Pet Shop Boys: Smash - The Singles 1985-2020 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Pet Shop Boys: Smash - The Singles 1985-2020 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 26, 2023

It's kind of heartwarming in a way that Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe evidently met each other kind of randomly at a music store, which then gave rise to their own musical partnership which resulted in the Pet Shop Boys, one of the most successful duo acts in the history of popular music, and one which reportedly at one point at least was named the most successful recording duo hailing from the United Kingdom. If, as the Buggles famously proclaimed, "video killed the radio star", it may have actually helped to propel more "style conscious" acts like the Pet Shop Boys into international fame and fortune, and in that regard Parlophone and Rhino have assembled a really fun new set that offers not just three CDs of the band's often infectious music, but also more importantly for visitors to this site two Blu-rays offering music videos and other assorted delights. All of the older video definitely looks to have been upscaled per its era's standard (some of you may have seen what I just did there), but the band's videos are generally phantasmagorical visually and all of the music on the Blu-ray discs is offered in LPCM 2.0, which may help to balance things out. The more contemporary music videos have an "authentic" high definition appearance (see screenshot 2).

I often joke with regard to these releases that combine Blu-rays with CDs that a lot of prospective consumers are probably going to consider the Blu- ray discs the supplements, but this is an interesting case in that the Blu-rays offer a visual history of the band that complements the audio history provided by the CDs. What becomes immediately apparent in watching the two Blu-rays is just how many music videos the Pet Shop Boys have made through the years. One way or the other, here are the entire contents of this expansive set:

CD 1

1. West End Girls (2023 Remaster)
2. Love Comes Quickly (2023 Remaster)
3. Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money) (2023 Remaster)
4. Suburbia (2023 Remaster)
5. It’s a Sin (2023 Remaster)
6. What Have I Done to Deserve This? (2023 Remaster)
7. Rent (2023 Remaster)
8. Always on My Mind (2023 Remaster)
9. Heart (2023 Remaster)
10. Domino Dancing (2023 Remaster)
11. Left to My Own Devices (2023 Remaster)
12. It’s Alright (2023 Remaster)
13. So Hard (2023 Remaster)
14. Being Boring (2023 Remaster)
15. Where the Streets Have No Name / I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (Medley) (2023 Remaster)
16. Jealousy (2023 Remaster)
17. DJ Culture (2023 Remaster)
18. Was It Worth It? (7″ Version) (2023 Remaster)

CD 2

1. Can You Forgive Her? (2023 Remaster)
2. Go West (2023 Remaster)
3. I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing (7″ Version) (2023 Remaster)
4. Liberation (2023 Remaster)
5. Yesterday, When I Was Mad (Single Version) (2023 Remaster)
6. Paninaro ’95 (2023 Remaster)
7. Before (2023 Remaster)
8. Se a Vida É (That’s the Way Life Is) (2023 Remaster)
9. Single – Bilingual (2023 Remaster)
10. A Red Letter Day (2023 Remaster)
11. Somewhere (2023 Remaster)
12. I Don’t Know What You Want but I Can’t Give It Any More (2023 Remaster)
13. New York City Boy (US Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
14. You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk (2023 Remaster)
15. Home and Dry (2023 Remaster)
16. I Get Along (Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
17. Miracles (Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
18. Flamboyant (7″ Mix) (2023 Remaster)

CD 3

1. I’m with Stupid (2023 Remaster)
2. Minimal (Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
3. Numb (Single Edit) (2023 Remaster)
4. Love etc. (2023 Remaster)
5. Did You See Me Coming? (2023 Remaster)
6. It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas (New Version) (2023 Remaster)
7. Together (Ultimate Mix) (2023 Remaster)
8. Winner (2023 Remaster)
9. Leaving (2023 Remaster)
10. Memory of the Future (New Single Mix) (2023 Remaster)
11. Vocal (Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
12. Love Is a Bourgeois Construct (Nighttime Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
13. Thursday (feat. Example) (Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
14. The Pop Kids (Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
15. Twenty-Something (Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
16. Say It To Me (New Radio Mix) (2023 Remaster)
17. Dreamland (feat. Years & Years) (2023 Remaster)
18. Monkey Business (Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)
19. I Don’t Wanna (Radio Edit) (2023 Remaster)

Blu-ray 1: The Complete Videos: 1985-2020

1. West End Girls
2. Love Comes Quickly
3. Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money) (Version 2)
4. Suburbia
5. It’s a Sin
6. What Have I Done to Deserve This?
7. Rent
8. Always On My Mind
9. Heart
10. Domino Dancing
11. Left to My Own Devices
12. It’s Alright
13. So Hard
14. Being Boring
15. Where the Streets Have No Name/I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
16. Jealousy
17. DJ Culture
18. Was It worth It? (7” Version)
19. Can You Forgive Her?
20. Go West
21. I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind ofTthing
22. Liberation
23. Yesterday, When I Was Mad
24. Paninaro ’95
25. Before
26. Se a vida è (That’s The Way Life Is)
27. Single Bilingual
28. A RedLletter Day
29. Somewhere
30. I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More
31. New York City Boy
32. You OnlyTtell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk
33. Home and Dry
34. I Get Along/E-mail
35. Miracles (Radio Edit)
36. Flamboyant (7” Mix)
37. I’m with Stupid
38. Minimal (Radio Edit)
39. Numb
40. Love etc.
41. Did You See Me Coming?
42. It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas (Live at the O2 Arena, 2009)
43. Together
44. Winner
45. Leaving
46. Memory of the Future (Official Lyric Video)
47. Vocal (Radio Edit)
48. Thursday (feat. Example) (Radio Edit)
49. The Pop Kids (Official Lyric Video)
50. Twenty-something
51. Dreamland (feat. Years & Years) (Official Lyric Video)
52. Monkey Business
53. I Don’t Wanna (Animated Lyric Video)

Blu-ray 2: The Extras

1. Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money) (Original Version)
2. Paninaro (1986 Video)
3. Domino Dancing (Extended Version)
4. So Hard (Extended Version)
5. How can you expect to be taken seriously?
6. Go West (Extended Version)
7. London
8. Integral
9. All Over the World (Live at the O2 Arena, 2009)
10. Invisible
11. Axis
12. On Social Media (Official Lyric Video)
13. Burning the Heather (Official Lyric Video)

Pet Shop Boys: Smash - The Singles 1985-2020 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pet Shop Boys: Smash - The Singles 1985-2020 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Parlophone and Rhino with AVC encoded 1080i transfers in a variety of aspect ratios (mostly 1.32:1) of the manifold videos included, which, per the very title of this release, span several decades. As such, as alluded to above, all of the older videos are upscales, and so certain expectation bars need to be set appropriately. There all sorts of "old school" anomalies at play, including common bugaboos like stair stepping and aliasing, but what struck me as maybe just a little funny is that so many of the earlier Pet Shop Boys videos are so quasi-psychedelic anyway that these "quaint" reminders of a bygone age only kind of add to a certain "flashback" quality. While all of the older material definitely can look like not very well defined upscaled VHS at times, kind of remarkably the palette is generally secure throughout all of the videos. As also mentioned above, the newer videos have a crisp, well detailed appearance that offer good suffusion and generally excellent fine detail levels. I'm kind of splitting the difference between the low end and high end in my overall score for the video.

Pet Shop Boys: Smash - The Singles 1985-2020 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both Blu-ray discs offer very nice sounding LPCM 2.0 tracks. Yes, I'm sure audiophiles would have enjoyed surround repurposings, perhaps more so had this set offered audio Blu-rays, but the tracks on these videos are often rather gorgeously layered and offer some relatively wide imaging. Vocals are well mixed and tend to be the focus, though the labyrinthine synths can come close to overpowering things at times. Fidelity is excellent throughout and there's some appealing dynamic range spread over the course of the decades of videos.

Pet Shop Boys: Smash - The Singles 1985-2020 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As mentioned above, one man's supplements may be another man's main "feature", so to speak, so I'll leave it to individuals to assess what's what with regard to that issue by looking over the complete content of all the discs which I've offered above. My score for "extras" is meant to indicate that however you come down on the side of "main offering" versus "bonus material", you're getting a lot of material with this release. This is a really nicely packaged set one way or the other, with a colorful slipbox holding what amount to mini gatefolds with either a CD or a Blu-ray disc. The inside of the gatefolds are cool in their own way, offering little thumbnails of things like album covers or screencaps from videos on the right side, with track listings and some extremely "fine print" with credits on the left. There's also a very nicely designed booklet with tons of pictures and an extended "conversation" between Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe covering the music in detail.

Pet Shop Boys: Smash - The Singles 1985-2020 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had frankly forgotten how much I enjoyed the Pet Shop Boys during what I perhaps mistakenly think of as their eighties heyday, but this immense set reminded me of how much fun the band can be. The glut of music videos offered here are often fascinating from a kind of cultural history perspective. While the older videos have typical signs of upscaling, they can still be quite enjoyable, and all of the music on the Blu-ray discs and CDs sounds great. Recommended.