The latest release scheduled by the Pet Shop Boys is an EP titled ‘Christmas’. It features a remix of the album track ‘All Over the World’, a remix of the fan club only single ‘It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas’, and cover versions of Madness’ “My Girl” and Coldplay’s ‘Viva La Vida’ which segues into ‘Domino Dancing’.Now most fans have been listening to this release for a couple of weeks now as promo’s have leaked onto the internet. The verdict? Severely disappointing.
The new version of ‘All Over the World’ features an intrusive, badly mixed, annoying and out of tune orchestral arrangement. Some further minor tweaks here and there mount up to an inferior version to that featured on the album ‘Yes’.
The ‘2009 Mix’ of ‘It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas’ is similarly awash wish a new orchestral arrangement which features a choir and segues into a couple of carols here and there. Once again the original version is preferable.
The cover version of ‘My Girl’ is actually very good and is the highlight of the EP for me. Yet anyone who visits the official www.petshopboys.co.uk has already heard the demo recording from which this version is derived.
During their current tour Neil and Chris have played a version of ‘Viva La Vida’ which incorporated elements of their song ‘Domino Dancing’. This track became something of a highlight of the tour and its release seems a logical step. However, the version on this EP feels different to that played during the tour. Despite being an admirable effort, this track lacks punch and left me wondering what happened to the bass frequencies. A second version of ‘My Girl’ rounds out the track list but it is largely the same as the original version.
Out Dec 14th 2009
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