Whilst this poignant album celebrates 35 years of hits for the pop duo, the Pet Shop Boys story dates back to 1982 when vocalist Neil Tennant became the news editor of the former British teen pop magazine Smash Hits. Through Smash Hits, Tennant could interview The Police in New York. During his stay, he paired up with co-founder Chris Lowe and met producer Bobby Orlando who would produce the Pet Shop Boys’ first single, “West End Girls”. By 2020, the Pet Shop Boys would release over 70 singles.
SMASH – The Singles 1985 – 2020 captures 55 of these singles. The track listing is chronological. This new remastered compilation builds significantly upon the Pet Shop Boys’ previous single compilation albums Discography: The Complete Singles Collection, Ultimate and Pop Art: Pet Shop Boys – The Hits.
Discography contained 16 singles and two other songs, and Pop Art had 35 (excluding the remix cd). Despite SMASH considerably building upon its compilation predecessors, it contains many omissions, including ‘How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?’ from 1991’s Behaviour ‘Burning The Heather’ issued on seven-inch vinyl from 2020’s Hotspot.
Many other songs are not included. Firstly, as with Discography and Pop Art, the focus is on singles. As a result, there is a plethora of instant, radio-friendly, catchy material; fans will need to refer back to the 14 LP releases for more experimental material. B-sides, remixes of the band’s hits and other artists’ songs the Pet Shop Boys have remixed do not appear.
Whilst the lack of completeness can’t be overlooked, overall, the singles which best show how the Pet Shop Boys have captured the zeitgeist are featured, including “Thursday”, which features Example and “Dreamland”, featuring Years & Years. Further, the songs “Was it worth it?” (7″ version) and “It’s a Sin” from the 2021 award-winning drama miniseries It’s a Sin feature.
A lack of completeness only confirms how well the duo have continued to connect with their audience. They have never been idle and, most importantly, not “boring”; furthermore, after a 20-year hiatus since the release of the last singles collection, a new celebratory singles compilation was overdue.
With so many hits, sacrifices were inevitable. Nonetheless, through this compilation, the Pet Shop Boys have offered more than enough to satisfy their multigenerational fanbase. Most importantly, this compilation includes all their defining eighties hits.
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