Electric

Pet Shop Boys - Electric
Critic Score
Based on 35 reviews
2013 Ratings: #185 / 1115
User Score
Based on 123 ratings
2013 Rank: #275
Liked by 6 people
July 15, 2013 / Release Date
LP / Format
x2 / Label
Synthpop / Genre
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
musicOMH

This is the most essential album Pet Shop Boys have made in 20 years

100
The Telegraph

Electric is the second really fantastic pop-dance blast of the year.

90
Drowned in Sound

It’s absurdly furious dance music, sounding more like Squarepusher than any sane person could ever have expected. 

87
Paste

The duo impressively join a raft of other legacy artists (David Bowie, Black Sabbath) in proving that getting older doesn’t mean you have to lose your passion for creativity or, in the case of Electric, your libido.

83
A.V. Club

Most often, Electric generously references the type of sophisticated electropop that Pet Shop Boys pioneered on early albums Please and Actually

80
Mixmag
Springsteen cover ‘The Last To Die’, is a witty aside, but throbbing 4/4 dominates as the electronic legends make a welcome return to their roots.
80
Q Magazine

With Electric, Pet Shop Boys have succeeded spectacularly.

80
The Independent

It's the most simple, directly dance-oriented they've been since Disco, putting down a marker for the rest of the album.

80
NOW Magazine
The record is effusive but unsentimental, pointedly funny (Love Is A Bourgeois Construct) and occasionally subversive (The Last To Die, a Springsteen cover).
80
Mojo

It gets on the dance floor to create some bona fide hits of its own.

80
Uncut
Price's maximalist approach is largely successful, producing vivid, neon-lit dancefloor monsters like "Axis" and "Fluorescent."
80
The Guardian
Whatever the reason, a band that sounded pretty weary eight months ago sound recharged and inspired.
80
Clash
They’re reborn, revitalised, and really rather good.
80
PopMatters

Electric is not only Pet Shop Boys’ heartfelt valentine to electronic dance music but also a reclamation of their part in its history. 

80
The Line of Best Fit

Electric is a work of renewed purpose, whose short time-frame and scant tracklist belie the gems that lie within. 

80
AllMusic

An excellent, unexpected, and infectious triumph.

80
DIY

More than three decades on from the day the pair first met in an electronics shop on the King's Road the Pet Shop Boys still manage to pack more ideas in an album than many others do in a thirty year career.

80
The 405

Their latest effort feels so fresh and vital that one can hardly believe that Tennant will be 60 next year; Pet Shop Boys are back in the prime of life, and their sound is electrifying.

80
NME

Huge. Tasteful. Funny. Touching. Direct. Clever. As an exercise is sounding totally, defiantly alive, it is a complete success. 

80
SPIN

Tennant and Lowe's rueful melodies and vocals dilute the euphoria. Classic Pet Shop Boys, in other words.

75
Under the Radar

Tennant and Chris Lowe hit far more often than they miss here; Electric is the most boisterous and lively Pet Shop Boys album since Very.

70
Consequence of Sound

Age has not impaired Pet Shop Boys and the duo remains alive, proud, and for much of the time, electric.

70
Pitchfork

Electric is their most immediate, jubilant record in at least a decade-- a return to a couple of elements of their work that had been lying fallow for too long.

70
Slant Magazine
The Pet Shop Boys have once again given themselves a lease on another era, and Price was obviously the right choice to help them do so.
70
Rolling Stone

A pulse-quickening, mind-tickling dance LP 27 years after their debut? This duo did much more than get lucky.

60
The Observer
It's not cutting edge, but it does mean business.
francisoc
94

The title sums it up well: Euphoric, futuristic, electric. If you're still doubting if its worth your time, take a quick listen to Axis, one of the greatest and most euphoric opening tracks ever, with its futuristic dance production that keeps the listener hooked wondering where the song will go next. Its an almost instrumental-only song, with Neil saying the album title "electric" every now and then, for example, in between the break and the amazing beat drop in the very last ... read more

QueenOfDenmark
70

Axis ~ ★★★☆☆
Bolshy ~ ★★★☆☆
Love Is a Bourgeois Construct ~ ★★★★★
Fluorescent ~ ★★★☆☆
Inside a Dream ~ ★★★☆☆
The Last to Die ~ ★★★☆☆
Shouting in the Evening ~ ★★★☆☆
Thursday ~ ★★★★☆
Vocal ~ ★★★★☆

⏳ new & improved: time-weighted score ⏳

MinatoArisato
65

A return to form back to their synth pop roots. Electric has a lot to love but still feels somewhat dated and bland.

Best Track: Axis
Worst Track: Vocal

ces_tirso
75

First Experience: Finally! After a series of albums with a shy energy, Electric brings back the power that had been lost in the last works. A group like Pet Shop Boys doesn't have vocals as a focus, so the instrumental side carries all the liveliness, so when we have less power in this aspect, the entire record is affected. We are back!

Added to my playlist: Love is a Bourgeois Construct, The Last to Die and Thursday.

francisoc
94

The title sums it up well: Euphoric, futuristic, electric. If you're still doubting if its worth your time, take a quick listen to Axis, one of the greatest and most euphoric opening tracks ever, with its futuristic dance production that keeps the listener hooked wondering where the song will go next. Its an almost instrumental-only song, with Neil saying the album title "electric" every now and then, for example, in between the break and the amazing beat drop in the very last ... read more

gleech
70

Track 3 is the best thing they've ever done

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Added on: July 5, 2013