Yes, Nonetheless is definitely my favorite 21st century PSB album. I have now added Why am I Dancing and The Secret of Happiness to Feel and New London Boys as all-time faves of their cannon. Broadly, it reminds me of OMD's late career excellent albums (Bauhaus Staircase, Punishment of Luxury and English Electric), all with fresh sounds, familiar melodies and intelligent, caring, mature adult lyrics. So many acts from the 70s/80s/90s never get close to their early greatness.
CANON... not "cannon"! But I agree that it's the best PSB album this century! As a diehard fan I'm DELIGHTED! "Love is the law" is as good as any of their imperial phase classics! Schlager Hit Parade should have been dropped in favour of Sense of Time (a better song imho)...
I am happy about ths video... I had left you a comment on the previous one, and this one seems like a natural pregoression about this album. I also feel it has a timeless quality and believe it might continue to creep up that list of rankings slowly and surely....
Schlager hit parade is excellent, but the MOR production is painful. They should have it remixed. One mix by young schlager producers and one for the clubs.
I have now lived with the album a bit longer so want to add a little update to my previous comment. I was expecting "Loneliness" to be the star gem of this album as it was the first single (I think). It is hooky and well put together but sounds too familiar and the dance beat chugs a bit mechanically to my ears, perhaps in deference to their now AARP-age dance music fans (like me, lol!) who still want nostalgic "bangers" despite hanging up our dancing shoes. Instead, I had an immediate fascination with "Feel", and thought "Well, THAT is the hit single right there". However, the track I keep coming back to in the longer run is "Why Am I Dancing". It somehow manages the hat trick of being both poignantly melancholic and exuberantly joyful at the same time and the arrangement is superb. It's like a really great Abba song. So this is an album that opens with a strong 1-2-3 punch! The next cut is another autobiographical life review track, prettyish but marred by rapping that now sounds dated to me. I am still listening to the other cuts and don't particularly like "Dancing Star" or the "Schlager Hit Parade" cut. I like the "house-music-lite" flavor of "Bullet for Narcissus" but find it lyrically over-intellectualized.. The closer, "Love is the Law" is too sluggish for me but suggests the same sort of caution about love and romance expressed in the funnier "Love is a Bourgeois Construct" as well as the caution-inflected "You Choose". Neil is recycling his themes a bit but I'll still go on the ride. a solid 4 stars; buy it for the first 3 tracks alone!...
Feel is the best track. I wish Sense of Time was also on the album (b-side for Dancing Star afaik). Has really solid track order. I just got the vinyl yesterday and it was well worth it vs streaming. Schlager Hit Parade is def the thumb sticking out, BUT it got stuck in my head! It's a very danceable arena pop song.
I look forward to discovering my favorite tracks of this album, as I seem to often like the non-singles better than the singles. Their tracks tend to grow on me. I at first heard almost nothing I liked on "Elysium". Then a rather melancholic track called "Invisible" stood out like a gem and became a favorite. I had the same experience with their album "Fundamental", but the track that took my breath away on that one was "Luna Park". I suspect Neil Tennant has at least one good torchy solo diva album in him. I think they've really milked the dance music thing for every drop and I would like to hear them do something startlingly different at this point. Perhaps a collaboration with Massive Attack or Royschopp (misspelled, but some of you know them, the Norwegian dudes that did some amazing cuts with Robyn)? That would be more compelling to me than another dance record. There are artists who are so affixed to their brand they repeat the same album with the same sound over and over for decades. (Much as I love her, the exquisite Enya comes to mind, but other artists as well.) Nonetheless, I am grateful to PBS for ALL of their albums and getting me through a brutal epidemic that killed most of my generation of gay men from 1981 right up until 1997. Well done, lads...I'm still a fan!
I like the album but I'm not that crazy about it like everybody seems to be. And yes, to me "Loneliness" is pretty much the best song of the album. YES still my all time favourite PSB album, that is an underrated masterpiece. This new one is just a bit better than the Stuart Price trilogy (which is not much to say anyway)
Electric is amazingly forgettable. Sadly, Nonetheless is too. Actually (no pun intended), not much has been great since Yes, which was their best in years. Hotspot was very (no pun intended) melancholic and a big downer (a beautifully made big downer, they haven't put out an album that was very -pun internded- bad).
i love that it so lush and mind seeking vocal
Yes, Nonetheless is definitely my favorite 21st century PSB album. I have now added Why am I Dancing and The Secret of Happiness to Feel and New London Boys as all-time faves of their cannon.
Broadly, it reminds me of OMD's late career excellent albums (Bauhaus Staircase, Punishment of Luxury and English Electric), all with fresh sounds, familiar melodies and intelligent, caring, mature adult lyrics. So many acts from the 70s/80s/90s never get close to their early greatness.
CANON... not "cannon"! But I agree that it's the best PSB album this century! As a diehard fan I'm DELIGHTED! "Love is the law" is as good as any of their imperial phase classics! Schlager Hit Parade should have been dropped in favour of Sense of Time (a better song imho)...
Totally agree (about OMD, too)!! And LOVE The Secret Of Happiness as well - this is a great album!
Nice review, thank you. I’m really enjoying this album very much. Best album since the turn of the century for sure. 👌
Highest UK chart position for a PSB album since #Very # 1993
Thanks for a great comnentary!
I am happy about ths video... I had left you a comment on the previous one, and this one seems like a natural pregoression about this album. I also feel it has a timeless quality and believe it might continue to creep up that list of rankings slowly and surely....
thank you, and I agree about the new album!
@@stefanredelsteinerexperien5957
Schlager hit parade is excellent, but the MOR production is painful. They should have it remixed. One mix by young schlager producers and one for the clubs.
that track remixed by a schlager producer would be awesome; as it so happens I know one of the best :-)
I have now lived with the album a bit longer so want to add a little update to my previous comment. I was expecting "Loneliness" to be the star gem of this album as it was the first single (I think). It is hooky and well put together but sounds too familiar and the dance beat chugs a bit mechanically to my ears, perhaps in deference to their now AARP-age dance music fans (like me, lol!) who still want nostalgic "bangers" despite hanging up our dancing shoes. Instead, I had an immediate fascination with "Feel", and thought "Well, THAT is the hit single right there". However, the track I keep coming back to in the longer run is "Why Am I Dancing". It somehow manages the hat trick of being both poignantly melancholic and exuberantly joyful at the same time and the arrangement is superb. It's like a really great Abba song. So this is an album that opens with a strong 1-2-3 punch! The next cut is another autobiographical life review track, prettyish but marred by rapping that now sounds dated to me. I am still listening to the other cuts and don't particularly like "Dancing Star" or the "Schlager Hit Parade" cut. I like the "house-music-lite" flavor of "Bullet for Narcissus" but find it lyrically over-intellectualized.. The closer, "Love is the Law" is too sluggish for me but suggests the same sort of caution about love and romance expressed in the funnier "Love is a Bourgeois Construct" as well as the caution-inflected "You Choose". Neil is recycling his themes a bit but I'll still go on the ride. a solid 4 stars; buy it for the first 3 tracks alone!...
thank you, great review
Feel is the best track. I wish Sense of Time was also on the album (b-side for Dancing Star afaik). Has really solid track order. I just got the vinyl yesterday and it was well worth it vs streaming. Schlager Hit Parade is def the thumb sticking out, BUT it got stuck in my head! It's a very danceable arena pop song.
I look forward to discovering my favorite tracks of this album, as I seem to often like the non-singles better than the singles. Their tracks tend to grow on me. I at first heard almost nothing I liked on "Elysium". Then a rather melancholic track called "Invisible" stood out like a gem and became a favorite. I had the same experience with their album "Fundamental", but the track that took my breath away on that one was "Luna Park". I suspect Neil Tennant has at least one good torchy solo diva album in him. I think they've really milked the dance music thing for every drop and I would like to hear them do something startlingly different at this point. Perhaps a collaboration with Massive Attack or Royschopp (misspelled, but some of you know them, the Norwegian dudes that did some amazing cuts with Robyn)? That would be more compelling to me than another dance record. There are artists who are so affixed to their brand they repeat the same album with the same sound over and over for decades. (Much as I love her, the exquisite Enya comes to mind, but other artists as well.) Nonetheless, I am grateful to PBS for ALL of their albums and getting me through a brutal epidemic that killed most of my generation of gay men from 1981 right up until 1997. Well done, lads...I'm still a fan!
As much as I like the new album, I would definitely be intrigued by the change of direction you are suggesting!
I like the album but I'm not that crazy about it like everybody seems to be. And yes, to me "Loneliness" is pretty much the best song of the album. YES still my all time favourite PSB album, that is an underrated masterpiece. This new one is just a bit better than the Stuart Price trilogy (which is not much to say anyway)
You sound like #HerrKlopp
and i'm not even from germany (i am from austria)...
@@stefanredelsteinerexperien5957 #SameDifference #GermanySouth
You are still wrong about Electric.
maybe
Electric is amazingly forgettable. Sadly, Nonetheless is too. Actually (no pun intended), not much has been great since Yes, which was their best in years. Hotspot was very (no pun intended) melancholic and a big downer (a beautifully made big downer, they haven't put out an album that was very -pun internded- bad).
Bullet for Narcissus is the best track (so far) on the album. No real stand out track. Which, just quietly, kinda kills me.
an album of b-sides...
Their b-sides are their best songs in many ways