지난 25년 동안 신스 팝의 최고 지배자로 군림해온 펫 샵 보이스의 새 앨범 [FUNDAMENTAL]
닐 테넌트 NEIL TENNANT 와 크리스 로우CHRIS LOWE로 구성된 신스팝의 대표적인 아이콘 펫 샵 보이스PET SHOP BOYS의 통산 아홉 번째 스튜디오 앨범 [FUNDAMENTAL]이 발매되었다. 버글스THE BUGGLES와 예스YES의 프로듀서로 유명한 트레버 혼TREVOR HORN과 작업을 하였고, 특유의 업비트와 댄서블한 사운드 그리고 테넌트의 신비로운 보컬과 로우의 차가운 사운드 메이킹이 빚어내는 조화가 넘쳐나는 본 앨범은 비평가들에 의해 지금껏 최고의 스튜디오 앨범으로 손꼽히고 있다.
2005년 5월부터 녹음에 들어간 새 앨범 [FUNDAMENTAL]은 [VERY] 이후 가장 잘 만들어진 펫 샵 보이스 음반이다. 조지 부시 미국 대통령과 토니 블레어 영국 총리를 비꼬는 내용의 곡인 첫 싱글 'I’M WITH STUPID' 는 화려하고 긴장감 넘치는 편곡과 사운드 프로듀싱, 흠 없는 멜로디 등의 모든 요소들이 강력하고 철저하게 통제된 일렉트로 댄스 팝 넘버이다. 강박적인 일렉트로 비트가 곡 전체를 지배하는 'PSYCHOLOGICAL', 후려치듯 나아가는 'THE SODOM AND GOMORRAH SHOW', 그리고 'CASANOVA IN HELL' 같은 펫 샵 보이스 표 발라드 역시 음반 속에서 빛나고 있다. .... ....
You've got a problem with the reason why An asymmetric haircut and a painted eye It's psychological (Psychological) Is it a cry for help or call to arms? Frustration False alarms It's psychological (Psychological) (All in the mind)
There's something in the attic and it smells so bad An undertaker in a bowler hat (Psychological) What's that spilt on the kitchen floor? Who's that knocking on the cellar door? It's psychological (Psychological) Or is it only your imagination? driving me crazy, crazy baby, baby, please It's psychological(All in the mind) I thought I heard a baby cry I thought I heard a train Down in the cemetery Cellophane
It's second nature to you (Psychological) All in the mind It's psychological (Psychological) All in the mind It's psychological (Psychological) All in the mind
I lived a quiet life a stranger to champagne I never dared to venture out to cities of the plain I'd heard about their way of life took it with a pinch of salt The freedom and the time to play a life so easy it intrigued me when you called to say:
"Are you gonna go to the Sodom and Gomorrah Show? It's got everything you need for your complete entertainment and instruction Sun, sex, sin, divine intervention, death and destruction The Sodom and Gomorrah show is a once-in-a-lifetime production"
I think it's true to say my life was changed that night In the liberated atmosphere all around me Someone found me whispered in my ear
"Are you gonna go to the Sodom and Gomorrah Show? It's got everything you need for your complete entertainment and instruction Sun, sex, sin, divine intervention, death and destruction The Sodom and Gomorrah Show is a once-in-a-lifetime production"
Then we went on after-hours there was place down below It was there I realised the meaning of the show
You've got to love to learn to live where angels fear to tread I did it and I don't regret the day Even now I think of how you turned to me to say
"Are you gonna go to the Sodom and Gomorrah Show? It's got everything you need for your complete entertainment and instruction Sun, sex, sin, divine intervention, death and destruction The Sodom and Gomorrah Show is a once-in-a-lifetime production"
Don't wanna hear the news What's going on What's coming through I don't wanna know don't wanna know Just wanna hide away make my my escape I want the world to leave me alone Feels like I feel too much I've seen too much For a little while I want to forget
I wanna be numb I don't wanna feel this pain no more Wanna lose touch I just wanna go and lock the door I don't wanna think I don't wanna feel nothing I wanna be numb I just wanna be wanna be numb
Can't find no space to breathe World's closing in right on me now Well that's how it feels that's how it feels Too much light There's too much sound Wanna turn it off Wanna shut it out I need some relief Think that like I think too much I've seen too much There is just too much thought in my head
I wanna be numb I don't wanna feel this pain no more Wanna lose touch I just wanna go and lock the door I don't wanna think I don't wanna feel nothing I wanna be numb I just wanna be wanna be taken away from all the madness Need to escape escape from the pain I'm out on the edge about to lose my mind For a little while For a little while I wanna be numb
I don't wanna think I don't wanna feel nothing I wanna be numb I don't wanna feel this pain no more Wanna lose touch I just wanna go and lock the door I don't wanna think I don't wanna feel nothing I wanna be numb I just wanna be wanna be numb I just wanna be wanna be numb
Shadows on the sun Another night's begun It's always dark in Luna Park Wind across the moon Electric storms and soon a flying spark in Luna Park
And when we're getting higher we're happy Somebody's eating fire we're happy The big wheel in the sky will make you scream
Come on, join a line The ghost train leaves on time It's always dark in Luna Park On the shooting range the plastic prizes never change So make your mark on Luna Park
And when we're getting higher we're happy Somebody's eating fire we're happy The big wheel in the sky will make you scream
Thunder. I wonder? A storm will come one day to blow us all away like dust on the moon In Luna Park it can't be dark too soon
A storm is coming soon Like dust on the moon
Every night we go to the latest horror show and hear the screams in Luna dreams Fortune-tellers muse on palms that bode bad news The future's dark in Luna Park
And when we're feeling scared we're happy With circuses and bread we're happy The whirling fair machines are all we need
Thunder. I wonder? A storm will come one day to blow us all away like dust on the moon In Luna Park it can't be dark too soon
Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid See you on the TV Call you every day Fly across the ocean Just to let you get your way No one understands me Where I'm coming from Why would I be with someone Who's obviously so dumb? Love comes Love grows Every time you rise to meet me Take my hand to greet me Love comes Love grows And power can give a man Much more than anybody knows Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Before we ever met I thought like everybody did You were just a moron A billion-dollar kid You flew up all the way Like a hawk chasing a dove I never thought that I would be A sacrifice in love It comes It grows And now we're tied together Everybody knows Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Is stupid really stupid Or a different kind of smart? Do we really have a relationship So special in your heart? Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid I have to ask myself Like any lover might Have you made a fool of me? Are you not Mr Right? You grin I pose It's not about sincerity Everybody knows Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Oh-oh, I'm with Stupid Is stupid really stupid Or a different kind of smart? That's how you stole my heart I'm with Stupid
The girl's perfection inspires affection It's queer that here he can't cast his spell in her direction Somewhere near One senses fear Casanova in Hell
The girl is naked The boy is naked He hides inside a secret chamber There to gape through a velvet drape and dream of rape Casanova in Hell
Her sharp suggestion he couldn't get an erection came as a shock He finds himself a laughing-stock His ageing fate to contemplate Casanova in Hell Back in the library his revenge is his story What he will write will recall the bite of his wit and legendary appetite The sybarite Casanova is well For Casanova has the last laugh Creates the myth and vindication of his sexual vocation Makes the definitive collection His lives and lovers and above all his erection will live in history
Oh, I learned a lesson from the Twentieth Century that I don't think we can just dismiss After one hundred years of inhumanity the lesson that I learned was this:
Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem Let's stay together
Well I bought a ticket to the revolution and I cheered when the statues fell Everyone came to destroy what was rotten but they killed off what was good as well
Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem Let's stay together
Stay with me this century Together we're better
Oh, I learned a lesson from the Twentieth Century It may seem somewhat hit or miss If you've certainty 'bout the way it's all meant to be the lesson that you need is this:
Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem Let's stay together
I was lost for so long Feels like it's taken half my life to find where I belong Seeing you here You're my nation This is my application Give me hope Keep me sane Give me indefinite leave to remain
All the worlds that I saw I went so far away and still wanted you more It may sound superficial but can we make it official? Give me hope Keep me sane Give me indefinite leave to remain
Tell me where I stand What do you envision? One way or another Give me your decision now Is it time to proceed? Will you give me a chance and the status I need? Seeing you here You're my nation This is my application Give me hope Keep me sane Give me indefinite leave to remain
If you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to fear If you've something to hide you shouldn't even be here
Long live us the persuaded we integral collectively to the whole project it's brand new conceived solely to protect you
One world One reason Unchanging One season
If you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to fear If you've something to hide you shouldn't even be here You've had your chance now we've got the mandate If you've changed your mind I'm afraid it's too late We're concerned you're a threat You're not integral to the project
Sterile Immaculate Rational Perfect
Everyone has their own number in the system that we operate under We're moving to a situation where your lives exist as information One world One life One chance One reason All under one sky unchanging one season
If you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to fear If you've something to hide you shouldn't even be here You've had your chance now we've got the mandate If you've changed your mind I'm afraid it's too late We're concerned you're a threat You're not integral to the project
마치 Pet Shop Boys 그들의 대표작, Very 앨범으로의 귀환을 보는듯 하다. 하지만 답습은 아닌, 21세기 스타일의 튜닝으로 열심히 갈고 닦은 느낌이다. 그리고 가사에서 보여지는 두 아저씨의 유머와 위트는 여전히 사랑스럽고 냉철하다. 앨범은 전반적으로 괄약근 운동을 하듯 꾸준하지만 지루하지 않은 강약조절을 하고 있다. The Sodom & Gomorrah Show 와 같은 그들의 전형적인 유로 댄스부터 Luna Park 같은 감미로운 발라.....