Posted at 9:24 PM, 23 March 2010 -
Today is the first anniversary of the release of the album Yes, so we bring you the instrumental tracks of the tenth Pet Shop Boys studio album. These instrumentals were released on a limited (300 copies) vinyl version of Yes, featuring 11 x 12" singles with exclusive instrumental versions of each track on the b-side.Yes was recorded throughout 2008 and is produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania, who also co-wrote three of the tracks. It was released in the UK on 23 March 2009, and reached number 4 in the UK album charts, the Pet Shop Boys' highest placing since their 1996 album Bilingual. The album spawned four singles: "Love etc.", "Did you see me coming?", "Beautiful people" (Germany-only) and "All over the world" (as part of the Christmas EP). Yes was nominated at the 52nd Grammy Awards for Best Electronic/Dance Album.
Note: We do not own these instrumentals. They were posted on YouTube.
1. Love etc. (Tennant/Lowe/Higgins/Cooper/Powell/Parker)
The first single from the album (reached number 14 in the charts), one of the three songs co-written with Xenomania. It was originally a track that Xenomania were keeping for a project they were going to do themselves. They worked on the song from May 2008 until just before Christmas that year. Neil Tennant and Brian Higgins had a heated debate over "Love etc". Neil won.
2. All over the world (Tennant/Lowe)
"All Over The World" uses a melody from the "Nutcracker Suite", composed by Tchaikovsky. A song about love songs, it was the last track to be written for the album.
3. Beautiful people (Tennant/Lowe)
Originally written for a TV series called Beautiful People. It sounded more "folky", but the guys from Xenomania put a 60s beat on it. Features backing vocals by new Xenomania talents Alex Gardner and Jessie Malakouti and orchestral arrangements by Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire, Final Fantasy).
4. Did you see me coming? (Tennant/Lowe)
It was chosen as the second single due to the enthusiasm of Parlophone's radio promotion staff, who felt that it would get a lot of airplay (it got played on BBC Radio 2, but little elsewhere, and reached number 21 in the charts).
It was the first song that the Pet Shop Boys played to Brian Higgins after meeting him. Brian said that it was "80% there".
5. Vulnerable (Tennant/Lowe)
The song was going to be a duet, and they considered approaching Carla Bruni. The song itself is sung from the point of view of a woman.
6. More than a dream (Tennant/Lowe/Cooper/Higgins/Resch/Jones)
One of the three Xenomania co-writes, written on the very first day at Xenomania. Originally titled "Where The Wild Things Are".
7. Building a wall (Tennant/Lowe)
A rare call and response between Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, this is Stuart Price's favourite song on the album.
8. King of Rome (Tennant/Lowe)
A simple backing track with historical lyrics about Napoleon's son, who is a symbol of loneliness and exile.
9. Pandemonium (Tennant/Lowe)
Unlike the rest of the album, "Pandemonium" was written in 2007, when the Pet Shop Boys were writing songs for Kylie Minogue. It is about the relationship between Kate Moss and Pete Doherty. Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Electronic, The Cribs) plays harmonica.
10. The way it used to be (Tennant/Lowe/Cooper/Higgins/Coler)
It was going to be a duet with Tina Turner. Miranda Cooper and Neil Tennant sat down and wrote the story of the song, which is structured like a film. Both Neil Tennant and Brian Higgins say that the song is their personal favourite from the album.
11. Legacy (Tennant/Lowe)
The Chinese government didn't approve the distribution of "Legacy" within China, so instead of removing it from the album, the Pet Shop Boys suggested that it should instead be included as an instrumental.
Labels: instrumentals, Pet Shop Boys
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