Text: Dai Man

Bravo Pet Shop Boys! The band that critics claim lie at the midway point between New Order and the Smiths, haven’t been this brilliant in years. Yes is triumphant. The whole album is giddy with first-time love. Joy explodes from every pore. From opening track, the catchy Love etc., the upbeat, shiny pop gems just keep on coming, and coming. For an act famous for their upbeat pop nuggets such as New York City Boy, this is almost like a greatest hits album, with potential Top 40 hits playing one after the other. On their last album, Fundamental the boys had taken a dark satirical tone with the album’s most joyous moment coming at the very end; this time unbridled happiness plays in every track, the momentum only dipping towards the end on a couple of more ambient tracks. But Yes, etc. is the double CD version of Yes, featuring a bonus disc which starts off with a very cool collaboration with 80’s icon, Phil Oakey of Human League fame. This used to be the Future is well worth the additional twenty dollars but what follows are 6 dub versions of album tracks, a couple of which, Pandemonium originally written for Kylie and Love etc. are great on their own terms. As dub music lacks the lyrical content of the originals, the bonus CD is great for those who love music generally. If you are someone who needs words with your music you can simply buy the original version of Yes. As it is, Yes etc. has delivered 18 glorious new Pet Shop Boys tracks in a must-have package, bonus CD or not. A tremendous pop album!