Nightlife (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Nightlife
Type = Album
Artist = Pet Shop Boys


Released = October 11, 1999
Recorded = 1998-1999
Genre = Electropop
Length = 52:09
Label = Parlophone Sire Records (US)
Producer = Pet Shop Boys
Craig Armstrong
David Morales
Rollo
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:1psyxdkb2olk link]
*"Exclaim!" [http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=1&csid1=32 12/1/1999]
*Pitchfork (3.2/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/20825/Pet_Shop_Boys_Nightlife link]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Pet+Shop+Boys link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/68457/albums/album/249034 11/11/1999]
* Salon.com [http://www.salon.com/ent/music/feature/1999/11/17/pet/index.html 11/17/1999]
Last album = "Bilingual"
(1996)
This album = "Nightlife"
(1999)
Next album = "Release"
(2002)

"Nightlife" is the eleventh album, the seventh of entirely new music, by the UK electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. It was released in 1999, going on to sell 1.2 million copies globally.

After the release and promotion of their previous album, "Bilingual", Pet Shop Boys started work with playwright Jonathan Harvey on the stage musical that eventually became "Closer to Heaven" (At one stage during the writing process, the musical was given the name of "Nightlife"). Pet Shop Boys soon had an album's worth of tracks and decided to release the album "Nightlife" as a concept album and in order to showcase some of the songs that would eventually make it into the musical. "Nightlife" has arguably the darkest sound of any Pet Shop Boys album, perhaps due to the fact it had a theme of human activity at night.

There is a considerable variety of musical influences present: hard trance in the Rollo produced "For your own good'" and "Radiophonic"; dance-pop in "Closer to Heaven" and "I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more"; disco pastiche in "New York City boy"; and even country music in "You only tell me you love me when you're drunk".

"In Denial" - a collaboration with Kylie Minogue

"In Denial" is a duet featuring Kylie Minogue. It was seen as a risk by critics because this project came at a time when Minogue was experiencing low record sales and did not have her own record contract. The Pet Shop Boys had previously written a song, "Falling", for Minogue for her Deconstruction album "Kylie Minogue". The year after "Nightlife"'s release, Minogue also signed to Parlophone and released her hugely successful "Light Years" album. Minogue would later sing "In Denial" on her "Showgirl - The Greatest Hits Tour", with Tennant's prerecorded vocals being played as part of the duet while Minogue sang live.

Visuals

For the promotion of the album, the band adopted a stark new appearance, designed in consultation with fashion and theatre designer Ian McNeil.cite web | author = Forsberg, Niklas | year = | url = http://www.releasemagazine.net/Spotlight/spotlightpsb.htm | title = From West End Girls to New York City Boys | format = | work = | publisher = Release Magazine | accessdate = 2007-02-15 | accessyear = ] Now, the duo ubiquitously appeared wearing thick, dark eyebrows, inspired by Kabuki theatre;cite web | author = Gdula, Steve | date = November 9, 1999 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_1999_Nov_9/ai_57155935 | title = Happy together - pop duo the Pet Shop Boys | format = | work = | publisher = The Advocate | accessdate = 2007-02-15 | accessyear = ] yellow or orange wigs in a variety of hairstyles, inspired by the punk subculture (especially several spiked wigs); and black sunglasses. This was supported by a series of outfits in dark, muted colours, the most deviant of which incorporated culottes,cite web | author = Hoare, Philip | date = October 8, 2006 | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/10/08/svpetshop08.xml | title = About the boys | format = | work = | publisher = The Daily Telegraph | accessdate = 2007-02-15 | accessyear = ] inspired by the attire of samurai, instead of trousers. Photographs involving the costumes were often set in urban environments; the Midland Hotel at Kings Cross, London was used as the setting to debut the look. The costumes were used for promotional photographs, the album cover and liner notes, all the single covers, as well as the Nightlife Tour.

The music video for "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore" showed Tennant and Lowe being transformed into their new appearances, though in a fantastical manner: they are operated on by medical laboratory machines, then covered in talcum powder and dressed by monks in a ritual-like manner. Finally, they are given dogs on leashes and released into a "different world", where everyone else is also dressed in exactly the same way.Harvard reference | last=Clerk | first=Carol | authorlink= | year=July 31, 1999 | title=Straight Down the Line: Pet Shop Boys: Tennant's Super | periodical=Melody Maker | volume=76 | issue=30 | page=7 | url= ] Conceptualized among the band members, McNeil, and director Pedro Romhanyi, the video was created to showcase the costumes. It was visually influenced by the films "Ridicule", in the ritualistic dressing-up scene; "", in the decor of the living room with an illuminated floor; and "A Clockwork Orange", in the outdoor urban setting.cite web | author = | month = August | year = 1999 | url = http://www.chrislowe.co.uk/interviews_psb_sleaze_nation.html | title = A Pedigree of Panache | format = | work = | publisher = Sleazenation | accessdate = 2007-02-16 | accessyear = ]

According to Tennant, the costumes helped him to distance himself from the songs, adding to the impersonal nature of "Nightlife". In other interviews, he explained that they played into his belief in the need for pop stars to have "bigger than life" public images,cite web | author = Silcott, Mireille | year = 1999 | url = http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/1999/111199/music1.html | title = The Pet Shop Boys, obsessively | format = | work = | publisher = "Montreal Mirror" | accessdate = 2007-02-15 | accessyear = ] and were a reaction against the "naturalistic" look of the 1990s.cite web | author = Stevenson, Jane | date = November 14, 1999 | url = http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/P/Pet_Shop_Boys/1999/11/04/748690.html | title = Pet Shop Boys dance with architecture | format = | work = | publisher = Jam! | accessdate = 2007-02-16 | accessyear = ]

Effort was also spent on designing the tour's visuals, with sets designed by famed deconstructivist architect Zaha Hadid.cite web | author = | year = | url = http://www.voxonline.com/alternative/pet_shop_boys/pet_shop_boys_interview.htm | title = The Pet Shop Boys interview | format = | work = | publisher = Vox Online | accessdate = 2007-02-15 | accessyear = ] The stage was modular, and could fit in differently-sized venues and be rearranged by the backing singers throughout each concert.

Track listing

# "For Your Own Good" – 5:12
# "Closer to Heaven" – 4:07
# "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More" – 5:09
# "Happiness Is an Option" – 3:48
# "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" – 3:12
# "Vampires" – 4:43
# "Radiophonic" – 3:32
# "The Only One" – 4:21
# "Boy Strange" – 5:10
# "In Denial" (featuring Kylie Minogue) – 3:20
# "New York City Boy" – 5:16
# "Footsteps" – 4:24

Nightlife Extra (US limited edition bonus CD)

In the United States, "Nightlife" was released as a limited edition 2 CD set called "Nightlife/Extra". The second disc featured all the B-sides from the UK releases of the "I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more" and "New York City boy" singles, as well as remixes of these singles, some of which were only available on U.S. or promotional releases.

#"Ghost of myself" – 4:02
#"Casting a shadow" – 4:36
#"Je t'aime... moi non plus" (featuring Sam Taylor-Wood) – 4:14
#"Silver age" – 3:30
#"Screaming" – 4:51
#"I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more" (The Morales Remix) – 7:44
#"I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more" (Thee Maddkatt Courtship 80 Witness Mix) – 7:37
#"New York City boy" (The Superchumbo Uptown Mix) – 9:43
#"New York City boy" (The Almighty Definitive Mix) – 6:29
#"New York City boy" (The Thunderpuss 2000 Club Mix) – 10:52
#"New York City boy" (The Lange Mix) – 7:06cite web |url=http://www.psb-discography.com/ |title=Pet Shop Boys discography |accessdate=2007-10-01 ]

Personnel

*Neil Tennant
*Chris Lowe

;Other musicians:

*Pete Gleadall - Programming on tracks 1, 4, 7 & 9. Additional programming on track 3
*Mark Bates - Additional keyboards on tracks 1, 7 & 9
*Pauline Taylor - Additional vocals on track 1
*Stephen Hilton - Programming and additional keyboards on tracks 2, 5, 6, 8, 10 & 12
*Richard T. Norris - Programming and additional keyboards on tracks 2, 6 & 12
*Joey Mosk - Keyboard programming on track 11
*Pete "Ski" Schwartz - Additional keyboards on tracks 2 & 12. Keyboards, programming and orchestra arrangement on track 3
*Craig Armstrong - Orchestra arrangement on tracks 2, 5, 6, 8, 10 & 12. Choir arrangement on track 10 & 12. Additional keyboards on tracks 2, 5, 6 & 10. Piano on tracks 5, 6, 8 & 10. Additional Piano on track 12. Vocoder on track 8
*Pete Lockett - Percussion on track 2, 6, 8 & 12
*Kate St John - Oboe on track 4
*B. J. Cole - Pedal steel guitar on track 5
*Scott J Fraser - Bass guitar on tracks 5, 6, 8 & 12
*Sylvia Mason-James - Additional vocals on track 4
*Audrey Wheeler - Additional vocals on track 3
*Ali MacLeod - Guitar on tracks 2, 5, 6 & 12
*JB Henry - Additional vocals on tracks 8 & 12
*Malcom Hyde-Smith - Percussion on track 9
*Paul Herman - Guitar on track 9
*Andy Ganagadeen - Drums on track 9
*Kylie Minogue - Guest vocals on track 10
*Vincent Montana Jr. - String and horn arrangement and conduction on track 11
*Carlos Gomez - Percussion on track 11
*Gene Perez - Bass guitar on track 11
*Danny Madden - Backing vocal arrangement and conduction on track 11
*Steve Abrams, Billy Cliff, Keith Flutt and John James - Backing vocals on track 11
*Tessa Niles and Carol Kenyon - Additional vocals on track 12
*The London Session Orchestra - Orchestra on tracks 2, 5, 6, 10, & 12
*Metro Voices - Choir on tracks 10 & 12

Notes