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Talvolta può succedere che un album venga concepito e prenda forma in reazione al precedente. Chi volesse un riscontro piuttosto evidente può confrontare "Behaviour" (1990) e "Very" (1993) dei Pet Shop Boys. Perché se ci provi con "facciamo un album capolavoro" e non funziona, puoi sempre riprovarci con "facciamo un mega dance album elettronico" e poi mi dici.
Attenzione: non è che "Behaviour" non funzionasse a livello organolettico. Ma quando sei, tutto sommato, ancora in fase di avviamento ("Very" è il quinto album in studio) devi anche contare i soldini ( = vendite). Poi, con il tempo, puoi anche far quel che ti pare, quando le fondamenta sono solide ed il conto in banca ben rimpinguato ed al sicuro.
Chi vi scrive è fan viscerale dei Pet Shop Boys (ma dai ?) ma non è questo il punto. Ci sono album che fluttuano: oggi ti piacciono, domani meno, tra dieci anni dimentichi di averli. Poi, magari, ci torni sopra. "Very" è un sempreverde. E, se il meditabondo e malinconico "Behaviour" ti spinge all'introspezione, il messaggio di "Very" è: alzati, vai, lotta per sopravvivere. La notte ed il giorno, la sobrietà e l'esuberanza.
"Volevamo dodici potenziali singoli", dichiarò Neil nel 2001. Sembrava una chimera, ma i Pets ci andarono vicini. "Very" è un pugno nello stomaco. Ha generato inni da stadio, fatto ballare vecchi e nuovi fans, rinvigorito il pubblico gay (non a caso, Neil, fece outing proprio in questo periodo sulla rivista "Attitude" ).
Andiamo con ordine. Alla produzione, Neil e Chris: dopo aver lavorato alacremente per altri artisti (Neil : "Produrre l'album di qualcun altro è più facile che produrre il proprio". Grazie, zio Neil) i Pets si ritennero pronti per il grande passo. Alla programmazione il fido Pete Gleadall, considerato ormai dall'unanimità dei fans il terzo Pet Shop Boy. Due le regole. La prima: tutti gli strumenti devono essere riprodotti dall'emulatore, anche e soprattutto le chitarre. La seconda, che più che una regola fu una caratteristica, contemplò che le due strofe, su ogni brano, fossero differenti.
L'album si apre con il primo singolo, "Can You Forgive Her ?", brano apripista nel dna. Musicalmente carico, Chris Lowe in pieno trip da “orchestra hit”, parla di un ragazzo gay che non ha il coraggio di lasciare la fidanzata la quale lo percula per come balla e per la musica che ascolta. "E' autobiografica ?", chiesero a Neil. "No, non ho mai fatto sesso in un parcheggio per bici". (“Remember when you were more easily led,
behind the cricket pavilion and the bicycle shed”). "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing", terzo singolo, curiosamente editato al contrario: la sobria versione dell'album viene estesa in occasione della pubblicazione come cd single. Qui si parla di un signore serioso tutto d'un pezzo che improvvisamente scopre l'amore e si lascia andare. "Normalmente non faccio questo genere di cose". Eh già. Poi si sogna e si rallenta con "Liberation" (anche se il piedino non smette di fare tap tap), un altro eretico che scopre l'amore dopo aver riso degli innamorati nella sua presumibilmente precedente cupa esistenza. Musicalmente un gioiellino, uno dei momenti di punta del disco.
"A Different Point of View" è una piacevole evasione e, a detta di qualcuno, il punto più basso dell'album. Chris: "Mai piaciuta. Ho messo quell'orchestra hit nel ritornello solo per disturbare Neil". Non sono del tutto d'accordo. Soprattutto, si ascolti questo refine: "Just this once...just say yes...please...". Provare per credere. Poi, c'è una parentesi piuttosto triste, un lento, "Dreaming Of The Queen", la storia di un sogno, fatto da Neil, dove lui e Lady D fanno il conto delle vittime dell'AIDS : "There are no more lovers left alive....". Non a caso, l'intro, suggerisce Chris, ha un tono piuttosto regale.
Si torna a ballare con "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" (quinto singolo) per poi ricomporsi immediatamente con il brano migliore dell'album, "The Theatre", raffinata rappresentazione dei barboni fuori dai teatri. Poteva, doveva essere un singolo. Chris : "Mi immagino il video, soprattutto la scena dove io passo accanto ai barboni dando loro denaro, accompagnato da Neil che invece li ignora...". Viene citato Luciano Pavarotti e forse, questo brano, inserito in "Behaviour" al posto dell'inutile "So Hard", avrebbe reso quel lavoro immortale davvero. Perlomeno ai miei occhi. Musicalmente, per struttura e approccio, una perla.
"One And One Make Five" è un classico in chiave PSB, delicato e pompato al punto giusto (il compromesso è l'imprinting definitivo del duo) ed i ragazzi lo avrebbero voluto come primo singolo. Non ne ha le potenzialità e la Parlophone ebbe occhio clinico in merito. Il compianto Dainton, loro assistente personale fino a che il cancro non lo stroncasse nel 2004, entra nel refine con un "Here we go, here we go, here we go....".
"To Speak Is A Sin" è un lento che ha origini antiche, pre-data “It’s A Sin”, e racconta dell'imbarazzo e del muro di silenzio che spesso si frappone tra gli avventori dei locali gay londinesi. Musicalmente, siamo sempre su alti livelli. Il brano si fa apprezzare anche nella versione live, proposta in "Discovery". "Young Offender" è il momento più raffinato dell'intero album. I suoni computerizzati che, per volontà del duo, riproducono in tutto l’album echi ed effetti presenti nei videogiochi dell'epoca, qui si fanno più fitti. Il giro di accordi ideato da Lowe è coinvolgente, di livello, il testo scansa le solite tematiche raccontando di una partita a scacchi online tra un uomo maturo e, presumibilmente, un ragazzino.
Si chiude con un'overdose di spensieratezza. "One In A Million" ha una storia lunga. Nel 1986 ne era stata realizzata una demo in lingua italiana, ma l'idea naufragò (meno male, aggiungo io). La versione definitiva, questa, stava per essere offerta ai Take That perché ritenuta troppo poppy, troppo leggera. Ma poi....boom! Carina è carina, ma non preponderante nell'economia del disco.
Di "Go West" (secondo singolo) posso solo dire che normalmente skippo fino all'outro strumentale, ossia la parte migliore del brano. Ho detto tutto. Cover dei Village People che, per quanto mi riguarda, poteva evitare di vedere la luce. Fu Chris ad intestardirsi, quando nel 1992 il gruppo fu invitato a presenziare all'Hacienda per un concerto, proponendo una versione alternativa di "Violence" e, appunto, la cover di "Go West". Chris impiegò del bello e del buono a convincere Neil, che non ne voleva sapere. Tant'è che la prima versione, un demo del 1992, era stato pensato come potenziale b-side. Il brano, ma questo già lo saprete, spopolò. Vero e proprio inno per il popolo gay, da lustri fa gomito a gomito con “It’s A Sin” per il ruolo di marchio di fabbrica del duo.
Le sessioni di "Very" diedero vita anche ad una manciata di brani strumentali, incorporati nella limited edition denominata "Very Relentless" e ad un interessante infornata di b-sides: "Forever In Love", "Confidential" realizzata per Tina Turner, che la pubblicò nel 1996. E' un lento gradevole, ma si scoprì a posteriori che la Tinona si aspettava qualcosa sulla falsa riga di "It's A Sin". Povera. E ancora, "Hey Headmaster", "Shameless", "Too Many People", "Falling" (realizzata per Kylie Minogue, musicalmente derivante da un mancato remix di "Go West"), "If Love Were All", "Decadence", "Euroboy", "Some Speculation". Gravita intorno a "Very" anche il singolo (che andò dritto al numero uno nel 1994) "Absolutely Fabulous", realizzato per l'omonima trasmissione.
“Very” è il fratello minore e scanzonato di “Behaviour”. Si guardino le copertine: rose rosse su sfondo bianco e una composizione simil-lego arancione. I due, come accade tra consanguinei, si vogliono bene, si stimano e apprezzano. Ma, mentre il maggiore preferisce starsene sul divano con una tazza di te’ ed un paio di amici intimi, fidati, il secondogenito preferisce correre per le strade smanioso di venir fuori, di sbocciare per quel che è: una meravigliosa, piacevolissima, innocente evasione.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Can You Forgive Her? (03:54)
Another night with open eyes
Too late to sleep, too soon to rise
You're short of breath, is it a heart attack?
Hot and feverish you face the fact
You're in love, and it feels like shame
Because she's gone and made a fool of you in public again
You're in love, and it feels like pain
Because you know there's too much truth in everything she claims
So ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she wants you to?
Ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
You drift into the strangest dreams
Of youthful follies and changing teams
Admit you're wrong, oh, no, not yet
Then you wake up and remember that you can't forget
She's made you some kind of laughing stock
Because you dance to disco, and you don't like rock
She'd make fun of you, and even in bed
Said she was gonna go and get herself a real man instead
So ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
Ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Or do you want revenge?
But that's childish, so childish!
(But that's childish, so childish!)
Remember when you were more easily led
Behind the cricket pavilion and the bicycle shed
Trembling as your dreams came true
You looked right into those blue eyes and knew
It was love, and now you can't pretend
You've forgotten all the promises of that first friend
It's bad enough, she knows how you feel
But she's not prepared to share you with the memory
So ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
Ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
And ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Or do you want revenge?
But that's childish, so childish!
02 I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing (03:04)
Ask me why
I'll say it's most unusual
How can I even try to explain
why today I feel like dancing
singing like lovers sing
when I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing?
I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing
Ask me when
I'll say it started when I met you
and ever since then I knew that the past couldn't last
For right now I think I'm running
a race I know I'm gonna win
and I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing
I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing
If people say I'm crazy
I tell them that it's true
Let them watch with amazement
say it won't last beyond breakfast
it's a phase he's going through
denigrate or speculate
on what I'm going through
because it isn't the sort of thing I'd normally do
Ask me what
I'll say I think it's good for you
Believe it or not I know where it's all leading to
I feel like taking all my clothes off
dancing to The Rite of Spring
and I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing
I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing
I wouldn't normally do this kind of
this kind of thing
03 Liberation (04:07)
Take my hand
I've changed my mind again
Really I believed it true
that all who fell in love were foolish
But I was wrong
I've learned that lesson well
All the way back home at midnight
you were sleeping on my shoulder
Take my hand
Don't think of obligations
Now, right now
your love is liberation
To free in me
the trust I never dared
I always thought the risk too great
but suddenly I don't hesitate so
Take my hand
Don't think of complications
Now, right now
your love is liberation
Liberation
The night, the stars
A light shone through the dark
All the way back home at midnight
you were sleeping on my shoulder
Take my hand,
Don't think of hesitation
Now, right now
your love is liberation
Liberation
Back home at midnight
All the way back home at midnight
04 A Different Point of View (03:26)
When I'm sitting so close to you
There's only one thing that I wanna do
But I know what you're likely to say
That I'm going about it the wrong way
We can't agree about anything
Where to go or even where we've been
And I know what you're likely to do
Say that I've never care about you
And all I wanted to say was that I love you
But you tell me now you don't believe it's true
You got a different, a different
A different point of view
You got a different
Point of view
You don't believe a single word I say
If I'd say black was white, you'd say it was grey
But in spite of been treated this way
I still dream of you all night and day
And all I wanted to say was that I love you
But you tell me now you don't believe it's true
You got a different, a different
A different point of view
You got a different
Point of view
Just this once
Just say yes
Please
You've got a clever way of haunting me
I'm never scared, but you're still daunting me
'Cause I know what you're likely to say
And I know that you'll get your own way
And all I wanted to say was that I love you
But you tell me now you don't believe it's true
You got a different, a different
A different point of view
You got a different
Point of view
You got a different, a different
A different point of view
You got a different
Point of view
06 Yesterday, When I Was Mad (03:56)
Darling, you were wonderful, you really were quite good
I enjoyed that, though, of course, no one understood
A word of what was going on, they didn't have a clue
They couldn't understand your sense of humour like I do
You're much too kind
I smiled with murder on my mind
Yesterday, when I was mad
And quite prepared to give up everything
Admitting, I don't believe
In anyone's sincerity, and that's what's really got to me
You have a certain quality, which really is unique
Expressionless, such irony, although your voice is weak
It doesn't really matter 'cause the music is so loud
Of course it's all on tape, but no one will find out
You hated me too
But not as much as I hated you
Yesterday, when I was mad
And quite prepared to give up everything
Admitting, I don't believe
In anyone's sincerity, and that's what's really got to me
Then, when I was lonely
I thought again
And changed my mind
Then we posed for pictures with the competition winners
And argued about the hotel rooms, and where to go for dinner
And someone said: "It's fabulous you're still around today,
You've both made such a little go a very long way"
Yesterday, when I was mad
And quite prepared to give up everything
Admitting, I don't believe
In anyone's sincerity, and that's what's really got to me
Yesterday, when I was mad
And quite prepared to give up everything
Admitting, I don't believe
In anyone's sincerity, and that's what's really got to me
Then, when I was lonely
I thought again
And changed my mind
07 The Theatre (05:11)
(Tennant/Lowe)
--------------
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
(Yeah)
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
It's another world here
The streets are gleaming
I was even dreaming
That they're paved with gold
Seventeen, at half past ten
All the crowds are surging past
An electric display
There's another world here
Below shop windows
Upon the pavement
Where you wave goodbye
Boys and girls
Come to roost
From Northern parts
And Scottish towns
Will we catch your eye?
While you pretend not to notice
All the years we've been here
We're the bums you step over
As you leave the Theatre
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
It's another world here
Somebody is singing (Yeah)
I was only wishing
For a bit of cash
From a patron of the arts
Or at least the phantom of the opera
Will I catch your eye?
While you pretend not to notice
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
All the years we've been here
We're the bums you step over
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
As you leave the Theatre
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
(Ha ha ha ha...)
(Everybody)
(Everybody)
(Everybody)
(Everybody)
(Everybody)
(Everybody)
(Everybody)
(Everybody)
Pavarotti in the park
Then you walked back up the Strand
Did you catch my eye?
And then pretend not to notice
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
All the years we've been here
We're the bums you step over
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
As you leave the Theatre
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
In the end, you pretend
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
'Cause it's so much easier
We're the bums you step over
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
As you leave the Theatre (Yeah)
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu
Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
We're the bums you step over
(Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu Tu ru tu tu tu tu)
As you leave the Theatre
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
(Ha ha ha ha ...)
(Ha ha ha ha ...)
(Ha ha ha ha ...)
16 Shameless (05:04)
(Tennant/Lowe)
-------------
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh) [Hello]
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh)
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh)
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh) [Dahhhling - mmwah!]
[How dare you? Do you know who I am?]
[You look fabulous! - mmwah!]
I know what you think
It's clear as mud in your eyes
We're the plastic poseurs and prostitutes
You've obviously come to despise
But you don't know nothing
You're not hot enough to matter
You don't understand it's the glamorous life
A dream that no one can shatter
We're shameless
We will do anything
To get our fifteen minutes of fame
We have no integrity
We're ready to crawl
To obtain celebrity
We'll do anything at all
I'm ambitious
Believe me, I'm going to be big
I'm a slave to glamour
Applause and clamour
My makeup, my wardrobe, my wigs
Don't call me pathetic
I'm harder than you'll ever guess
Relentlessly tough, for when the going gets rough
The tough get their picture in the press
We're shameless
We will do anything
To get our fifteen minutes of fame
We have no integrity
We're ready to crawl
To obtain celebrity
We'll do anything at all
(Anything, anything, anything at all)
(We'll do anything, anything, anything at all)
(We'll do anything, anything, anything at all)
(We'll do anything, anything, anything at all)
[It's going perfectly alright]
[How dare you? Do you know who I am?]
[It's an absolute disgrace]
Tell me you love me
Admit it, you're really impressed
Would it not amuse you
For me to seduce you
Have you ever seen me undressed?
We're shameless
We will do anything
To get our fifteen minutes of fame (Give me fifteen minutes)
We have no integrity
We're ready to crawl
To obtain celebrity
We'll do anything at all
We're shameless
We will do anything
To get our fifteen minutes of fame (Give me fifteen minutes)
We have no integrity
We're ready to crawl to obtain celebrity
We'll do anything
With anyone
Go absolutely anywhere
For anything
At all
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh) [I'm terribly sorry]
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh)
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh)
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh)
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh)
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh)
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh)
(Ooh ah ah ooh ah ah ooh ah ooh)
17 Too Many People (04:26)
(Tennant/Lowe)
-------------------
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people at once
The husband or the hedonist
The businessman or the communist
The artist or the showbiz creep
The lover or the nervous geek
The question of identity is one that's always haunted me
Whoever I decide to be depends on who is with me
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people at once
The tactless twit putting his foot in it
Or the sensitive soul who's a role model
The urban jet setter - never at home
Or the country recluse - just leave me alone
Extrovert or introvert
Love is kind, and love hurts
Rebellion or conformity
What is my identity?
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people at once
The intellectual and bon-viveur
or the naive simpleton, so immature
A devoted son and family man
Or the wicked uncle who doesn't give a damn
How often these have tempted me
The question of identity depends on what I'm meant to be
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people at once
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people
I sometimes think that I'm too many people
Too many people, too many people at once
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Altre recensioni
Di Ale87
Ad un ascolto spassionato Very potrebbe risultare superficiale nella produzione, ma nasconde una satira sulla società di allora.
I Pet Shop Boys si chiudono nel loro guscio e vedono tutti quei gruppi che, per stare al passo coi tempi, rinnegano i lavori pop fatti negli anni '80.
