs substituted from their singles from the early part of Electronic's run:

1. "Disappointed"
2. "Reality"
3. "Tighten Up"
4. "The Patience of a Saint"
5. "Getting Away With It"
6. "Gangster"
7. "Free Will"
8. "Get the Message"
9. "Try All You Want"
10. "Second To None"
11. "Some Distant Memory"

Every one of those tracks is at least a 9 on a 10-point scale. Loved it at the time, but somehow it still didn't seem to live up to the "New Order! Plus Smiths! Plus Pet Shop Boys!" hype. Now I think they did fulfill their promise, and how. Phenomenal album, an album of genius with much too little acclaim. Am I crazy?

 

[What For]

Don't forget the track Forbidden City. It's one of my favourites.

 

[The Cat's Mother]

*digs out Electronic CDs*

In order that we might make a fully informed comment on your mental state, Mr/Ms/Dr/Rev Worm, would you be able to upload and post 'Disappointed', 'Free Will' and 'Second to None'?

Thanks,

Kate

 

[the more you explore me!]

i have it on tape...might go and fish it out later. saw them at wembley

 

[The Cat's Mother]

i have it on tape...might go and fish it out later. saw them at wembley

Cheers, TMYEM, but all the b-sides have just been reposted on another thread.

 

[9 x Fined]

I was pretty heavily into New Order when this came out. Getting Away With It got a lot of radio play on Triple J at the time and when I finally realized it was Barney Sumner's side project I quickly sought out the album. It was basically the soundtrack to my senior year in high school. I think everyone else's was Use Your Illusion II.

 

[Dave]

I played this album again last night for the first time in awhile. Start to finish, with a few B-sides. I remember when it came out, Melody Maker's reviewer proclaimed it the greatest album ever made. (Strangely, though, Wikipedia tells me that it only ranked #15 on their top albums of 1991 list.) The Melody Maker critic probably drives a milk truck now, but sixteen years later the album has held up pretty well.

The U.S. track listing:

1. "Idiot Country"
2. "Reality"
3. "Tighten Up"
4. "The Patience of a Saint"
5. "Getting Away With It"
6. "Gangster"
7. "Soviet"
8. "Get the Message"
9. "Try All You Want"
10. "Some Distant Memory"
11. "Feel Every Beat"

It is one of the strangest things about "Electronic", but as good as the songs are, the album as a whole is blackened with Bernard's feeble rapping on "Idiot Country" and "Feel Every Beat". A shame, too, since both songs would work well with straight pop vocals or as instrumentals.

In light of that, for the sake of pointless, useless, purposeless, entirely ineffectual revisionist history, I propose the following track listing with songs substituted from their singles from the early part of Electronic's run:

1. "Disappointed"
2. "Reality"
3. "Tighten Up"
4. "The Patience of a Saint"
5. "Getting Away With It"
6. "Gangster"
7. "Free Will"
8. "Get the Message"
9. "Try All You Want"
10. "Second To None"
11. "Some Distant Memory"

Every one of those tracks is at least a 9 on a 10-point scale. Loved it at the time, but somehow it still didn't seem to live up to the "New Order! Plus Smiths! Plus Pet Shop Boys!" hype. Now I think they did fulfill their promise, and how. Phenomenal album, an album of genius with much too little acclaim. Am I crazy?

No, it's a classic album, a true classic. It was one I played every day and bought the singles for the remixes. I was hanging out a lot with a friend of mine named Nichole, and this was our every day all the time album. Both of us thought the rapping was funny, but I don't think it ruins the song at all. I think it was just where he was at at the time. He was rapping his ass off on those tracks and if he hadn't stopped Jay-Z would have been unnecessary.

 

[beau]

I think the guiding hand of the Pet Shop Boys is what made the first album so great. Subsequent PSB-less Electronic albums were crap.

 

[Tex]

I think the guiding hand of the Pet Shop Boys is what made the first album so great. Subsequent PSB-less Electronic albums were crap.

funny, I think the exact opposite. I like Bernards vocals much much more