Yes! It's the Pet Shop Boys

I've just watched the Pet Shop Boys Brits medley again, and was reminded of just how much awesome music they've created over the last 25 years. Christ that makes me feel old.

Anyway, Popjustice added a tweet the other day asking what the Pet Shop Boys' greatest single was. Which set me thinking about album tracks, since the artists I really love tend to hide their best material on the albums, rather than release them as singles.

So, in celebration of the forthcoming release of 'Yes', I've pulled together my top ten Pet Shop Boys tracks (in no particular order). Feel free to disagree...

To break up the post, here are the first five.

1) It Couldn't Happen Here, from 'Actually'

Despite the ignominy of having lent its name to PSB's ill-advised foray into movies, this lush, orchestral lament about the advent of AIDS in the mid-80s is a melodic melancholic masterpiece. Co-written with film composer Ennio Morricone, this track took a long while for me to learn to love it. But now I can't imagine PSB playlist without it.

2) Shameless, from B-sides collection 'Alternative'

This single that never was ended up as a B-side to Go West from the Very album. Written at a time when Big Brother was still a reference to George Orwell, this upbeat and chant-along classic shows alarming insight into the culture of modern celebrity. My only regret is that this song hasn't been updated to refelect the current desperation of today's 'celebrities'. Rebecca Loos masturbating a pig is crying out to be immortalised in song, perhaps over a backing track combining Debussy and a disco beat.

3) Only The Wind, from 'Behaviour'

I remember buying 'Behaviour' on vinyl the day it was released and being tremendously disappointed. As a 15 year old prone to depressive bouts, I liked my pop to be upbeat and joyous. Two words you'd be hard pressed to apply to this album. However, unlike Madonna's 'I'm Breathless' which went straight back to Our Price for a full refund, I kept this one. Flas forward a few years, and the miserablism which had turned me off as a teen, now made this probably my favourite PSB labum of all. And 'Only The Wind' is my favourite track on it. With strings by Angelo Badalamenti and a surprisingly tender vocal (for a song about domestic violence), this song burrows into your brain.

4) Hit and Miss, from 'Bilingual, Further Listening'

The sad fact is, I did not like Bilingual at all. The lesbian drummers, latin sound and duff singles really did this album no favours. However this era wasn't without the occasional gem. The motiv-8 remix of Red Letter Day was a surprising joy, and there was also this fantastic B-side to Bilingual's first single, Before. Pounding piano percussion and fantastic swirly synthesiser effect combine to make this a strangely compelling and enjoyable track.

5) Integral, from 'Fundamental'

At last, a single makes the cut! The closing track from the boys' last album is an infuriatingly catchy and pounding critique of ID cards and xenophobia. No-one does sing-along songs about pressing political issues quite like the Pet Shop Boys. And we love them for it. Unfortunately, there's no video available for the album version, this is the slightly less likeable single remix.