Pet Shop Boys: Popart - The Videos

This DVD follows the video career of the Pet Shop Boys, paired with the release of their dual-CD of the same name.With regard to the CD, the first of the discs of this 'Greatest Hits' for the Pet Shop Boys contains 17 tracks (Pop), and the second 18 tracks (Art). For those who are die-hard fans of the Pet Shop Boys, this is a must have, but, for the most part, those fans will find it is in many ways an already-have. The tracks are remastered, but given the high production qualities of most PSB discs generally, there isn't a great deal to be gained from this. There are two new songs, Miracles and Flamboyant (one on each disc), which are both wonderful (and, interestingly, the addition of two songs to the 'greatest hits' compilation matches their performance with Discography, which also had a 'best of' with two new tracks added). These songs, unfortunately, are not reflected in the video collection on this DVD.Unlike the CD collection, the DVD is arranged chronologically, beginning the song 'Opportunities' (which had two versions, one released prior to the song 'West End Girls' becoming a worldwide hit), and ending with songs from their latest album, Release. It also includes a few pieces that are extended single versions. Some of these pieces are quite remarkable - directors such as Bruce Weber and Derek Jarman collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys to make very sleek, very stylish videos that stand the test of time well, and still include innovative features that many other videographers have subsequently taken on as standard practices.There are the major songs and single releases from all previous albums, so this serves both as a retrospective but also as a handy all-in-one collection spanning the history of the Pet Shop Boys; from that perspective, if you were to have just one CD/DVD from them, this would the one. This includes all the number one hits, all the top ten, with an additional collection of tracks from the later album releases that reached the UK top 20. The division between 'Pop' and 'Art' is subtle, and any lifelong fan will have his or her own impressions as to which songs should fit into which category. On the CD, the 'Pop' side is more disco/dance music, whereas the 'Art' side is a little more sombre, and the lyrics a little more complex. On the other hand, some songs, such as 'Love comes quickly' would easily qualify for either designation. There is no such designation here, but for those who have both, it is interesting to see if the videos match with the music in the categorisation.This collection represents more than 20 years work on the part of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. For the first several years of that career, they were famous world-wide, and quite a staple in the dance clubs and video programming in America and elsewhere. The first singles collection 'Discography' (with the companion video release, 'Videography' at the same time) represented the beginning of the decline of 80s style dance music in America, but the music descended from this type remained strongly popular throughout the rest of the world, as the sold-out concert tours of the Pet Shop Boys everywhere except North America attests to. Many of the songs on this 'Pop-Art' collection will therefore be new to audiences whose interest in the Pet Shop Boys ended the hits from the 'Behaviour' era.A must-have for anyone who likes dance music, disco, electronic music, 80s music, the Pet Shop Boys, or who wants to have a complete music collection of some of the 'founding fathers' of Music Television.

I've been a fan of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe ever since "West End Girls." Pet Shop Boys distinguished itself from other 1980s bands in Tennant's vocal restraint, Lowe's masterwork at the instruments, and the pair's genius at writing catchy pop music.Their lyrics often touch on themes of lost love, society's superficiality, aging, and mortality. Their videos range in approach from serious and highly artistic affairs to wild self-parody. For years I have longed for DVD-quality editions of their videos, and now I happily have them.Unfortunately, the accompanying commentaries by Tennant and Lowe offer few behind-the-scenes memories of the videos, nor much explanation of why a given visual approach was taken with each video. Instead, Tennant and Lowe simply make fun of themselves in between long silences that could have been better spent explaining the motivation and development of each song and video.Listening to Tennant and Lowe mock their own costumes and performances, in video after video, I was left wondering, "Well, guys, if you hated doing each video that much, why did you do them that way?" I was disappointed in particular at their shallow treatment of "Being Boring," "Go West" and "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Sort of Thing" -- all of which are favorites of mine.If you enjoy the Pet Shop Boys, I highly recommend the DVD -- but the commentaries add nothing substantial to the collection.

This is a Great Music Collection if you are a Fan of the Pet Shop Boys like me, in one DVD features 41 Videos, some of them are Awesome the Images are Colorful and Clear and the Sound Is Excellent fully remastered. The only thing I don't like is there are too many Black and White Videos specially the 1990 Being Boring, my all time favorite it would have looked so much better in Full Color, However, that is just a miniscule point and my own preference. I never get tired of watching all of them! For years every time I play their Music is like taking a Journey through my Life ...Their Music Never Gets Old, I wish I could give them 10 StarsThe DVD Special Features includes 3 hour band Commentary. Inside the DVD Package there's a Picture Book or "Collectors Booklet" as they call it, mine has 22 Pages and not 60 Pages as indicated under the Editorial Reviews, this so called Collectors Booklet is filled with Blury and out of Focus Pictures,...Totally Useless, in the Center Page gives information of each Song's Credits in very Tiny Font, hard to read. I don't care about any of that...I am here for the ~SUPER GREAT MUSIC~ and ~PET SHOP BOYS~ ARE THE BEST! ...Thank You D.D.

I've been a PSB fan for way too many years and when I received this DVD in the mail, well, I was blown away! The sound quality is excellent and the image quality is superb. In fact, this DVD has sent me right back into a PSB phase, inspiring me to search for and collect many of the albums I've missed along the way, (while being into other things.) Neil is such an incredible songwriter and these videos totally express that. I have to say, being 48 years old, it's so wild to see this talented duo grow older throughout the DVD, knowing I'm getting older too. One thing is certain - PSB continue to create great music; music that inspires, elates, sympathizes, and complements just about any mood. I consider them one of the greatest bands of all time and watching this DVD confirms this. You'll love this disc, trust me. Some things are worth so much more than their price tag, and this is truly one of them...

PopArt is a lovely video of the PSB. I always wanted to have a collection of all the videos. I was just about to buy Discography video. Then PopArt followed. I wish they would have included the lyrics of the songs as well or the subtitles. I'm in India and the only problem is that the Region 1 does not play in Asia. But I managed to get a play on my PC with the DVD region 1 driver. Have to try it on a DVD player. Overall a great video of the PSB. A must have for all PSB fans coz all the videos from