Ranked: The Albums of Pet Shop Boys
A new album 34 years on divides critics and fans
There was a time and a place when Pet Shop Boys (PSB) dominated the dance floor. With their 20th album, the formula hasn’t changed much and the grooves are as danceable as ever but they aren’t breaking any new ground.
This story uses the release of Hotspot, their latest album, as an opportunity to look back on PSB’s discography. Regular readers will know that I like to triangulate the views of critics and fans to come up with a definitive album ranking.
The critics’ views
In the absence other comprehensive critical rankings, I relied on AllMusic for the critics’ view.
PSB has been remarkably consistent, with many more hits than misses. Twelve of their twenty albums have rated 4 stars or more. The only two fails were remix albums. I debated whether to include the remix albums in this survey. The studio has been PSB’s instrument since way before every kid…
