Very (Pet Shop Boys album)

History

After the Performance Tour of 1991, Pet Shop Boys elected to take a break, releasing their compilation Discography in November of that year. With that compilation many fans thought they were splitting because 1992 saw no new original works. However, in 1993, Pet Shop Boys came back together and reinvented their image. This therefore, by many critics, is considered their "Upper" album as many thought Behaviour was a "downer album".

A limited edition of Very was also released as a double album titled Very Relentless. The second disc, Relentless, was a six-track dance album containing tracks that are more experimental and instrumental. There were plans to expand upon Relentless in 1994 by releasing the six tracks along with others, making a full dance album, but this evolved into Disco 2. The six tracks on Relentless have not been released elsewhere since (though "Forever in Love" is found on Very/Further Listening 1992–1994 in a remixed edited form as track 2).

The album was reissued in 1996 as a mid-price release, this time in a standard jewel case with a new sleeve showing an image of the original case.

Very was re-released on 3 July 2001 (as were most of the group's studio albums up to that point) titled Very: Further Listening 1992–1994. The re-released version was digitally remastered and came with a second disc featuring B-sides and previously unreleased material. The unreleased songs were recorded during the Very recording sessions, but Tennant and Lowe decided not to include them on the album originally.

On 9 February 2009, the album was re-released yet again, still remastered, under the title "Very: Remastered" but this time containing only the 12 original tracks. Following the 2009 re-release, the 2001 2-disc remastered version was deleted and remains out-of-print to date. It can only be purchased second-hand or MP3 digital download. Some of the B-sides are also on Alternative, their 1995 album of B-sides.

Packaging

The original release of Very was packaged in a unique orange jewel case with raised bumps (sometimes unofficially described as the Lego case), designed by Daniel Weil of Pentagram in London. Very Relentless was similarly unique, with the two CDs housed in card sleeves (Very in orange and Relentless in pink) with both of these housed in a translucent rubber case with raised bumps.

Legacy

In June 2000, Q magazine placed Very at number ninety-one on its list of The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing

All songs except "Go West" written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.

1. "Can You Forgive Her?" – 3:53
2. "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing" – 3:03
3. "Liberation" – 4:05
4. "A Different Point of View" – 3:26
5. "Dreaming of the Queen" – 4:19
6. "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" – 3:55
7. "The Theatre" – 5:10
8. "One and One Make Five" – 3:30
9. "To Speak Is a Sin" – 4:45
10. "Young Offender" – 4:50
11. "One in a Million" – 3:52
12. "Go West" (includes hidden track sung by Chris Lowe "Postscript (I Believe in Ecstasy)" at track-clock 7:07 – 1:15) – 8:22

Relentless bonus disc

1. "My Head Is Spinning" – 6:33
2. "Forever in Love" – 6:19
3. "KDX 125" – 6:25
4. "We Came from Outer Space" – 5:24
5. "The Man Who Has Everything" – 6:01
6. "One Thing Leads to Another" – 6:24

Further Listening 1992–1994 bonus disc

1. "Go West" (1992 twelve-inch mix) – 9:12 *
2. "Forever in Love" (original version) – 5:44 *
3. "Confidential" (Demo for Tina) – 4:47
4. "Hey, Headmaster" – 3:06
5. "Shameless" – 5:04
6. "Too Many People" – 4:25
7. "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing" (seven-inch version) – 4:45 **
8. "Violence" (Haçienda version) – 5:00
9. "Falling" (Demo for Kylie) – 4:38 *
10. "Decadence" – 3:55
11. "If Love Were All" – 3:00
12. "Absolutely Fabulous" (single version) – 3:46
13. "Euroboy" – 4:30
14. "Some Speculation" – 6:34
15. "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" (single version) – 4:01
16. "Girls and Boys" (Live in Rio) – 4:55

(*) Previously unreleased.
(**) Not the version featured on PopArt.

Personnel

Additional