Pet Shop Boys

The album's name may be no frills, but its contents are anything but. All of the Pet Shop Boys' hits in one place! In chronological order! A version of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" that threatens to unseat the original! Sure, they can be campy at times, but that's part of the magic. Neil and Chris prove to be as essential a pair as salt and pepper.

More even than "hit" or "product," these boys know "concept," so there's no point complaining that "the complete singles collection" includes more than half the titles on their disco album (Introspective--Disco was another concept). Truth in promotion is their byword--the complete singles is what you're gonna get even if they're also the greatest album tracks. And after an early stiff, they establish a canon right down to the previously unreleaseds. Cerebral, sensitive, sensationalistic, shallow, this is the sound of pleasure at a distance. And also, oh yeah, pain. (Grade - A)