| Behaviour | ||||
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| Studio album by Pet Shop Boys | ||||
| Released | 22 October 1990 | |||
| Recorded | 1990 | |||
| Genre | Synthpop | |||
| Length | 48:52 | |||
| Label | Parlophone | |||
| Producer | Pet Shop Boys Harold Faltermeyer |
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| Pet Shop Boys chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Behaviour | ||||
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Behaviour (Behavior in the original US pressing) is the fifth studio album, the fourth of entirely new music, by English electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. It was first released in 1990. It was also released in Japan with an additional CD3. Behaviour is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
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Although a popular album among fans, in the context of Pet Shop Boys' other albums, Behaviour differs in production style. Stephen Hague, who had produced two of the group's three previous studio albums, did not produce any tracks on Behaviour and would return on the duo's next studio album, Very. Instead, Harold Faltermeyer was hired to produce Behaviour at his "Red Deer" studio in Munich, Germany. Because they were dissatisfied with the available digital synthesisers and samples, Pet Shop Boys wanted to use analogue synthesisers. Faltermeyer was a good choice for producer, as he happened to be an expert on analog equipment. The result was a Pet Shop Boys album different from both the previous album, Introspective and the 1993 follow-up, Very. In places, the album expands upon the synthpop genre with flavours of guitar pop ballads, as with "This must be the place I waited years to leave" and "My October symphony" featuring guitarist, Johnny Marr. Later, singer Neil Tennant would reflect on the different style of Behaviour, "It was more reflective and more musical-sounding, and also it probably didn't have irritatingly crass ideas in it, like our songs often do". Tennant later reflected the album was inspired by fellow synthpop group Depeche Mode's album Violator, which was also released in 1990.
As with most of the group's albums up to 2001, Behaviour was re-released as Behaviour/Further Listening 1990–1991. The re-released version was digitally remastered and came bundled with a second disc of B-sides and previously unreleased material recorded around the time of the album's original release. Notable songs on the second disc include "Miserablism", "DJ Culture", "Was It Worth It?", and the Ambient Mix of "Music for Boys". "Miserablism", a poignant satire of Morrissey, was intended for inclusion on Behaviour up until the day it was sent for mastering. It later became the B-side for "Was It Worth It?" and was remixed by Moby for the 12"; the latter was re-released on the limited edition version of the 2003 compilation album, PopArt: Pet Shop Boys – The Hits. "DJ Culture" and "Was It Worth It?" were the two singles recorded for the Pet Shop Boys' 1991 compilation album, Discography: The Complete Singles Collection. "Music for Boys" was originally credited as "Music for Boys Part 2" and was the B-side to "DJ Culture". The original B-side version can also be found on the 1995 compilation album Alternative.
Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Behaviour: Remastered. This version contains only the 10 tracks on the original.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (A+) [2] |
| NME | [3] |
| Robert Christgau | [4] |
| Rolling Stone | [5] |
| Year | Album | UK | U.S. | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Behaviour | 2 | 45 |
|
| 2001 | Behaviour: Further Listening 1990–1991 | 120 | — |
Entertainment Weekly rated the album with A+ and commented: "...Heartfelt expressions of romantic distress, plus their best tunes yet...".[2] Q gave the album 4 stars (of 5), included in Q's 50 best albums of 1990 and commented, "Some of their dance fans may be a trifle disappointed...but the best ballads here are as wry and touching as vintage Broadway. Frank Sinatra should be calling shortly."[6] Q also included it in its "90 Best Albums of the 1990s".[7] "Being Boring" won Music Week's Best Video of the Year Award.
| Chart (1990) | Peak position |
Total weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart[9] | 27 | 4 |
| Austrian Albums Chart[10] | 22 | 6 |
| Canadian Albums Chart[11] | 34 | 19 |
| German Albums Chart[12] | 4 | |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[13] | 47 | 1 |
| Swedish Albums Chart[14] | 9 | 7 |
| Swiss Albums Chart[15] | 12 | 4 |
| UK Albums Chart[16] | 2 | 14 |
| U.S. Billboard 200[17] | 45 | 25 |
The video was directed by Eric Watson. The B-side was "It must be obvious", with the USA release also featuring the Italian Mix of "Paninaro", which was originally released on Disco. Remixes were by the Pet Shop Boys themselves, the KLF and David Morales. The KLF also remixed "It must be obvious", which was only available on The KLF versus Pet Shop Boys CD and 12" of the single.
The video was directed by Bruce Weber. The b-side was "We all feel better in the dark". There were Pet Shop Boys Extended Mixes of both a-side and b-side, and there was a remix of "Being Boring" by Marshall Jefferson and two remixes of the b-side by Brothers in Rhythm on a limited edition 12" and CD of the single.
The video was directed by Liam Kan. The single was radically remixed from the album version by Brothers in Rhythm, and this become the version on the double a-side released in the UK with "Where the street have no name (I can't take my eyes off you)". This US release featured the Techno Funk mix of "I want a dog", the Marshall Jefferson remix of "Being Boring" and the Trevor Horn 7" mix of "It's alright". There were also remixes by David Morales, which were released on a limited edition 12" and CD. The single mix was not featured on either of the Pet Shop Boys' greatest hits albums (Discography: The Complete Singles Collection and Pop Art: Pet Shop Boys – The Hits), although the video was featured on the Pop Art DVD.
The videos for both songs were directed by Liam Kan, which drew on iconography from the Pet Shop Boys' then current tour and featured Neil Tennant spoofing several 'rock' stars including U2, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley and George Michael. There was an additional b-side, "Bet she's not your girlfriend", and in addition to some extended mixes of both singles, there were additional remixes of both songs by David Morales.
The video was directed by Eric Watson. The B-side was the Pet Shop Boys' tidied up demo version of "Losing my mind", which they produced for Liza Minnelli in 1989 for her album Results. The single mix was more electronic than the version on the album, and there was an extended mix of Jealousy which featured Neil Tennant reading excerpts of Shakespeare's Othello, which is a play about jealousy. There was also a Disco Mix of "Losing my mind". On the limited edition CD, an edit of the Extended Mix of "This must be the place I waited years to leave" (which was originally available with the Japanese version of Behaviour was included along with David Morales' Red Zone mix of "So Hard". Jealousy was later covered by Dubstar. It is known to be one of Robbie Williams' favourite Pet Shop Boys song, and he sang it with the band for their 2006 Radio 2 concert, which was later released on the 2006 Pet Shop Boys' live album Concrete.