| PET SHOP BOYS SONG-BY-SONG COMMENTARY - MY CURRENT PSB SURVEY -> Dreamland - initial thoughts | Start A New Topic | Reply |
| Post Info | TOPIC: Dreamland - initial thoughts |
| Posted By: Lasse Posted On: Sep 22, 2019 Views: 361 | Dreamland - initial thoughts Being a huge PSB and Y&Y fan I can't help but feel underwhelmed by their collaboration. Y&Y's Palo Santo album is my favourite album of 2018, the almost perfect pop album, but Dreamland, to me, is one of the most "album track" ish singles of both artists in a long time. I really want to love it, but it just feels 'meh' to me... please don't hate me 🤐 |
| Posted By: Birdman Posted On: Sep 22, 2019 Views: 339 | RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts "Meh" is right. In fact, "meh" can be applied to everything they have been putting out. I think the real problem is that Neil, the greatest lyricist in pop music, imho, seems to have lost his insight, his wit, his panache.... it's as if he is just churning out words that any mediocre pop song writer could churn out. I recently listened to Elysium for the first time in a few years and was so impressed by the lyrical content. What had happened? Does he no longer care? Is he burnt out? Has he spent too much time in L.A. and the So Cal sun has bleached his brain? |
| Posted By: Kevin Posted On: Sep 22, 2019 Views: 315 | RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts This is no album track. Maybe it's just that they spent so many albums not releasing obvious singles as singles that our expectations have been flipped. |
| Posted By: Robert Schulz Posted On: Sep 23, 2019 Views: 306 | RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts Maybe this song is his take on nice and polite. And doing the obviously expected as a national treasure. |
| Posted By: Birdman Posted On: Sep 23, 2019 Views: 302 | RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts The track was actually intended for the Years & Years album, but was dropped for an unknown reason. Perhaps it ended up on the upcoming PSB album in order to attract a younger audience of Y&Y fans. They did perform it live in Hyde Park with Y&Y recently, so it appears to be a marketing plan. Good for them for attempting to stretch their demographic, but it isn't a particularly outstanding track. Hope the rest of the album returns to their brilliant form. |
| Posted By: Robert Schulz Posted On: Sep 24, 2019 Views: 261 | RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts Unknown sounds funny. But thats the same with the missing remixes. Who likes to have secrets must keep them. CU |
| Posted By: Mark C Posted On: Sep 25, 2019 Views: 239 | RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts @Birdman: I agree that too many songs on the Kobalt albums have lyrical content that can be summarised as "oooh, dancing is so much fun" and "oooh, music is so lovely". On a number of songs, Neil has contented himself with writing a vignette, rather than full lyrics ("Inner Sanctum", "Happiness", "Bolshy"). And as you say, songs like "Say it to me" and "Dreamland" have pretty run-of-the-mill pop lyrics. There's nothing wrong with that -- "Heart", back in the day, was a great song and the lyrics are as empty as anything they've released lately. But it's not why we became fans, is it now? I think what we are seeing here is the underestimated importance of a record company. It is likely that Parlophone just put more pressure on its artists, provided them with positive AND negative feedback. These days, they're on their own. And while bits of their Kobalt production are tremendous fun, the level of effort, of artistry, has taken a nosedive. |
| Posted By: Robert Schulz Posted On: Sep 26, 2019 Views: 221 | RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts But they are still unrivalled masters of playing with their image. |
| Posted By: Frode Dahl Posted On: Sep 30, 2019 Views: 170 | RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts "Love is a bourgois construct", "The dictator decides", "Wiedersehen" and "The forgotten child" are decent post-Elysium-efforts when it comes to lyrical content. |
| Posted By: birdman Posted On: Oct 3, 2019 Views: 133 | RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts Agreed - Bourgeois Construct is brilliant and Electric is a fantastic album. It starts going downhill on Super and continues with the Musik tracks. My assessment is that his lyrics have become "on the nose" - meaning they lack the subtlety and nuance of his previous work. When I see a Greatest Hits tour coming up, I worry. What's next, a Pet Shop Boys 80's week on a Carnival cruise ship? |
| Posted By: Robert Schulz Posted On: Oct 3, 2019 Views: 128 | RE: RE: Dreamland - initial thoughts That will be crazy enough but i am afraid they stumble blindly on. Like addicts until the drug fades out. |