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Victor Prose <vicproserecords@attbi.com> (25.11.2002)

Tennant's voice? ...Wow. Of all things you could've praised or degraded them for...yeah, that really catches me off guard. But it's true, Neil Tennant does have an affecting and defined voice that makes a lot of the weaker stuff on this record ("I Want a Lover", "Violence", the stiff, strained pulse of "Tonight is Forever") quite appealing and smooth going down. I've got a lot of the Pet Shop Boys' stuff; while this is nowhere near Behaviour, probably the duo's only "great" album, Please is probably my favorite next to said record...I guess you just have to be "in" to the whole synth-pop-driving beats thing, but if you're immersed in the right kind of atmosphere, then this is a rewarding record. (My first experience with this was riding in the back of a car through Dallas as night turned into day, and it made my whole trip so...nuanced. I don't know, it was one of those moments...). Beyond that, there are a lot of great tunes on here--there's no beating "West End Girls", possibly the best single song the entire "electronica" movement resulted in. "Opportunities" is great, too, the definitive snide anthem, and Neil's effeminate tones work well to enhance the sardonic effect. Meanwhile, "Suburbia" is top notch and "Two Divided by Zero" is the group's most underrated song...the only thing I was never that able to appreciate on side one is "Love Comes Quickly", but then, I wasn't able to appreciate 10cc's astonishing "I'm Not in Love" the first time around either. It'll grow on me. I don't know. Please is a good piece of the times. Before the too, too bubbly and poppy Actually, the needlessly drawn-out Introspective, the pure commercial glitz of Very, and the shit that was Bilingual. The shit that was bilingual...interesting....a 7.5 from me overall, but an 8.5 for the first side alone.

Marco Pesce (07.12.2002)

Hello George,