I suppose there is something that can be said for a group that manages to have a sound that is consistent throughout their entire body of work. The Pet Shop Boys, as a working band, are approaching 30 years in the music business. Consistency can be a compliment, as well as a criticism, for a band with this much history and experience. Normally “classic” rockers like AC/DC receive this sort of critique, but the Pet Shop Boys relate to their ilk in that Yes (their 10th, not counting live or remix-type albums) sounds much like anything they would have released in the ‘90s or even earlier.
Dance music seems to exist in a timeless bubble where the same sorts of beats, effects and other assorted keyboard sounds can be heard on albums stretching decades apart. The Pet Shop Boys definitely exist in this realm, and have become a relatively major success while there. Their releases appear on charts, but don’t always top them (though they have in the past). Their albums always get people dancing, but probably not play at every club. Their sound has evolved only insofar as the technology they use to record and create their music is updated, but there are certainly no wild experiments here. Yes, consistency keeps the Pet Shop Boys comfortable in their chosen genre, just as AC/DC has for 17 albums. It may be overly safe, but the Pet Shop Boys are still fun if the mood suits. Ain’t nothing wrong with fun.
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